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What are the key partners in the SugarWise UK campaign?
Executive summary
Sugarwise is an international certification and campaigning body that partners with caterers, schools, retailers and technology providers to promote low‑free‑sugar options; examples named in reporting include school caterers such as HCL and Nourish Contract Catering, retailers and organisations like the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), and service partners such as the FoodMaestro app and NHS Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital for earlier initiatives [1] [2] [3] [4]. Sugarwise also works with academic scientists from Cambridge University and Parliamentarians to run summits and underpin its testing methodology [5] [6] [4]. Available sources do not provide a single consolidated “key partners” list for a UK campaign; the items above are drawn from press pages, news coverage and Sugarwise materials [3] [7] [8].
1. Who Sugarwise says it works with — schools, caterers and caterer examples
Sugarwise has repeatedly emphasised certification for school menus and the foodservice sector; reporting notes Nourish Contract Catering as an early school caterer awardee and HCL (Hertfordshire Catering Limited) as a named client whose primary school menus became Sugarwise‑accredited [1] [2]. Sugarwise materials state that over a million children in the UK eat from Sugarwise‑certified menus, indicating a focus on partnerships with institutional caterers [9].
2. Retail and institutional retail partners — RVS and major retailers mentioned
Sugarwise’s own news mentions the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) as “the first retailer to join” a new Alliance for healthier manufactured food and drink and describes engagement with “all the major retailers” on promoting lower sugar options via apps and retail programmes [3] [4]. Specific supermarket partner names beyond that phrase are not enumerated in the provided sources (not found in current reporting).
3. Technical and scientific partners — Cambridge University scientists and lab testing
Sugarwise credits its free‑sugar testing method to work involving Cambridge University scientists; the scheme’s chief scientists and collaborators from Cambridge are explicitly named in multiple pieces of reporting and explain the technical distinction the test makes between intrinsic and free/added sugars [5] [4]. This academic link is central to Sugarwise’s credibility claims [5].
4. Health‑sector and digital partners — NHS and FoodMaestro app
Early Sugarwise promotion and an AXA PPP award‑winning app were developed “in partnership with FoodMaestro and the NHS Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital,” according to a Sugarwise press release; that partnership framed retail and consumer tools for identifying Sugarwise options [4]. The sources do not list further NHS partner organisations by name beyond Guy’s and St Thomas’ (not found in current reporting).
5. Political engagement — summits and cross‑parliamentary outreach
Sugarwise has organised summits in the UK Houses of Parliament and the European Parliament, chaired or supported by figures such as Keith Vaz MP and with backing from an APPG for Diabetes; these events demonstrate partnerships or working relationships with parliamentary actors to promote policy and awareness [5] [3]. The sources show active campaigning alongside certification, not just commercial accreditation [8].
6. Brand and product partners — certified manufacturers and product reach
Crunchbase and Sugarwise statements assert that more than 300 products have been certified and that the marque is used on products shipped to dozens of countries; media coverage cites specific product awardees and brands over time [10] [7]. The news archive references individual certified brands and product launches but does not provide a comprehensive, current list of commercial partners for a UK campaign (not found in current reporting).
7. Limitations and gaps in available reporting
The available sources identify concrete partner types (school caterers, retailers, NHS, FoodMaestro, Cambridge scientists, RVS) and some named organisations (Nourish Contract Catering; HCL; RVS; Guy’s & St Thomas’; FoodMaestro) but do not present a single authoritative “key partners” roster for a specific UK campaign or a dated campaign partner list [1] [2] [3] [4]. For example, “all the major retailers” is asserted without individual retailer names in the provided excerpts [4]. Where a specific partner is not mentioned in these sources, that detail is not found in current reporting.
Summary recommendation for clarity seekers: if you need a definitive, current list of partners for a named Sugarwise UK campaign, consult Sugarwise’s press/contact pages or the campaign’s recent press release directly; the sources given here provide examples and partner types but not a single consolidated list [3] [8].