Put sustainability on the menu and you can visibly demonstrate your engagement for a food future that respects the health of the planet and its communities. With conscious choices you will win customers and employees over. By carefully picking the products you use, you can create a positive impact on the environment as well as on the health of your customers. Just think about more regional, more organic, less sugar, less salt.
Many customers will appreciate your efforts. In addition to a growing number of established consumers, the younger generation cares about the environment and how people are treated. By being more sustainable, you will build a positive image with your customers and create opportunities to win new ones. It is also an opportunity to differentiate yourself from other competitors and you will automatically create a positive impact for your existing and potential employees. Furthermore, your activities will have a positive, restorative impact on the environment and your local community. Your business will be future proof, because you can build a stable, profitable business when you buy products that are sourced and produced sustainably. As a restaurateur, you can have a real impact on the health of your community and environment through the meals you serve.
As restaurateur there are many ways how to make your menu sustainable. But as individual communities have different ideas of what constitutes a sustainable plate, you can employ the following steps according to your location and customers.
Around the world, we get our protein from different sources including plants, meat, and fish. The problem is that protein from most industrially farmed animal sources is bad for the environment owing to the methane emissions (which are converted to carbon dioxide), the abuse of water, and contamination of soil and water courses. Animal welfare is frequently ignored.
Farmed fish also has environmental impacts, such as water pollution and the release of diseases to wild fish. In turn, the number of wild fish is steadily decreasing and becoming contaminated with microplastics.
Consumers are ever more aware of the impact that their eating has on the environment. How we eat protein now and the way we will eat protein in the future is frequently a subject of attention in the news and on social media. You can be innovative in this space and show your customers how you really have a handle on a major sustainability topic through your menu. Additionally, customers are increasingly prepared to pay more for responsibly sourced protein.
Fortunately, there are many solutions that you can choose to include conscious proteins into your sustainable menu. When you choose a conscious protein approach you will have a key element of your sustainable menu established and you will create a positive impact on the health of our planet
Protein is an essential part of our diet and according to a person’s age, health and level of activity needs to be eaten in varying amounts. Protein is needed for the growth and repair of muscles as well as the proper functioning of hormones, enzymes and antibodies. All of this contributes to a healthy body that functions well. Proteins are made up from a mixture of twenty building blocks or amino acids. Different foods contain different amino acids. It is important to eat a variety of foods in order to get the right amino acids. Because of their different amino acid content, proteins can be divided into complete (meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese) and incomplete (beans, nuts, seeds, tofu etc). Incomplete proteins can provide the right amino acids if they are mixed for example in a dish made with rice and peas.
Conscious protein describes an approach which is based on consuming a diverse source of sustainable protein and the awareness of people in their eating habits. Conscious proteins include, for instance conventional, proteins obtained from animals that were raised to high welfare standards as well as alternative protein from plant sources.
Animal proteins are from meat and fish raised responsibly. It includes products like eggs and milk.Animal proteins that come from responsibly raised meat or fish means high welfare, fed with sustainable feed and in the case of ruminants grazed on pasture, responsible use of water, assured welfare, responsible use of animal treatments for example antibiotics, a positive impact on biodiversity for example by using heritage breeds, traceable and workers’ rights are assured.
Plant proteins are whole ingredients which include beans, grains, pulses, nuts, chickpeas, ancient grains such as quinoa and minimally processed ingredients such as tofu, tempeh and seitan. Produced responsibly means, for example, that responsible tofu would be from soy beans grown on non-deforested land and responsible nuts would be grown in orchards where water is managed responsibly.
Alternative proteins are either not commonly eaten or are completely new, being produced with novel (new) technologies and ingredients. Exciting work is underway around the world to reproduce meat in laboratories. There is some way to go before it can be considered completely sustainable due to for example the energy required to produce the proteins. The cost remains prohibitive and for some people lab meat is a taboo. Meanwhile it is worth keeping a close eye on developments as this field of research is changing rapidly. In East Asia, for example, fish has been successfully reproduced and marketed. Produced responsibly means, for example, responsible pea protein would be from peas grown on non-deforested land.
Discovering local and wild ingredients connects us to the natural environment. A growing movement of chefs have adopted this ancient practice of foraging, where they roam the uncultivated land closest to their restaurants. They dig, clip and pick the freshest ingredients to complement their menus which are usually lead by the seasons. In recent history, René Redzepi of Noma in Denmark popularised the concept and since then several chefs around the world have started foraging. While still niche, the foraging chefs have a strong connection to their communities, for example, Aidan Brookes of eleven98 in London. They raise awareness of eating sustainably, slowly building a wave towards a greater respect of the local environment and the need to look after their communities. Be inspired by chefs such as Ana Ros of Hisa Franko in Slovenia, Prateek Sadhu of Masque in India, HisotoNakahigashi of Miyamasou in Japan, Wojciech Modest Amaro of Atelier Amaro in Poland and Ricky Saward of Seven Swans Must Die in Germany.
It’s crucial that customers understand what you are doing. There are some things you can do to make your philosophy clear:
Show where your ingredients are from and who has produced them. Explain the sustainability labels of your ingredients (check first that the label scheme owner allows this and make sure you have the certificates available). Let your customers know how the ingredient is produced. Explain when it is from a local farmer who follows sustainable principles but has decided not to be certified. It is important to make this clear to your customers. Highlight dishes with vegetables and wholegrains. Generally explain your sustainability philosophy and tell your dishes’ sustainable story wherever possible.
Use your menu as an opportunity to show what you are doing as a restaurant to be more sustainable for example the way you manage food waste, food donations, involvement in your community. Invite customers to take food that they have not eaten home with them. In sustainable packaging of course!
Increasingly there are people with allergies and intolerances. The legal requirements to note these on the menu should be applied.
Consider that many consumers are used to choosing on the basis of taste and price. Sustainable ingredients often come after that. So focus on describing the taste first. Add descriptions depending on what would appeal to the type of customers you want to attract. For example :
Consider adding information on the origin of your ingredients to your website and social media pages as well as in print or on your menu display. It will save space in the individual dish descriptions.
Ensure that they can deliver the information in a knowledgeable and convincing way.
It’s crucial that customers understand what you are doing. There are some things you can do to make your philosophy clear:
Show where your ingredients are from and who has produced them. Explain the sustainability labels of your ingredients (check first that the label scheme owner allows this and make sure you have the certificates available). Let your customers know how the ingredient is produced. Explain when it is from a local farmer who follows sustainable principles but has decided not to be certified. It is important to make this clear to your customers. Highlight dishes with vegetables and wholegrains. Generally explain your sustainability philosophy and tell your dishes’ sustainable story wherever possible.
Increasingly there are people with allergies and intolerances. The legal requirements to note these on the menu should be applied.
Consider adding information on the origin of your ingredients to your website and social media pages as well as in print or on your menu display. It will save space in the individual dish descriptions.
Use your menu as an opportunity to show what you are doing as a restaurant to be more sustainable for example the way you manage food waste, food donations, involvement in your community. Invite customers to take food that they have not eaten home with them. In sustainable packaging of course!
Consider that many consumers are used to choosing on the basis of taste and price. Sustainable ingredients often come after that. So focus on describing the taste first. Add descriptions depending on what would appeal to the type of customers you want to attract. For example :
Ensure that they can deliver the information in a knowledgeable and convincing way.
Mirror your substainability philosophy on your menu! Here are examples how to do it:
Salads and herbs are grown in our indoor garden. Most of our vegetables are from local farms. When we need to we use sources further away.
Beef is from cattle pastured locally at Valley farm.
Fish is responsibly sourced via Mr FishMarket. Bread is from Mrs Baker in town.
Please tell us if you have an allergy and we will do our best to help you choose a suitable meal!
Milk and cream are certified organic from Mrs Wholesale.
Soya ingredients come from certified non-deforested land via Mrs Wholesale.
Frying oil is certified sustainable palm from Mrs Wholesale.
Spices, chocolate, coffee and tea are ethically traded from Mrs Wholesale.
Chicken and eggs are from certified sustainable free-range farms via Mrs Wholesale.
We transform our unused bread into bread crumbs and ingredients for our dishes.
All our dishes are available in 'hungry’ and 'very hungry’ sizes. Please tell us which one you would prefer. If it turns out you have a little too much on your plate after you’re done, we will give you the rest to take home with you.
If you can't make it to Lena's kitchen yourself or are in a rush to go elsewhere, we have a delivery and takeaway service. Our containers are compostable at home. Soon we will offer a container deposit scheme so you can save even more packaging going to the rubbish bin!
Watch this space.
When you have implemented sustainable options in your menu, start measuring the impact for example via direct feedback from customers or from rating websites, number of orders or profitability of dishes. You could consider using a digital tool to track your recipes and the impact of being more sustainable. Be aware that “farm-to-table” restaurants continue to appeal to restaurant visitors. Connect your customers to the source of your ingredients by talking with them about your menu. Explain why you made the changes. If you have traceability information on your menu or your website explain how it works. As a business your impact on your community will be so much more when your customers and staff understand what you are doing. Some might copy your practices in their shopping decisions. Your impact could be greater than you imagine!
Put sustainable products on your menu and keep in mind that individual communities have different ideas of what constitutes a sustainable plate
Create a menu that is inclusive for your customers meaning different portion sizes and options for different ways of eating
Use less meat and fish and focus on vegetables or new kinds of proteins
Highlight your sustainable ingredients on your menu and sustainable actions
Inform and engage your staff
Track and talk to your customers about your progress
METRO offers the digital tool PROTRACE where you can find out about both the product itself and the supply routes from its origin to the journey to METRO.
Applications that can support with menu design or communications are:
METRO supports you with a diverse product assortment and services for your sustainability strategy. Please check out the local METRO or makro website in your country.
