Tournament chefs at Wimbledon are overhauling player menus with a focus on gut health and sustainability to enhance athletic performance, according to reports.
The culinary team has introduced probiotic products, plant-based options, and fermented items such as kombucha made from recycled coffee grounds to meet the evolving demands of tennis stars.
"Gut health and probiotic products are very popular.
We're aware of that so we're absolutely thinking about that," said Joe Furber, senior food and drink manager at Wimbledon.
Organizers have also expanded sustainable sourcing, replacing salmon with Hampshire chalk-stream trout and beef with wild venison culled from London's royal parks.
New Menu Highlights
"It's something we've improved on for this year," added head chef Sam Kent.
"If a player walks into our restaurants and wants to focus on their gut health, we have provided them the options there, but also the information telling them that this is what's got good gut health in it."
Sushi remains a top favorite, requiring a full-time on-site team to prepare rolls from early morning to satisfy players at any time.
"Sushi is always popular with the players, it's number one … sushi is absolutely always popular across the board," said Kent.
"We can't make enough of it, they absolutely love it.
We have a full-time team of on-site sushi chefs and they are producing from the very early hours of the morning.
Sushi is available all times of the day."
The kitchen also repurposes leftover tournament staples, turning excess strawberries into jam and chicken sauces, while brewing fresh kombucha from daily coffee waste.
"We take the coffee grinds from that each day and we brew that into a fresh kombucha.
The coffee grinds are obviously something that are naturally wasted, they have many great uses, such as being used for compost, but also really interestingly, you can brew it into kombucha," said Kent.
This beverage offers a lower-caffeine breakfast option with direct nutritional benefits for competitors.
"So you're giving a second life to that product, but also then producing something that is both pre- and probiotic and much lower in caffeine … It's a really great breakfast start that also has loads of good gut benefit," he added.
Despite the structured health options, athletes often prioritize caloric intake to sustain energy during long matches.
"You will see slightly weird things, like someone will have pasta with cake on top," said Kent.
A separate menu area focuses on local wild venison, which has been adopted by over 20 sports stadiums.
"We swapped our beef for venison in a lot of spaces a few years ago.
Venison is fundamentally a more sustainable meat, with a lower carbon weighting … There is an abundance of venison in this country," said head chef Bryn Williams.
Williams noted the meat provides dense lean protein due to the deer's natural lifestyle.
"It eats a wild diet, so it's naturally eating what's good for itself, it lives a good life, and so it is nutritionally dense, it has a really high level of protein as well – people are looking for high levels of protein in their red meat, and it's naturally lean, it's got a much lower saturated fat content.
So you're talking about something that's really good for you as a person, and really good for the planet," he added.
Academic research supports these catering adjustments, linking a diverse microbiome to better physical resilience.
"Supporting gut health is important for athletes, especially when training or competing in hot weather," said Dr. Luciana Torquati, a sports nutrition researcher at the University of Exeter.
According to medical experts, targeted dietary choices mitigate the physical toll of rigorous tournaments.
"Foods containing live cultures like yoghurt and kefir, probiotic supplements, alongside prebiotic foods and supplements may promote a diverse microbiome and help support digestive and immune health, improve nutrient absorption, reduce gastrointestinal symptoms," she added.
These health-conscious menus are ultimately designed to keep players functional and free from illness under intense playing conditions.
"Together, these factors may help athletes better tolerate demanding conditions and reduce the risk of gastrointestinal symptoms and illness that can negatively affect performance," she stated.
