Sodexo & Prisons: What You Should Know

Sodexo does not contract with any prison entities, detention centers, or correctional facilities, public or private, in the United States. Sodexo does not operate any prisons or detention centers in any of the countries with the largest number of prisons¹. We provide food for staff and prisoners, maintenance and, in some cases, prisoner skills training, education and programs in 84 prisons in mainland Europe and Chile. Sodexo also fully manages five prisons - all in the United Kingdom. 

Sodexo has a formal company policy with ethical principles that guide where and how we provide services to prisons. These ethical principles guide Sodexo Justice to ensure we only provide services where we can make a positive difference to prisoners’ lives and where the country’s prison system matches our values. Sodexo’s ethical principles are: 

1. Sodexo will only work with democratically elected governments where the ultimate goal of imprisonment is prisoner rehabilitation. 
2. Sodexo will not provide prison services in countries with capital punishment. 
3. Sodexo will not provide services requiring our employees to carry firearms. 
4. Sodexo has not and will not lobby for tougher prison sentencing laws. 
5. Sodexo has never sought to persuade governments to outsource their prison services and has never knowingly supported any organization with such an agenda. 

Sodexo deliberately does not provide services to prison systems in the United States – the U.S. privately operated prison system is very different from privately operated prisons in Europe, and we do not wish to profit from prison labor or be involved in a system that incarcerates more than five times as many people per capita as in the U.K. 

Sodexo’s prison services in Europe have brought innovation with comparable or better levels of service delivery and care. Our contracts are heavily scrutinized, and all of the prisons we provide services to are performing at an acceptable level or above. 

Finally, Sodexo offers workshops and job training for inmates who are incarcerated at many of the facilities we support. These services include: 

1. Education and life skills 
2. Technical/professional training and work experience 
3. Health and wellbeing 
4. Substance misuse and offending behavior programs 
5. Sports and recreation

Any surplus generated from these workshops must be reported and anything above a previously agreed upon level must be re-invested in the prison solely for the benefit of prisoners.