Good nutrition is essential to feel and perform at your best, which is particularly important when it comes to engaging in sport. However, many sporting clubs may not have the space, time or capacity to manage in-house production of healthy food options. One solution is to outsource.
What is outsourcing and how can it benefit sporting clubs?
Outsourcing involves partnering with an external business or vendor to provide goods. By offloading the demands of planning, preparing, serving and cleaning, outsourcing can help you to save on time and costs by eliminating the need for on-site kitchen facilities or equipment – all the while still being able to offer healthy choices.
How do you outsource?
There are many ways to outsource, such as:
1. Partnering with local businesses
Working with local businesses that already sell healthy options can be a great way to supply your club with nutritious items. Consider reaching out to a local bakery that stocks healthy sandwiches or wraps or a local Japanese restaurant where you can purchase sushi. The partnership can work in a mutually beneficial way by saving the club time, while opportunities to promote the local business at your club may help their business to drive in more customers.
Worried about purchasing too much?
Purchase a limited number of items to begin and monitor how quick it sells. Use this information to guide future purchases.
Wondering how to start connecting with a business?
Find a business that you’re interested in and give them a call or use our email template on page 2 to start reaching out.
2. Working with an external chef or business
Depending on the range of food options that your club is looking to supply, hiring an external chef or working with an external food production business can save the time of your existing staff or volunteers. Connect with local food businesses or sole traders to understand your options, such as whether food can be prepared on or off site.
3. Purchasing from a local food delivery service
Local food delivery services can be a quick and easy way to supply healthy options. For more information on how to select healthy items, Health and Wellbeing Queensland’s A Better Choice Strategy provides guidance on the nutritional value of many food and drink options.
Email template to engage with local businesses for healthy food partnerships
Dear [insert name of local business],
My name is [insert your name] and I’m the [insert your position] at [insert your club or facility’s name].
We operate our [insert your club’s food service outlet, e.g. canteen/kiosk/café] [insert how often your club operates your food service].
As part of our commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle, we are looking to partner with local businesses to supply healthy and nutritious food options for our club members.
We believe that your [insert the local business type, e.g. bakery/café/restaurant/food service business] would be a great fit to partner with us, and we are particularly interested in offering a range of healthy [food and/or snacks], such as [insert the relevant items that you are looking to source from the business].
By working together, we can provide our club members with access to healthy, locally sourced food options at [insert your club or facility’s name], while actively promoting your business.
We would love to connect further to discuss how we could partner. Please contact me on [insert the relevant contact email and/or phone number].
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
[Insert your name]
[insert your club or facility’s name]
By choosing to outsource, your club can support the health of your members and visitors and save money and time, while supporting the local economy. Members of the club can feel good about supporting local businesses and helping to build stronger community connections.
For more information on how to support your club to make healthier choices, visit A Better Choice for Sport and Recreation.