Enter our Brown & Blond brownie giveaway!

Brown & Blond Instagram Giveaway – April 2022

Not had enough chocolate over the Easter break? This is your chance to win £50 worth of delicious brownies from Brown & Blond.

To enter you need to follow the instructions on the giveaway post found on the Great Food at Leeds Instagram.

Terms and conditions:

  1. Great Food at Leeds will use any personal data submitted only for the purposes of facilitating the prize draw
  2. All entries must be received by Wednesday 4 May at 11:59pm
  3. All correctly completed entries will be entered into a prize draw which will take place on Thursday 5 May 2022. The winner will be drawn at random
  4. Only one entry per person
  5. No entrant may win more than one prize
  6. Giveaway is open to all University of Leeds staff and students
  7. The prize is £50 worth of brownies from Blond & Brown. This will be a random selection of flavours.
  8. Prizes are not transferable or exchangeable. No cash alternative is possible
  9. The winners will be notified via the Great Food at Leeds Instagram stories from Thursday 5 May 2022. Great Food at Leeds will make a reasonable attempt to contact the winner, but reserve the right to draw a substitute winner if this is not possible
  10. By entering the prize draw, you agree to participate in any reasonable promotional activity, including photographs and audio and/or visual recordings, if you are selected as a winner.
  11. Please note that Instagram are not responsible for any element of this promotion and has in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered this promotion

Good luck!

 

This competition has now finished. 

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Climate Week 2022: Fighting Food Waste

Focus on fighting food waste

Great Food at Leeds is proud to be part of the war on food waste. As part of Leeds University Union (LUU) Climate Week 2022, we want to put fighting food waste in the spotlight, sharing what we are doing to support this movement and ways you can get involved.

What is Climate Week?

Climate Week 2022 is taking place from Monday 21 – Friday 25 March. It’s the second year of this exciting campaign after its launch in 2021, and there are lots of opportunities for University staff and students to engage with sustainability at LUU. The three themes for this year’s event: climate justice, climate education and eco-anxiety.

At Great Food at Leeds, we are excited to be supporting the event as sustainability is a key value of our service. Managing food waste plays a huge part in running our service sustainably and combatting climate change.

Why is food waste a problem?

Food waste is a global problem, it occurs all around us – in the home, in supermarkets, restaurants, pubs and cafés. A whopping 3.6 million tonnes of food is wasted by the food industry every year in the UK!

Most wasted food in the UK ends up in landfill, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and impacts climate change. The worst part is that a huge 2 million tonnes of the food that goes to waste is still edible!

How is Great Food at Leeds tackling food waste?

We are proud to be part of the Too Good To Go food waste movement – a mobile application that connects customers to food outlets that have unsold food surplus.

You can find the Refectory and many of our cafes on the Too Good To Go app, place an order and collect a Magic Bag before closing time. Food offerings range from sandwiches to hot daily specials. We have saved almost 600 meals already in 2022!

Next time you fancy some food on campus, why not download the app and rescue a Magic Bag of surplus, unsold food and save food waste!

How can you help fight food waste?

Planning meals and not buying too much food is a good place to start, but when you do buy too much there are creative ways to use this up!

Our Senior Head Chef, Lisa, has provided some top tips for using up fresh ingredients from the back of the fridge and giving food leftovers a new lease of life!

  • Leftover Bolognese sauce: Why not try making this into a chilli? Add some fresh chilli, ground cumin and paprika, serve with rice and top with soured cream or natural yogurt. Alternatively, make this into a lasagne inspired dish by layering the sauce with sheets of pasta or cooked pasta shapes and top with cheese before baking.
  • Vegetables: If you find yourself with lots of vegetables that need using up, try making a vegetable soup. Roughly chop up whatever is available to you, root vegetables, greens or anything in between and cook in stock. Have it chunky or blend to smooth perfection, adding a potato will help make it creamy. You can also add some dried lentils to pack this with protein, too!
  • Fruit: Its grocery shopping day, the cupboards are bare, but you still need a nutritious breakfast… it’s time to whip up a smoothie! Add the last, over ripened banana to a blender with some berries (fresh or frozen). Pour in milk of your choice or fruit juice and add some porridge oats. Whizz it up and enjoy!

Do you have a food waste regular offender, lurking in the fridge at the end of each week? Need some inspiration on how to make the most of it?

Get in touch via our social media channels or drop us a line to gfal@leeds.ac.uk and Chef Lisa will be happy to provide some ideas on how to save this from becoming food waste!

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Fairtrade Fortnight 2022

Spotlight on Fairtrade

We have been shining the spotlight on Fairtrade products, ingredients and suppliers as part of Fairtrade Fortnight, which took place from Monday 28 February – Sunday 6 March 2022.

At Great Food at Leeds we are passionate about Fairtrade and have been responsibly sourcing and selling Fairtrade food and drink products in our outlets since 2003!

What is Fairtrade?

Fairtrade aims to tackle the injustices of conventional trade and ensure that their farmers have decent working conditions and prices for the crops they grow.

We understand that choosing Fairtrade and ethically sourced products is one way we stand with those vulnerable communities at the front line of the climate crisis.

What is Fairtrade Fortnight?

Thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together for Fairtrade Fortnight each year, to share the stories of people who grow our food and drinks, mine our gold and who grow the cotton in our clothes. These people are often exploited and underpaid.

Great Food at Leeds and Fairtrade Fortnight 2022

We have been busy showing our support for the farmers behind our Fairtrade food and drink! Here is how we got involved:

  • Raffle to win a Fairtrade chocolate hamper, with all proceeds going to the Fairtrade Foundation
  • Brought Fairtrade products together for our customers at till points in our outlets
  • Offered a free Fairtrade banana to customers purchasing a main meal in the Refectory•
  • Served up delicious chocolate chip banana bread, made with Fairtrade bananas, chocolate and sugar

How can you get involved?

As a customer, you can be part of the Fairtrade movement. You have the power to drive long-term change, through your shopping choices and spreading the Fairtrade message – this applies all year round, not just during Fairtrade Fortnight!

You can get involved in local campaigns, Fairtrade Yorkshire has information on this. Support Fairtrade shops and cafés in the local area, see Fairtrade Leeds for details, or cook some recipes using Fairtrade products. If you missed our delicious chocolate chip banana bread in the Refectory, why not have a go at making it yourself?

Follow our recipe below and share your bake with us on social media!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients (makes 8 slices)

  • 125g butter
  • 150g Fairtrade caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 Fairtrade bananas, mashed
  • 100g Fairtrade chocolate chips, white or milk are best
  • 190g self-raising flour

Method

  • Prepare a 2lb loaf tin, grease and line with grease proof paper.
  • Beat the sugar, butter and vanilla extract together until a creamy texture
  • Add the mashed bananas and mix well
  • Add the egg and mix well
  • Stir in the flour and once combined add the chocolate chips
  • Pour into the prepared tin, sprinkle with a tablespoon of demerara sugar to give a crunch topping if desired
  • Bake at 150c fan assisted oven (170c regular or gas mark 3) for 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean
  • Leave to cool, slice and enjoy! Serve with custard to make a delicious pudding

#FairtradeFortnight #ChooseTheWorldYouWant

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New Cafe opening in Sir William Henry Bragg Building

A brand-new café is set to welcome new customers from the end of August.

Based in the Sir William Henry Bragg Building on Woodhouse Lane, the 1915 café takes its name and inspiration from the year University of Leeds alumni Sir William Henry Bragg was awarded a Nobel Prize.

The 1915’s relaxed and informal menu has been carefully created to offer a mix of both classic and on-trend options. Using locally and ethically sourced ingredients alongside seasonal produce throughout the year, customers will enjoy regularly updated specials as well as gluten-free and vegan options with regionally sourced coffee and locally handmade cakes sitting alongside more contemporary wraps and flatbreads.

Julie Tong, Head of Retail at Great Food at Leeds, said: 

“We are delighted to add 1915 to our portfolio on campus. The café space has been designed with the University community in mind, working with the schools of Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, and Computing.

The 1915 café offers a wonderful place for staff and students to enjoy light meals throughout the day or catch up on work accompanied by a barista coffee

As with our other outlets, the cafe will be opened in line with appropriate government covid regulations.”

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Hot Cross Buns

Head Chef Lisa’s traditional hot cross buns recipe.

30 mins + 3 hours proving time

Advanced

Makes 15

Vegetarian

Freezable

  • For the bun 
    300ml full–fat milk, plus 2 tsp more 
    50g butter 
    500g strong bread flour 
    1 tsp salt 
    75g caster sugar 
    1 tbsp sunflower oil 
    7g sachet fast–action yeast 
    1 egg beaten
    50g mixed peel 
    75g sultanas 
    Zest of 1 orange 
    1 apple, peeled, cored, and grated.
    1 tsp cinnamon
  • For the cross 
    75g plain flour 
     
  • For the glaze
     3 tsp of apricot jam  

Equipment
Piping bag

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Easter Rocky Road

Use up leftover chocolate in this easy no-bake Easter-themed rocky road!

prep 10, 2 hours to set

Easy

Makes 16

Vegetarian

Freezable

 

  • 400 g Milk/Dark Chocolate
  • 125 g Golden Syrup
  • 125 g Unsalted Butter
  • 100 g Mini Marshmallows
  • 150 g Digestives (chopped)
  • 600-800 g Easter Chocolates (smarties, mini eggs)
  • 250 g White Chocolate

Equipment

  • 8” ( 20cm ) or 9” ( 22cm ) square tin
  • Parchment paper
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Feel good food

To compliment your tea or coffee, we work with many local suppliers to stock brands that have a positive social impact on society and the planet. We also understand that choosing to back Fairtrade and ethically sourced products is one way we can stand with those vulnerable communities on the front line of the climate crisis.

 

Brown & Blond Brownies


Location: Wortley, Leeds
Served: Selected outlets across campus
Brown & Blond Brownies website

This small bakery, which started out on a smallholding in North Yorkshire in 2010, is now firmly embedded in the heart of Leeds (Wortley) and supplies cafes, restaurants and delicatessens throughout the region and beyond.
Using only the finest ingredients (sourced locally where possible) coupled with an uncompromising attitude to quality drives artisan bakers, George and Lucy, and their team forward to deliver over fifty mouth-watering flavour combinations – from Banoffee to Black Forest, Peanut Butter to Praline and Salted Caramel to Stem Ginger!

Artisan Bakes

Location: Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Served: Selected outlets across campus
Artisan Bakes website

Artisan Bakes are a small team of passionate skilled bakers located in nearby Wakefield, West Yorkshire and have been a regular supplier of cakes to campus for several years.

What makes Artisan bakes taste so good is that everything is crafted by hand, in small batches that are made to order. The ingredients used are sourced as locally as possible – including the fruit that goes into their home-made jams.

Artisan continues to innovate its range with increasing choices for Vegan and Gluten-Free bakes as well as offering healthier options.

 

One World Bakery

Location: Lincolnshire & Holmfirth
Served: All Cafes
One World Bakery website

We are proud to stock a vast range of “One World Bakery” snacks by Bewleys across all of our catering outlets on campus. All handmade in the UK, using fairtrade ingredients and certified sustainable palm oil. The range covers healthier on-the-go snacking including, the Vegan Coconut bites to super indulgent Rocky Road and Billionaire’s Shortbread.

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Our Coffees and Teas

Ever wondered where the coffee beans and tea leaves that go into your GFaL (Great Food at Leeds) drink come from? Well, it’s closer than you think! Every cup of tea and coffee served in our cafes is either Fairtrade or ethically sourced using local suppliers from Yorkshire. We serve over 500 thousand cups of tea and coffee a year, so it’s important that we use the best quality ingredients and support local, sustainable suppliers.

Coffee

 

Darkwoods

Served: Affine, Loma, Loma Express, The Edit Room 
Roasted in: Marsdon, West Yorkshire
Darkwoods.co.uk

Nestled away in the West Yorkshire Pennines, just 25 miles away from campus is Darkwoods coffee merchants, who are one of the first coffee roasters in the UK to be BCorp certified.

Dark Woods use specialty grade coffees, which have cleaner more distinctive flavours and are traceable to skilled farmers and their farms across the world. 

Ian Agnew, Director of dark Woods, is also the director of the Lorna Young Foundation, a small charity that works with farmers in developing countries to help them get more value from what they grow. It was with this foundation that his involvement with coffee began when he helped to set up the Oromo Coffee Company, the world’s first refugee-owned social enterprise coffee company.

 


Bewleys: Coffee Eros

Served: Refectory, Hugo, Café 7, Café Maia, Baines Wing Café, Delivered catering
Roasted: Meltham, West Yorkshire
bewleys.co.uk

Bewleys

Established in 1840, Bewley’s source a large range of triple-certified, 100% Arabica, and Fairtrade coffees. Our cafes only use Bewley’s Fairtrade coffees which are sustainably sourced and roasted in nearby Meltham, West Yorkshire.

Bewley’s grower partner relationships go back years and they visit many of the growers they buy from regularly. As a business, Bewley’s are committed to reducing their environmental impact and actively work on the sustainability of coffee cups, alternative packaging and offsetting carbon emissions.

 

Tea


Canton Teas

Served: Affine, Loma, Loma Express, The Edit Room
cantontea.com/

Canton work hard to make the finest teas available at the fairest prices.  Most of their teas are beyond organic, some are biodynamic – and several are from abandoned tea farms where the plants now grow wild. Others are from ancient tea trees in the forests of Yunnan and Vietnam.


Bewleys: Eros Tea

Served: Refectory, Hugo, Café 7, Café Maia, Baines Wing, Delivered catering
bewleys.co.uk

Bewley’s carefully sources the finest teas based on leaf appearance and infusion qualities such as flavour, colour, strength and briskness. All Eros tea is Fairtrade and organic where possible.

 

 

Get involved!

Join the ‘Choose the World You Want’ online festival with your friends and family.

Follow Great food at Leeds on social media for all the latest posts around Fairtrade Fortnight

#Fairtradefortnight
#Choosetheworldyouwant​

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Fairtrade Fortnight 2021

Great Food at Leeds and Fairtrade

Since 2003 Great Food at Leeds (the University’s catering service), has been responsibly sourcing and selling ethical and Fairtrade products, to use in meals and sell in its cafes.

In 2005 the University of Leeds obtained Fairtrade status and our continued support has helped Yorkshire to be named the first Fairtrade region in the country.

We understand that choosing to back Fairtrade and ethically sourced products is one way we can stand with those vulnerable communities on the front line of the climate crisis.

As a consumer, YOU too have the power to help make a change socially and environmentally on the products you choose to buy.

At Great Food at Leeds, we understand that it is our responsibility to inform our customers about making these choices as well as making sure we provide a good variety of ethically traded products available across all of our cafes.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2021

For two weeks each year at the end of February and start of March, thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to share the stories of the people who grow our food and drinks, mine our gold and who grow the cotton in our clothes. People who are often exploited and underpaid. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us more than ever how interconnected we are globally.

This Fairtrade Fortnight, Great Food at Leeds will be shining the spotlight on the ingredients and suppliers we use and sharing information on how we can all make informed choices when it comes to Fairtrade and ethically sourced products.

Fairtrade and Sustainability

So, how does Fairtrade fit in with sustainability? Ellie, a final year BSc Geography student and one of the Community Reps at LUU writes about this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight theme 2021, and the growing challenges that climate change brings to farmers and workers in the communities Fairtrade works with.

Read Ellie’s blog post here

Get involved!

Follow our social channels below to find out how you can get involved or join the ‘Choose the World You Want’ online festival on the Fairtrade website with your friends and family.

Follow Great food at Leeds on social media for all the latest posts around Fairtrade Fortnight.

#Fairtradefortnight
#Choosetheworldyouwant​

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Baking the most of Easter!

Indoor Easter fun with Great Food at Leeds

Each year Great Food at Leeds staff like to raise funds for local and national charities.

Last term our customers helped raise an amazing £820 from sales of the GFaL Club Cub, with all the money going to local charity Leeds Mind. This spring we wanted to raise even more from sales of our GFaL Club Bunny. Unfortunately, this isn’t a normal Easter break so our plans are on hold, but we know we can still show support with some good old-fashioned indoor fun for all the family!

Easy Easter Shortbread Biscuits

with Great Food at Leeds, Acting Senior Head Chef, Lisa Hall

Inspired by the GFaL Club Bunny, Chef Lisa shows you how easy it is to make tasty shortbread biscuits at home using simple ingredients that can be found in your cupboard.

Lisa joined the Great Food at Leeds team in 2007, before then she had served 15 years in the Royal Air Force. Her first RAF camp was ‘RAF Finningley’ in Doncaster and was stationed around the UK with tours consisting of the Falklands, Italy, Germany and Kuwait.

“Food to me is a good morale booster. So making food that is enjoyed by everyone is what keeps the passion for cooking a necessity for me”.

Her catering knowledge and experience is extensive, from cooking for hungry soldiers in the field with basic rations, to fine dining senior dignitaries and members of the Royal family!

Watch now

 

GFaL Club Bunny colouring page

Generate some mindfulness and quietness as well as testing your colouring skills by downloading the GFaL Club Bunny charity poster.

Perfect for kids… and grownups!

Download JPG Download PDF

 

Nosey bunnies!

Don’t forget to tag @greatfoodleeds and  #LeedsMind in all of your bakes and colouring pics so we can like and share across our social channels!

Find out more about our charities.

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