Inside Allianz Stadium’s Kitchen and How Sustainable Food Can Elevate Every Event

"We've never been interested in smoke and mirrors," Chef Shaun Lawson explains. "Everything we do has to be genuinely good for the planet and for the people eating it. We want the food to be the star, but we also want to know we've done right by the farmers, the suppliers, and the environment along the way."

A Circular Kitchen, Defined by Practice Not Theory

This commitment forms the backbone of the stadium's circular kitchen approach: a system designed to minimise waste, maximise flavour and provenance, and embed sustainability not as an add-on, but as the everyday foundation of how food is created.

Circularity can often sound abstract, but Chef Lawson describes it in practical, lived terms.

"For me, it's nose-to-tail and root-to-shoot, actually doing it, not just talking about it," he says. "It's making sure we're using every part of what comes in, and when we can't, having open conversations with our suppliers so nothing is wasted unnecessarily."

Making Sustainability Visible

The team's approach is deliberately designed to support organisers, not burden them. Many planners today care deeply about sustainable events, but they also face tight timelines, stakeholder pressures, and long to-do lists.

And yet, when organisers do choose to lean in, especially at tastings, Chef Lawson sees how much it can enrich their event planning. "When we do plated tastings, I start talking from the moment the first dish hits the table," he explains. "Everything has a story. Where the beef came from. Why the fish is chalk-stream. The flour in the bread. The veg not being air-freighted. People look down and realise how much care has gone into what's in front of them."

From Kitchen to Delegate: Why the Story Matters

Food has always been central to how people experience events. A dish can be a talking point, a conversation starter, or a moment of connection. But knowing the story behind the ingredients takes that experience a step further.

"When someone knows the butter is local, the bread is produced using Wildfarmed flour, the fish is responsibly caught or farmed, it just adds something," Chef Lawson says. "It doesn't replace flavour; but maybe it enhances it. There's a kind of trust that comes with knowing the ingredients are high quality - it deepens the experience, even before the first bite."

He believes that this narrative can play a powerful role in helping organisers meet their business objectives too. "Most companies today have sustainability values. They want to communicate those values authentically," he says. "Food is a brilliant way to do that without it feeling forced. It becomes part of the fabric of the event and the business putting it on."

A Venue That Carries the Responsibility, So Organisers Don't Have To

More than anything, Chef Lawson wants event organisers to feel reassured: "Sustainability here is not an optional upgrade, it's part of who we are and how we operate," he says. "I know organisers have a huge amount going on, they're thinking about flow, registration, AV, sponsors, timings, everything. Sustainability shouldn't be another weight on their shoulders. Here, they can arrive knowing we're doing it for them, because it's the right thing to do, for the environment, for the farmers, and for the food itself."

At the same time, that foundation gives organisers the chance to elevate their event narrative without adding complexity.

"If you want to come on the journey with us, we'll take you with us. Either way, the sustainability is there. The quality is there. The story is there."

And perhaps that's the heart of the message: at Allianz Stadium, sustainable food isn't a decision an organiser needs to make. It's a decision that's already been made - thoughtfully, consistently, and for the long term.