Spurs’ top shot at sustainable food

Tottenham Hotspur has been a leader in sustainability for a few years now, but have you heard about the specials? We take a look at the club’s innovative matchday menu and what goes into it.

One of my favourite ever Spurs goals was the heat-seeking missile shot by Darren Anderton against Leeds United in the ’99 season. It’s not just the perfection of his technique or the beauty of the strike that stand out, or even the way it remarkably swerves past the keeper, but the surprising decision he makes to actually hit it from that far out. Football is filled with moments like this, of course, when someone dares to think outside the box … or strike from well outside of it, as it were.

Off the pitch, Tottenham has also been hitting some impressive goals of late, most notably in its dedication to bettering the environment. This has seen the club applauded for its efforts on renewable energy and recycling, among other things, aided largely by its state-of-the-art arena, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The above initiatives have been well documented, so I wanted to focus on one particular area instead: sustainable food. For some time now, Tottenham has been cooking up clever food offerings for fans and players alike, many of which are plant-based or, as the experts say, low carbon food.

More simply, this focus means that food at Spurs Stadium is both eco-friendly and fresh. To help facilitate this, the club has an on-site kitchen garden which all season produces organic fruit, vegetables and herbs for the first team restaurant at Spurs’ training centre.

Food for fans is also varied, with all menus across matchday outlets including vegetarian and vegan options. In short, Spurs’ top people in the kitchen care about meeting the various dietary requirements of today’s public, especially at a time when this greatly matters to a diverse footballing community.

Indeed, a recent report by investment bank Credit Suisse says the plant-based food industry is projected to be 100 times larger by 2050, such is the drive globally in this field. The study also projects a monetary rise in these endeavours from $US14 billion to $US1.4 trillion within 30 years for plant-based food producers.

But all the intent in the world doesn’t make serving up new food ideas to traditional football fans straightforward. Most of us, as fans, can lose composure when the starting left back is replaced, let alone a decision to pull French fries from a menu. So, we need to understand how carefully a club like Spurs tackles this.

Firstly, what are its chefs cooking? Well, vegan matchday food options at Tottenham currently include a beetroot burger, tofu katsu curry, beer battered tofu and a hot jackfruit sandwich. Sounds great – but how does the kitchen at a sporting organisation even begin to conjure such creations, be it for 62,000 supporters or a mere 10,000, as was the case in 2021?

Spurs’ Executive Head Chef, Mark Reynolds says that the club works closely with food purchasing partners to follow trends on sustainable foods, but it also closely considers what its fanbase actually likes.

“As an example, we work with the Marine Stewardship Council to guide us on what fish we can use within the stadium, as well as source underutilised foods to avoid waste,” says Reynolds. “And we source food as locally as possible not only to cut down on food miles, but to use brands that the fans are familiar with.”

So settling on the right menu requires a combination of new thinking and a nod toward tradition.

“We undertook substantial research into food trends prior to opening the stadium, as well as taking data from the old stadium to ensure we kept fan favourites such as the sausage roll – which we have also improved by working with Wicks Manor Farm, and by baking them on-site,” says Reynolds.

The farm is closely involved in the process as well. “They not only supply all of our pork products but also take the waste from our on-site microbrewery to feed their pigs, rather than let it go to waste,” Reynolds further explains.

Of course, football is just part of the job at Spurs Stadium: different sports fans have different palates and Reynolds and team are right on top of that challenge. “We are flexible depending on the type of event we have at the stadium,” he says. “So the menu is slightly altered for NFL fans, as will be the case for concert-goers, due to longer dwell times. This ensures enough choice to allow two or three purchases throughout the period of a much longer event than a football match.”

So there you have it. Like a brilliant spur-of-the-moment strike from 35 yards, an equally creative and surprising approach to in-stadium food.

By JP Pelosi