Pulse Cultivator · Founding partner, food sector

Farm-to-fork expertise, straight into your kitchen.

Julie Cleijne and the Sustainable Kitchen Consultants team have been helping the food sector be more sustainable — and more profitable — since 2018. Now their community of expert food sector advisors brings that expertise to your team, with real-world sustainability insights, updates on the latest regulations, peer-to-peer learning, and the ability for you to have food claims checked against graded, peer-reviewed evidence.

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powered by Vitagri Pulse · 19,000+ graded, peer-reviewed records
Julie Cleijne, founder of Sustainable Kitchen Consultants, in chef's whites

Founding partner · Food sector

Julie Cleijne

Founder, Sustainable Kitchen Consultants

Julie's experience spans the full farm-to-fork supply chain: nutrition-trained chef, sustainability consultant, and a key contributor to the UK's first nutrient-density trials connecting soil health to the value of the food on your plate — the very question the Vitagri Pulse evidence catalogue exists to answer.

Backed by Masters-level qualifications in Sustainable Food & Agriculture and 25+ years of consulting experience, Julie and her team have led the conversation on Nutrient Density and 'One Health' principles across the food sector — championing a holistic approach from working farms to professional kitchens.

  • Masters-level, Sustainable Food & Agriculture
  • Nutrition-trained chef
  • IEMA Practitioner
  • UK nutrient-density trials
  • Great Taste Awards judge
  • British Leeks Ambassador

Project experience spans

Jamie Oliver Group · Sofitel · Hilton & Landmark Hotels · independent restaurants across the UK · East London Food School · FarmEd

The team behind the community

Chefs, not academics — with 150+ years of hands-on experience.

They've run the kitchens

Sustainability- and nutrition-trained chefs and supply-chain experts who have managed kitchens themselves — so when they read the research, they know what it actually means for your menu and your sourcing.

Food Sector Advisors

Organic farmers, regenerative agriculture specialists, award-winning sustainability-focused recipe developers, food-waste experts, restaurant owners and front-of-house leaders — ready to answer your questions.

A growing network

Learn peer-to-peer within your own team, or across others — a member network spanning the UK, Australia and Norway, and growing.

Meet your Advisors

What membership gives you

Real-world advice, evidenced and endorsed — not just reported.

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Chefs, not academics

Advice with real-world application and impact, from people who have managed kitchens and read the research through that lens.

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Ask the Advisors

Put your questions directly to Julie, the SKC team, or their Food Sector Advisors, and draw on real-world experience and lessons learnt.

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Can you say that?

Check a sourcing story, a menu claim, or a supplier promise against the evidence before it goes public, to ensure compliance.

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Collaborate across teams

Learn peer-to-peer within your own team — or for richer learning, across others in the network.

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What the industry's actually discussing

See the questions, debates and decisions other kitchens and teams are working through — evidenced and endorsed, not just reported.

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Monthly Advisor Insights

Lessons learnt and analysis of the latest research, straight to your feed.

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Bespoke advice

Bring your specific project to the team and Advisors, with full confidentiality guaranteed, for detailed tailored input and support. *Additional fee

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Early notice and discounts on Sustainability Training

Early-bird notification and member discounts on Green Food Skills Training online programmes and in-person events. Booking and payment are via the SKC website.

Your team's sustainability initiatives, supported by expert eyes.

The community runs on Pulse Cultivator, Vitagri's white-label platform. Your team can ask questions of food sector expert advisors, and benefit not only from their wealth of experience, but also your peers can share their insights — and everything is supported by Vitagri's robust evidence database.

  • Advisor insights in your feed — lessons learnt, ideas, and “what this means for your menu…” analysis, pinned where your whole team sees it.
  • Vitagri's graded evidence for your initiatives, on tap — ask Advisors in plain language and get cited answers from Vitagri's 19,000+ peer-reviewed records.
  • Claims checked before they go public — sourcing stories and menu claims tested against the evidence and regulations, not against instinct.
  • Works from a busy kitchen — asking for insight is easy, even from a busy hot kitchen: it only takes a thumb and a voice note, not a desk and a keyboard.
Charred leek wraps with watercress and radish, plated on an olive board
✓Endorsed against the evidence

Can we call the new spring menu “regeneratively sourced”?

9 backed it5 refined it2 challenged
Backed by Vitagri Pulse — graded, peer-reviewed evidence.

Green Food Skills Training

Want to go deeper? Green Food Skills Training.

The community is where you learn alongside your peers and the advisors, day to day. For structured, certificated training, members get early-bird notification and discounts on SKC's Highfield-accredited Green Food Skills Training — online programmes and in-person events, blending digital learning with face-to-face sessions on working farms and in kitchen environments. Booking and payment are via the SKC website.

Who it's for

Back of house, front of house, and the boardroom.

Whether you're buying, cooking, serving, managing, selling or marketing food, leading food business operations, or managing sustainability initiatives — this community is for you.

Questions

Straight answers.

What is the Sustainable Kitchen Consultants community?

It is a members' community for food-sector professionals, led by Julie Cleijne and the Sustainable Kitchen Consultants team on Pulse Cultivator — Vitagri's white-label platform. Members ask questions of expert food-sector advisors, learn peer-to-peer, read monthly advisor insights, and have sourcing stories and menu claims checked against graded, peer-reviewed evidence before they go public.

Who are the Food Sector Advisors?

Sustainability- and nutrition-trained chefs, supply-chain experts, organic and regenerative farmers, award-winning recipe developers, food-waste experts, restaurant owners and front-of-house leaders. Between them they bring more than 150 years of hands-on food-sector experience, and members can put questions to them directly.

Who is the community for?

Anyone buying, cooking, serving, managing, selling or marketing food, leading food business operations, or managing sustainability initiatives — spanning back of house, front of house and leadership roles across food service, manufacturing and retail.

How are food and sustainability claims checked?

Members can test a sourcing story, a menu claim or a supplier promise against the Vitagri Pulse evidence base — a curated catalogue of graded, peer-reviewed records — and against current regulations, before the claim goes public. An idea only carries the endorsed mark once Sustainable Kitchen Consultants' experts have endorsed it against the evidence; popularity never earns it.

Does membership include sustainability training?

Members can benefit from early-bird notification as well as discounts on SKC's Highfield-accredited Green Food Skills Training online programmes, and in-person events. These provide practical, job-ready skills for accelerating food sustainability initiatives, blending digital learning with face-to-face sessions on working farms and in kitchen environments. Payment for these is via the SKC website.

Join the community

Tell Julie and the team a little about you. They'll be in touch about membership — if you decide to join the group, the cost is £20 per month plus VAT.

Your enquiry goes to Julie Cleijne and the Vitagri team.

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