---
title: "DEFRA Food Procurement Sustainability with the NHS"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-065975"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-065975"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-065975.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-065975.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NHS ENGLAND"
published: "2026-02-20"
---

# DEFRA Food Procurement Sustainability with the NHS

Buyer: NHS ENGLAND  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-065975

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-065975)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-065975.json)

## Summary

The procurement process involves NHS England, situated in London, collaborating with the Soil Association to enhance food sustainability across NHS hospital sites. The project, funded by DEFRA, is part of a direct procurement method without competition, focusing on the provision of higher environmental standards in food services. This entails evaluating the spread of sites covered by the Soil Association's assurance scheme to identify gaps, with particular attention to different healthcare site types such as acute, community, and mental health, as well as various meal service types including cook-fresh and cook-freeze. This award stage of the procurement is complete, with the contract active from 2nd February 2026 to 31st March 2026, valued at £28,000 GBP net.

This tender opens avenues for businesses specialising in high-quality, sustainable food services, particularly those with experience in health service delivery or the supply of environmentally sustainable products. Given the Soil Association's established credibility and national recognition, businesses partaking or wishing to join similar frameworks or assurance programmes could find partnership opportunities that enhance their reach and operational scope within the public health sector. Small to large enterprises with capabilities in managing diverse meal service types and implementing sustainable practices across varying healthcare environments will find this as a pivotal growth opportunity.

## Notice

We require the Soil Association to link directly with hospital sites that are striving to improve their food services, exchanging information on Higher Environmental Standards of food in the NHS. The Soil Association resource contracted as part of the project will draw up the spread of sites currently covered by their assurance scheme and identify the gaps to obtain as representative a sample of sites as possible that cook food in the NHS, based on their meal service type and their site type. As a purposeful gauge across healthcare sites: acute, community and mental health care sites will be used. This will include a full range of service types to include cook-fresh, cook-freeze and plated. Funding is from DEFRA The Soil Association brings nationally recognised expertise, credibility, and an established track record in supporting organisations to provide high-quality, sustainable meals. Their Food for Life framework champions fresh,

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015759-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - without competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 20 Feb 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 2 Feb 2026 |
| Contract period | 2 Feb 2026 - 31 Mar 2026 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £28,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NHS ENGLAND |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South East London |
| Postcode | SE1 8UG |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI4 Inner London - East |
| ITL 3 | TLI45 Lambeth |
| Local authority | Lambeth |
| Electoral ward | Waterloo & South Bank |
| Westminster constituency | Vauxhall and Camberwell Green |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | SOIL ASSOCIATION |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85100000 - Health services

## Release History

- 20 Feb 2026 at 14:58 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015759-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015759-2026
  20th February 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.england.nhs.uk/
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-065975. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-065975.json.