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Overview
Overview
Sodexo AB (Sweden) and Läkare för framtiden (Sweden, Physicians for the Future) completed a joint feasibility phase to identify how Swedish hospitals can increase plant-based meals, drawing on Sodexo’s experience with New York City Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health care delivery system in the United States, along with insights from the United Kingdom and progress already being made in Swedish clinics introducing more plant-based choices.
The work clarified key enablers: understanding patient needs and preferences combined with effective patient facing communication, leadership commitment, procurement flexibility, and staff training. Together, these enablers set the stage for a pilot shaped in collaboration with a hospital.
Early findings indicate a credible pathway to reduce meal related greenhouse gas emissions and per portion costs, sustain patient satisfaction and menu uptake, and improve nutritional quality with potential to support health outcomes. The approach leverages the teachable moment in care, the brief window when patients are most receptive to making lifestyle changes, to introduce plant-based options that are both flavourful and appealing.
Alignment with the EAT-Lancet Commission
Alignment with the EAT-Lancet Commission
The project advances the Planetary Health Diet by increasing the share of foods from the plant kingdom in institutional meals, directly supporting healthier dietary patterns and lower environmental impact in line with EAT-Lancet principles.
Our feasibility work highlights benefits seen in practice: in NYC, plant-forward menus achieved high patient acceptance and satisfaction, reduced meal-related GHG emissions by 36 percent year-on-year, and delivered substantial cost savings per portion—evidence consistent with the health-and-sustainability co-benefits EAT-Lancet calls for. Embedding this shift through procurement, culinary operations, staff education, and patient facing communication has the potential to translate the PHD into standard hospital food operations.
Key actors
Key actors
Sodexo AB: one of Sweden’s largest providers of hospital meals; Swedish leadership committed to sustainable meals; project ownership and delivery capacity established.
Läkare för framtiden (Physicians for the Future): non-profit of healthcare professionals advancing evidence-based nutrition in healthcare; contributor of medical/public-health expertise and communication/training support.
Reference partners and learnings: Sodexo NYC Health + Hospitals implementation; exchanges with UK teams; contact with Swedish clinics already expanding plant-based options.
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
Successful hospital food transformation hinges on early buy-in from hospital leadership and policymakers.
Flexible and locally adapted implementation models, whether gradual change, more intensive system wide shifts (as seen in New York City), or targeted clinic level pilots, are vital for success.
Training and engagement of kitchen, service, and healthcare staff build confidence and acceptance.
Utilising evidence-based communication strategies, including nudging, alongside offering meals that are both flavourful and appealing, are key factors in encouraging patients to choose plant-based options.
Next steps
Next steps
Co-design a pilot with a willing hospital partner, adapting scope to local capacity.
Deliver pre-launch training for all relevant staff, integrating behavioural insights and patient-facing communication.
Collect baseline and follow-up data on patient experience, attitudes, and, where possible, clinical outcomes.
Engage stakeholders within the hospital food sector to enable broader, scalable adoption.
For more information contact: Alex Baralt at alex@baralt.se
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