Twenty-five years ago, most chefs wrote menus according to what they liked to cook and what they knew guests would like to eat. Few people considered the seasonality of items or the consequences of importing ingredients from across the globe. Now, of course, the landscape has changed dramatically, with guests more conscious than ever before of where their food comes from. And with increased awareness comes an increase in responsibility for restaurants to be more careful in their sourcing and more responsible in how they operate their businesses.
We talked to three restaurant operators in the UK who have made sustainability a top priority. Suzanne O’Connor is the Executive Chef at The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant in Edinburgh, a member of the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) that’s been rated a Three Star Sustainability Champion by the organisation.
Vikas Malik is the Marketing Manager and John Page is the Operations Manager at the Gate in London, vegetarian restaurants that won the 2014 SRA award for Most Improved Sustainability. Finally, Jamie Grainger-Smith is the restaurateur behind London’s T.E.D Restaurant, the first-ever restaurant to be build by accredited, vetted and trusted sustainable suppliers.
In our conversations with these leaders, we learned that changing restaurant operations to be more sustainable is a process and an evolution, and your team must be committed to make it work.
Here are 12 things you can do to make your restaurant more sustainable
1. Cook what’s in season
You’ve heard it before, but the number one thing you can do make your restaurant more sustainable is to keep your menu seasonal. At the Gate, the team changes the menu four times a year — one for each season — and rotates in two new dishes every six weeks to accommodate ingredients with short growing seasons, such as asparagus.
At the Scottish Cafe, Suzanne changes her menu monthly so she can serve the freshest possible produce at its peak. And she doesn’t stop with produce – even proteins such as seafood and cheese are removed from the menu when she can’t find a good, sustainable source. When fish or squid are in a period of regrowth, for example, she’ll swap in smoked salmon. Operating this way requires a certain amount of flexibility and creativity on the part of the kitchen staff, but the quality is well worth the effort.
2. Partner with the right producers
At T.E.D restaurant, Jamie has set up an accredited sustainable supply chain for the industry, a network in which he connects restaurants to responsible suppliers and operators. Suppliers take an online test to show that they are following sustainable practices, and restaurants have ethical partners to choose from, as well as opportunities to tap into sharing and discount programs. John estimates that 90% of his suppliers are family-oriented businesses.
The owners of the Gate have been working with one of their vegetable producers, Nature’s Choice, for 25 years, and they make regular visits to the farms to understand the ingredients better. Just as consumers are interesting in knowing the source of their meat and fish, they can identify and learn about the specific farms that grow their vegetables.
“For us, it’s our core value: utilising people who are still caring about what they do,” says John. “We’re not a number, we’re a person.”
3. Grow it yourself
Suzanne’s team at The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant has taken local sourcing so far that a couple of years ago they started their own kitchen garden for the restaurants and hired a gardener to tend it. She sees it as an opportunity for chefs to learn about how ingredients grow — carrots, cabbage, beetroots, broad beans – and give the cooks a new appreciation for those items in their cooking. They are challenged to every bit of what they grow, and the food waste they do have can now go back into the garden as compost.
4. Buy locally, in bulk
Since the Scottish Cafe & Restaurant specialises in Scottish cuisine, Suzanne sources as much possible product locally as she possibly can. Now she finds that local suppliers will come to her because they know how she sources her food. Her current goal is to find a new Scottish supplier for the restaurant every single month. She also purchases peak-season produce in bulk (when it’s delicious and inexpensive) and finds creative ways to use it, such as drying, freezing and preserving. John advises limiting the items on the menu so that you’re wasting less. “If you can manage your menu and stock rotation and embrace the seasons when things are cheaper, that is my fundamental must-do.”
5. Think beyond food
Sustainability doesn’t stop with your menu. When Jamie built out the space for T.E.D, he partnered with a salvage company to source Victorian skirting boards and old doors, as well as tiles and reclaimed wood for the floors (he knows where all his wood is from and has certificates for his floors and tabletops). He was able to
allocate some of the money he saved on materials to purchasing better-quality, energy-efficient equipment.
“I didn’t want everything brand new and shiny,” says Jamie. “It gives the restaurant a certain warmth; it’s not polished. It has a welcoming feel, and people really seem to be enjoying that.”
Think about things like water usage and train your staff to turn off the tap when it’s not in use, as Suzanne did at The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant. Her team also installed motion-sensitive lights in the hallways so they don’t stay on at all hours of the day, and they challenge themselves to reduce usage by just a little bit — five to 10% — every month.
Consider your wine list, too, and look for producers offering biodynamic, carbon-neutral and organic wines. (Jamie even has one supplier who brings in his wine by sailboat from Portugal!) Including these products on your list is a great way to start conversations with guests about your philosophy and what you stand for.
6. Start small
Vikas and John have a saying at the Gate: Don’t try to run before you walk. Think about your goals and break them down into what’s achievable now versus what you’d like to achieve in the future. Make a road map, but understand that it could be years before you can make the changes you’d like to make from a business standpoint. Start by printing your menu on recycled paper and using linen napkins instead of paper ones. Research creative ways to reduce your waste and find out what it will cost you to invest in energy-efficient equipment.
Even if you’re not there now, you can set yourself up for success by getting your staff on board and creating the ethos and infrastructure you need to move forward. As awareness grows, new sustainable business opportunities are constantly entering the landscape. “In 2002-2003 we really struggled on simple things like bottled waste and cardboard waste,” says John. “We had to pay a fortune just for those things. In 2015 food waste is done effectively. That’s the general ethos now.”
7. Manage your waste — all of it
General waste, or landfill, is the most expensive kind of waste for restaurants, so find every opportunity to reduce it. Food waste can weighed, measured and go to compost so you know it’s being utilised elsewhere (or in Suzanne’s case, it can go right back into the garden). Recycle glass and cardboard, and return packaging to your suppliers to be reused. Since Suzanne has relationships with all of her suppliers, she tells them not to send anything in a styrofoam box. If you don’t have to get rid of the packaging, you’ll reduce your carbon footprint and your recycling bill will be lower.
“If you look at what content goes into your bin every day and you take your bottles out, you take your food out, your paper out, you take out your coffee grinds — then you look at what you put in the bin,” says John. “Think if there’s anything else you can take out. You’re reducing, so that’s actually a cost you’re saving.”
8. Do your homework
Sustainable, ethical business operations require a significant amount of research when it comes to sourcing food, materials and equipment and dealing with waste — especially when you do it in a cost-effective manner. Suzanne recommends starting by asking for as much information as possible about the products you buy and the producers who make them. Being aware of the choices you’re making is the first step.
From there, look for opportunities to minimise any cost increases that sustainable practices may bring. For example, at the Gate, cardboard waste is collected for free. The restaurant pays a levy tax through their local council, and with the tax the city will collect cardboard free of charge. That saves John from having to find another party to handle that waste, but he never would have discovered the opportunity without researching it himself. “They don’t tell you they offer it,” he says. “You have to ask them to come and do it for you; they won’t do it without asking.”
At T.E.D, Jamie researched a few different waste companies before settling on one that guarantees none of his waste will go into landfill. “You don’t always have to go with the one the local government recommends — there are private companies now doing a great job.”
9. Train your staff to be passionate about the cause.
We asked John what have been the biggest challenges in evolving his operations to be more sustainable, and without hesitation he responded: “staff training.” Even if you believe in your mission, it’s not always easy to get the rest of your team on board. If a chef has been doing something one way for 15 years, he won’t necessarily change his habits overnight – he really has to buy into it.
John stresses that you need that one person within your organisation who really believes in the cause, and you need to be able to educate your staff to make it work. He takes the team out four times a year to local farms and vineyards so they can learn about the products they’re working with.
And remember that the best way to get information to guests is through your staff, especially the front of house. Suzanne also conducts staff training about the ingredients they use — animals, seafood, produce — so they can repeat those stories to customers. If a guest asks why there’s no squid on the menu today, your staff can explain how you plan your menu around seasonality and sustainability first.
10. Extend your mission to the community
Vikas and John see charitable work as a core component of being a responsible business. This year, they sponsored the nonprofit Ambitious About Autism, which raises money and awareness for the condition. They held a special event with a dedicated menu meant to demonstrate what it’s like to have autism; since many autistic children tend to separate food according to shape and colour, they presented different courses with items focused on shape and colour, meant to be eaten individually. Proceeds from the dinner will be used to buy chocolate-making equipment for students in the Ambitious About Autism college, so they can begin making chocolates to sell.
“We’re giving these kids skills that are transferable so they can manufacture, market and sell these products themselves,” says John. “It’s actually learning a lot about the process of doing business in the food industry. It’s utilising all the components we’re talking about — sourcing, society, environment — and putting it back.”
11. Plan for the long haul
Is it more expensive to buy energy-efficient equipment than the standard stuff? In a word, yes — but you have to think long term to see the full value. “If you buy a cheap item, you’ll be replacing it very quickly, so you look at your depreciation over a three-year period,” says John. “If it’s a better product, it’s better made and has a better warranty on it. You may pay an extra 30% on that item, but it will depreciate over five or six years.”
Jamie estimates that he spends 10-12% more up front on equipment, but he says it’s easy to recoup those losses in other areas, such as buying salvaged pieces for furnishings. Plus, you’ll save money on energy costs. Jamie bought an energy-efficient coffee machine and eco-friendly refrigerators, and he’s confident that he will actually make money on those purchases in the new few years.
12. Prioritise customer satisfaction above everything else
While it’s important for your staff to be able to communicate your restaurant’s mission and vision, your first priority as a restaurateur should always be delivering an exceptional guest experience. Offer enough information — through staff education, your website, or even your menu — so that guests can ask for more details about sourcing and sustainability if they want them, but don’t shove the message down their throats.
“I want it to be a great restaurant,” Jamie says of TED. “This experience is not an excuse. Customers walk in there and all they see is a great-looking restaurant with good service and good food. You want people to go, that was great because it’s a great restaurant, and all this lovely stuff is very close behind.”
