Sustainability
Health and Safety
We are committed to investing in the health and safety of our employees and guests on each remote camp facility we operate. Our employees, guests, and clients are an asset, and to protect them, we enforce a culture that promotes Health, Safety, Environment and Community. Our core values are to develop policies, procedures, and safety initiatives to prevent workplace accidents and eliminate any adverse effects resulting from operational conditions. By nurturing a corporate culture of health and safety, we are demonstrating our commitment to our employees’ wellbeing, and our appreciation of their value. We are devoted to improving our essential services, employee training, and encouraging greater employee participation in their work camp management. Our remote site support services teams have a deep understanding of current challenges and apply various means to attain our safety standards. Our performance depends on the health of our remote location workforce, and we have a proven track record of this success.
Environmental Responsibility
Environmental responsibility and social responsibility in remote locations continues to gain importance, and we have several initiatives in place that diminish the environmental impact throughout our remote location operations. As an environmentally responsible company our objective is to alleviate the impact of this responsibility through initiatives that include:
- The use of environmentally friendly and sustainable recycled products.
- Working with remote location clients, suppliers, and partners to ensure that our purchases are local and meet fair trade standards.
- Implementing and managing a tracking and purchasing system to ensure maximum efficiently and minimum waste on remote sites.
- Working with local suppliers to purchase environmentally friendly janitorial products that have little to no environmental impact on remote locations.
We focus on meeting daily ambitious environmental goals to mitigate 100% of our footprint, monitor existing measures, and developing new ones based on ongoing audits of our environmental performance
Diversity and Inclusion
Our corporate culture is clear from day one, and it extends from senior management to frontline workers. Our work environment is composed of a set of practices and policies that endorse diversity and inclusion; we have zero tolerance for any exceptions. Some of our practices are:
- Establishing a sense of belonging for each employee and position
- Treating all our employees fairly
- Offering all of our employees equal opportunities
- Supporting ideas, innovation, creativity, feedback, and communication of any issues or concerns from every employee
- Educating all our employees on diversity and inclusion, including teamwork and collaboration.
Our staff consists of a variety of culture, background, experience, gender, and demography.
Full-Service Catering
Meal preparation is done in an onsite kitchen facility where full-time kitchen staff prepare and serve food to camp residents with different shift schedules. Full catering includes three meals per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), as well as snacks and beverages. Food is always served hot and fresh to satisfy and comfort tired employees doing back-breaking work in physically demanding environments. Nutrition, quality and variety are crucial to ensure the well-being of camp workers who live far away from the comfort of home.
Management of Dietary Requirements
Remote chefs also make sure the food they serve follows specific requests of employees and guests. Some camp residents may have health conditions and require special dietary needs or follow religious dietary laws:
- Vegetarian – for those that do not eat meat or seafood.
- Vegan – for those that follow a strict dairy-free, non-meat diet.
- Gluten-free – for those with Celiac disease, for example, and need to avoid foods with wheat and some grains.
- Dairy-Free and Lactose-Free – for those who avoid milk and milk products.
- High-protein meals – for those who prefer foods with good protein sources.
- Halal food – which adheres to strict Islamic dietary requirements.
- Kosher food – which complies with strict Jewish dietary standards.
Supply Chain Management
Logistics and supply services are also provided by camp catering providers. This means they take care of purchasing, delivery, storage and disposal of food items as part of their service package. Fresh produce and dry goods are sourced and purchased from local suppliers if possible. If they cannot find local suppliers, they purchase from wholesale partners and arrange for the delivery by trucks, air or boats. Remote kitchen staff manage inventory and ensure ingredients are stocked regularly. They are also responsible for the proper storage and handling of food (such as refrigeration and freezing) and ensure they maintain food quality at the required standard.
Health and Safety Compliance
Maintaining health and safety can be a challenge in remote camp facilities because they are located in isolated places far away from many urban centres. Depending on where the remote camp is located, catering services must follow Canada’s strict health and safety laws as well as local regulations. This includes regular screenings, regular training, routine inspections and incident reporting for food safety, proper food storage, sanitation and hygiene.
Sustainability
Most remote camps in Africa are situated in environmentally fragile ecosystems which lack existing infrastructure or connecting to any roads. These areas lack basic services like health, education, water, sanitation and grid power commonly found in urban areas.
To avoid any negative impact on the environment, Africa Eco Services use sustainable practices devoid of water and air pollution, soil erosion, extinction of species and deforestation.
Instead, Africa Eco Services employ five key pillars of its environment-friendly practices blueprint all its remote food catering operations namely;
- Sustainable waste management programs of composting and recycling to decrease air and water pollution spillover.
- Use menus rich in use of organic and seasonal foods to improve meal quality.
- Use locally grown ingredients to reduce environmental impact and only source from afar when really necessary or unavoidable especially for seasoning.
- We avoid food wastage to save on costs and reduce cost for disposal.
- We use eco-friendly and biodegradable packaging material for cooking, serving and storing food and beverages.