

Frameworks for Food & Catering


Whether you are a school, university, hospital or prison, food and catering services play a vital role in providing employees and members of the public with healthy, desirable food that meets government regulations and caters to dietary needs.
Our frameworks have been created to provide a simple and easy route to vetted, trustworthy suppliers that meet UK procurement regulations. On this page, you’ll find a selection of relevant frameworks to source everything you need from fresh and frozen food to catering equipment.
“I found the whole process very straightforward; I was confident that the templates I was using would provide the information needed for providers to tender without issues, and that we would be able to make a considered decision based on the tenders received. The supporting information provided gave us all we needed to ensure the process went smoothly and our new contract is now in place.”
Wendy Wiggett, Honeybourne First School Academy, ESPO Framework 704 user
Frameworks

Provides outsourced catering services - such as breakfast, meals on wheels or silver service - to education, social care or corporate sectors.
Offers a wide range of meals through expert suppliers that can tailor their offering to your specific requirements, including religious or cultural needs.
Advisors are on hand to ensure that you procure the most appropriate services.

Provides supply and delivery of fresh and frozen food as well as consumables such as catering disposables and cleaning items.
Suppliers can also assist with product guidance, menu planning, special diets and much more.
Suppliers work to the Government Buying Standards that focus on areas such as nutritional value, animal welfare and sustainability.

Gives access to light and commercial catering equipment, turnkey solutions and much more.
Includes a dedicated Lot for the maintenance of commercial equipment.
Includes a dedicated Lot for catering consumables in which suppliers have been tested for their commitment to environmental sustainability.

Provides supply and delivery of a wide range of complete single-portion meals and multi-portion meal components.
Product ranges include main meals, side dishes, desserts and sweet and savoury sauces, meals that meet International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation (IDDSI) and options catering to specific dietary, nutritional and cultural requirements.
ESPO monitors all suppliers to hold relevant third party food safety accreditation.

Provides supply and delivery of a range of freshly prepared sandwiches and associated hot and cold food-to-go products, including: wraps, rolls, pasta and noodle salads, panini and toasties, pasties, accompanying snack products and more.
Choose from a range of product fillings and options suitable to meet cultural and/or dietary needs such as halal, vegan, vegetarian and gluten free.
Suppliers can assist with product guidance, support waste reduction, and even point of sale marketing resources to ensure your display is attractive and advertised.
“By accessing food and catering services through ESPO, you can confidently obtain goods from high-quality, reliable and trustworthy suppliers. If you’d like to find out more, our team are always on hand to have a chat and provide further information – we look forward to working with you throughout your procurement journey!”
Charlotte Springthorpe, ESPO Customer Relationship Manager.


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Catering Services (704)
Provides outsourced catering services - such as breakfast, meals on wheels or silver service - to education, social care or corporate sectors.
Offers a wide range of meals through expert suppliers that can tailor their offering to your specific requirements including religious or cultural needs.
Advisors are on hand to ensure that you procure the most appropriate services.
Read more


Grocery, Fresh, Chilled and Frozen Food (83)
Provides supply and delivery of fresh and frozen food as well as consumables such as catering disposables and cleaning items.
Suppliers can also assist with product guidance, menu planning, special diets and much more.
Suppliers work to the Government Buying Standards that focus on areas such as nutritional value, animal welfare and sustainability.
Read more


Milk and Dairy Products (120)
Source milk and dairy products including cheese, yoghurt and butter.
Experienced suppliers that can provide good quality, trusted products that meet the Government Buying Standards.
Awarded suppliers have been tested for their commitment to ensuring products are delivered in a sustainable manner.
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Catering Equipment (98)
Gives access to light and commercial catering equipment, turnkey solutions and much more.
Includes a dedicated Lot for the maintenance of commercial equipment.
Includes a dedicated Lot for catering consumables in which suppliers have been tested for their commitment to environmental sustainability.
Read more


Ready Meals (58)
Provides single portion ready meals and multi-portion meal components.
Product ranges include meals, desserts, and sweet and savoury sauces.
Checked through our quality assurance procedures to ensure that all suppliers have met food safety standards.
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Sandwiches, Food-to-Go, Confectionery and Snacks (121)
Provides a range of options such as sandwiches, fillings, salads, pastries, crisps, snacks and biscuits.
Offers vegetarian, vegan and lower-fat options to meet different dietary requirements.
Cost effective - sandwiches are available from 90p per pack.
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