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During June 2025, the “Institut Català de la Salut” (ICS) officially awarded the remaining lots of the tender for kitchen services, staff and patient dining rooms, and cafeterias for personnel and the public. The joint venture formed by SERHS Food and CLECE has been selected to manage two of the four lots offered (lot 1 – Barcelona – and lot 3 – Tarragona; lot 4, concerning the centers in Lleida, was awarded solely to SERHS FOOD earlier this year). Specifically, the joint venture will manage the Bellvitge University Hospital and Viladecans Hospital in Barcelona, as well as Joan XXIII Hospital, Francolí Social Health Hospital (GIPPS), and Virgen de la Cinta Hospital in Tortosa, Tarragona. In total, five ICS-affiliated centers are included. The contracts will last four years, with an estimated turnover exceeding 63.73 million euros.
SERHS Food, headquartered in Mataró, has a long-standing history of over 40 years in the collective catering sector, with a team of 2,500 professionals. It stands out as the first company in the sector to obtain certification under the FSSC 22000 v5 standard for food safety at its high-performance kitchen (CAR) in Mataró, and also holds ISO 9001:2015 for quality and ISO 22000:2018 for food safety. In February, it was also re-awarded the food service contract (lot 4) it had been managing for four years at Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital and Santa Maria University Hospital in Lleida (GSS).
These awards are highly symbolic and significant in the healthcare sector, as they involve flagship hospitals in the region. Top-tier centers such as Bellvitge Hospital—a major complex with nearly 1,000 beds and ranked among Spain’s best hospitals in management and nursing reputation, and a leader in heart and kidney transplants in Catalonia in 2024—are included. The new tender includes improvements in equipment, innovation and process digitalization, as well as sustainability enhancements related to raw materials and logistics.
2024 has been a great year for Serhs Food.
This year has allowed us to make progress in many important areas: we have secured new contracts, improved sustainability, promoted fresh and local products, and worked with a team committed to improving people’s quality of life. From awards and conferences to filming projects at Castell Jalpí, everything has been possible thanks to your trust.
Thank you for joining us on this journey! With great enthusiasm, we close a 2024 full of successes and learning, and we are ready to face a 2025 full of new challenges and opportunities.
On October 24th of this year, the El Maresme Foundation successfully held the IV edition of the Meeting on Social Progress with Social Commitment, a biannual event that recognizes the work of companies and entrepreneurial projects from the Maresme that collaborate in the social and labor inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in the region. The event was held in the Theater of the Café Nou building in Mataró, with the attendance of more than 100 people, including representatives of the award-winning companies, professionals from the sector, people assisted by the Training and Insertion Service – SEFI of the Foundation and other social and business agents from the region.
The opening ceremony was led by Ms. Ariadna Manent, deputy director of the El Maresme Foundation, and continued with an inspiring presentation by Albert Cañigueral, multimedia engineer, popularizer and writer specializing in digital innovation and its social and economic impact. Under the title “Work is no longer what it used to be, and now what?”, Cañigueral explored the opportunities and challenges of today’s working world and the need for new forms of collaboration between humans and new digital technologies, especially in light of the unstoppable growth of AI.
Business awards. The meeting continued with the presentation of business awards. The Maresme Foundation has a network of 1,700 companies that collaborate with the entity. Cabré Junqueras was recognized in the category of unconditional collaboration with the services and centers of the El Maresme Foundation, a recognition directed to those companies that have collaborated altruistically with the entity by making donations without expecting anything in return. Clinical Nutrition received the recognition for continued commitment to the El Maresme Foundation, directed to those persevering companies that, since its beginnings, have been clients of one of the services of the CEO del Maresme special work center. On the other hand, the recognition for the work of labor insertion of people with intellectual disabilities in ordinary companies has gone to Serhs Food, an award that aims to highlight those companies that are committed to inserting unemployed people from our SEFI Training and Insertion Service into the labor market.
Martin Eslava, a worker at the Mataró High Performance Kitchen (CAR), together with Eudald Puig, the company’s marketing director, participated in the event and received the award.
Finally, the fourth prize, a new award this year, recognition of the project for social and labour inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities, went to Naturmed Healthcare. This new category is aimed at entrepreneurs or companies that have launched an inclusive business project giving people with disabilities the opportunity to take part.
“The future will be inclusive or it will not exist.” With this visionary phrase, Mr. Miquel Guillen, trainer of Tecnocampus, started the inclusive round table, with the participation of representatives of the award-winning companies and workers with intellectual disabilities linked to them. This round table made visible the personal and work experiences of the workers and the inclusive role of these companies, which coincided in highlighting the high degree of motivation, teamwork and commitment shown by the group.
The closing ceremony included a special message from Mr. Sergi Morales, second deputy mayor and councillor for economic promotion and territorial planning of the Mataró City Council, who was unable to attend but shared his congratulations and support through a video.
The closing speech was given by Mr. Miquel Montané, president of the El Maresme Foundation, who, among other messages, highlighted that “cooperation between companies and entities in the social sector is the tool that allows us to achieve effective inclusion, helping to boost the local economy and consolidating a fairer and more sustainable economy.” He also emphasized that “companies can act under duress, when regulations force them to, for convenience, when self-interest is the driving force; or out of conviction, when ideals and values guide their path. The companies we recognize act out of conviction. They firmly believe that the social inclusion of people with cognitive functional diversity is a responsibility of all, they know that contributing to a fairer society is a shared commitment.” Montané ended by thanking them “for being part of this change, for joining forces and making inclusion a palpable reality.”
As SERHS Food, this recognition reaffirms our strategy of integration and collaboration with local entities and people close to the territory who provide added value to the community.
Over the last few months, SERHS Food has been a major player in key events focused on dysphagia, a condition that affects the ability to chew and swallow and particularly affects the geriatric population and people with neurological diseases. This collaboration has been carried out with institutions such as FUREGA, the Maresme Health Consortium and prestigious professionals, such as Dr. Pere Clavé, internationally recognized for his work in the field of dysphagia.
One of the highlights was the participation of the Mataró High Performance Kitchen team, together with other SERHS Food professionals, in workshops organized by the College of Dietitians-Nutritionists of Catalonia (CoDiNuCat). These workshops, aimed at both professionals and caregivers, included experience in the preparation of diets with modified textures for C and E types of dysphagia. Especially significant was the workshop focused on caregivers of people with swallowing problems in collaboration with the Arboç School of the El Maresme Foundation.
In addition, SERHS Food played an active role in the European Research Night, an event held in more than 300 European cities. In Barcelona, SERHS Food offered workshops at both CareCityLab and Cosmocaixa, where Abel Llovet, a chef at the Hospital de Mataró, presented a menu adapted to patients with dysphagia. This menu included dishes such as a fideuá with textures type C (thick puree) and E (chafable with fork), as well as other options that received a high rating by the attendees such as the innovative coffee in milk.
According to the International Dysphagia Foundation, this condition affects approximately 8% of the world’s population, with a much higher prevalence in older people or those with neurodegenerative diseases, reaching up to 30% in patients with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease. These data underline the need for constant research and innovation in the field of adapted nutrition.
By participating in these events, SERHS Food reaffirms its commitment to the continuous improvement of the quality of life of people with dysphagia. The development of safe, attractive food solutions adapted to the specific needs of each patient is one of the company’s main objectives. The integration of new scientific knowledge, together with innovative culinary techniques, is essential to continue advancing in this field, which is so important for the well-being of patients.
On March 20th, the first comprehensive study of collective catering in Catalonia was presented at the RC_MeetingPoint space of Alimentaria&Hostelco in Barcelona. This sector, with a turnover of nearly 1 billion euros (€967,048,123), caters to over 570,000 users daily. School cafeterias account for 46% of the revenue, followed by geriatric residences (26%), hospitals (14%), businesses (12%), and penitentiary centers (2%).
Titled ‘Collective Catering in Catalonia: Seeking the Microscopic View of the Sector,’ an overview of the sector study in Catalonia was presented at the Alimentaria & Hostelco Colectivities area (#RC_MeetingPoint), driven by the magazine ‘Restauración Colectiva‘ and specialized consultancy Univer.
The study was introduced by Ana Turón, director of the magazine and congress of ‘Restauración Colectiva,’ Alexandra Tamas, founder and CEO at Univer, and Raimon Bagó, vice president of the Foodservice Cluster of Catalonia and CEO of Serhs Food. The study and database will be available from June 2024 onwards.
The presentation sparked significant anticipation as it marks the first comprehensive analysis of the sector in Catalonia, providing a detailed overview of this market for the first time.
SERHS Food has been awarded the contract to develop the home-delivered meals service (SAD) in Mataró consisting in the previous preparation and delivery at home of the 50 daily users of balanced and healthy meals. This is a complementary service offered by the Social Welfare Service of the Mataró City Council aimed at elderly people with dependency and/or functional diversity, 365 days a year and which began this March.
The company has more than 40 years’ experience working in the world of collective catering and specifically as pioneers in the Home Meals Service (SAD) for vulnerable people. As specialists in the production of personalized diets for each user, the dishes are cooked in the high performance kitchen (CAR) in Mataró certified in the FSSC 22000 v5 standard and which also has ISO 9001:2015 on quality and ISO 22.000:2018 on food safety.
Customer satisfaction is the fundamental pillar on which the service is built which is based on people, menus and attention to users. There are 10 diets (and their combinable with each other) with 150 specific dishes for this service based on the principles of the Mediterranean Diet. All dishes are endorsed by the team of dieticians regarding nutritional recommendations. SERHS Food currently provides this home-delivered meal service (SAD) in more than 10 municipalities in Catalonia.
In order to reduce and raise awareness about food waste and at the same time collaborate with vulnerable people, SERHS Food, which manages the food service of health centers, promotes this initiative together with the Sant Vicenç de Paül Charity Association of Lleida.
The food sector regulations require companies to create channels for the use of food to reduce waste and make accessible to the public food in perfect condition from the standpoint of food safety. Under these premises, the Arnau de Vilanova and Santa Maria hospitals, the San Vicente de Paül Charity Association and SERHS Food have been working together to promote a collaboration agreement which includes this initiative to give food surpluses to people in Lleida who are socially vulnerable.
The protocol in this case, and considering that it takes place in an environment and with strict food safety processes based on the ISO 22000:2015 standard, is focused on food surpluses from the kitchen and cafeteria based on the Food Waste Prevention Procedure, which is part of the objectives established within the hospitals’ Continuous Improvement Plan.
The Association of Charity Sant Vicenç de Paül is a group of volunteers who are part of the International Association of Charity (AIC), founded by St. Vincent de Paül in the seventeenth century, to promote the fight against poverty and injustice in the world. The volunteer team in Lleida has its headquarters in Cavallers street, specifically in the parish of Sant Andrés.
SERHS Food is the first and only collective catering company in Spain in high-performance cuisine that is certified with the FSSC 22000 v5.1 standard and also has ISO 9001:2015 on quality and ISO 22000:2018 on food safety. Since the origin of the company, more than 40 years ago, the company’s human aspect, solidarity and sustainability have been the main pillars of its performance.
Since we managed the food service of the Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital, at SERHS Food, we have been very aware of the need to be more actors than spectators in relation to the initiatives that are carried out in the demarcation of Lleida.
From now on, we add a new collaboration that emphasizes the support for research and innovation in health, from the Institute of Biomedical Research Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRB Lleida). From this entity, synergies are created between basic research, clinical research and epidemiological research, because biomedical research is the engine for improving daily clinical practice, for the benefit of the entire population. From the IRB Lleida, a chain of translational research is reached, from basic research to the one that studies the behavior of the ailments in large population groups.
If at the end of 2018, we closed a collaboration agreement with the Special Work Center (CET) “El Pla” of Almacelles to promote job security for people at risk of social exclusion, now, from SERHS Food, we take the initiative again to participate in supporting entities that seek a benefit for society that is becoming more demanding every day.
The agreement between IRB Lleida and SERHS Food has been done in a relaxed act and where the representatives of the two entities have set up new meetings to monitor the different projects, which SERHS Food and others companies support.
From today SERHS Food manages the Catering in Company Service (SAC) of the city of Barcelona, through which we assist mostly people over 65 with social needs.
With this service, SERHS Food guarantees physical and social nutritional well-being to people in a vulnerable situation, whether they are elderly people living in dwellings without conditions to conserve or cook food or elderly people who live in well-maintained homes but they require a follow-up of health habits outside their home.
In the same way, SERHS Food will provide service to all those elderly people at risk of social isolation. For this aim, beyond the basic food service, we will encourage and enhance the maintenance and improvement of the autonomy of the people, making decisions and having control over one’s life.
We planned a series of activities that will be carried out in the dining rooms and will help to promote good relations, interpersonal communication between users and the strengthening of skills, resources and support networks to enable people to improve their welfare and be as autonomous as possible. The activities planned ranged from the organization of cooking workshops, to urban gardens, recycling activities, pottery, initiation into English, yoga and even laughter therapy.
The contract that SERHS Food has signed with the Barcelona City Council is valid until December 31st of 2020 and may be extended for one more year. The service includes Catering in Company of the districts of Horta-Guinardó, Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and Sant Martí, and will offer more than 400 meals every day.
As on other occasions, providing this social service of care and healing to people, is very important for SERHS Food, since our philosophy, beyond the business objectives, is to work continuously to ensure the food needs of citizens and their well-being.
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