Do you want a bite of hummus with crudités and tabbouleh served in a teaspoon? Or you rather prefer a mini cake made from zucchini and millet? A burger with egg plant, tofu, pesto and cashew? A light and creamy dessert with yogurt, red berries and baked grain and nuts?
Yes, all the above recipes belong to the gorgeous catering offered by Biomenú. Everything is eco, sustainable and incredibly tasty. We had the chance to enjoy it during the last Meeting we held in Madrid.
We had a nice talk with Blanca Quiroga, Biomenú creator and CEO, to know how was the Project born, which is their inspiration and what is the way they work.
V4I – What is Biomenú? Which services do you offer? Where do you deliver?
Blanca Q.: Biomenú is the first and only catering in Spain certified as Ecologic. There are 2 business lines: Catering for professional events (and also private ones) and Take Away, available in eco supermarkets.
Our corporative principles / values at Biomenú are:
- Ethics: gender parity – staff over 40 years old – non temporary job contracts.
- Transparency. The results are shared with our staff.
- Sustainability.
- Family spirit. My husband and youngest son are regular staff, my eldest son is a collaborator; moreover, we love to say that the whole team is the Biomenú Family, and this is the way we interact among us.
V4I – How did come the idea of focusing in Eco catering?
Blanca Q.: Biomenú is a dream come true. After about 30 years having meals off home due to professional reasons, and as I am a real lover of healthy food and cuisine, I decided to contribute by offering catering made of ecological products, to care not only people’s health but also to help sustainability for our planet.
V4I – Which is the main difficulty to design and deliver an Eco menu?
Blanca Q.:
- All the ingredients need to be certified, and that’s why sometimes it is not so easy to find them. Though the offer has grown considerably nowadays.
- Supplies agility. Suppliers are used to deliver to a different sort of business. There is no other catering in Spain delivering eco certified products in such variety and service options as Biomenú.
- Some eco products perform in a different way when cooked to adapt to traditional recipes.
V4I – What proportion vegetarian / vegan requests have increased? Is it a substantial trend really growing? Why?
Blanca Q.: For the last 3 years, since we started, such request has grown about 80%. Absolutely yes: people are much more conscious about fair treatment to animals on one side, and about health care on the other side.
V4I – Can you describe Biomenú success?
Blanca Q: Our 4 PRINCIPLES:
- Ingredients 100% certified Eco.
- Healthy cuisine. No fried, no processed food, no additives.
- Sustainable household: recyclable and manufactured in natural materials such as wood, bamboo, glass, slate or compostable materials such as corn, palm, sugar cane fibers.
- Gourmet. Healthy is not against Delicious.
Biomenú landed the perfect moment. Our society is looking for eco food to care about health, ethics (CSR-ESR) and, of course, this trend is somehow in fashion.
V4I – In addition to the Eco Product Certified, which is your commitment to environmental sustainability and fair trade? How do you make it real?
Blanca Q.: 95% of ingredients come from Spanish producers. 5%, come from Fair Trade. We cooperate with NGOs. Our company is 360º committed to sustainability: ecological stationery, including FSC paper – eco cleaning products – recycling – eco food for our staff meals.
At venue4ideas, we know for sure that a great catering is fundamental to guarantee the success in a Meeting. Eating a proper meal, with a balance diet, healthy, tasty and even sustainable, is a great help to work much better. Thanks to Biomenú, you can count at 100% on success, quality and sustainability.