Industry-wide initiatives to bolster restaurant sustainability practices have caught fire and begun to blaze a palpable trail in 2022. From eco-friendly food sourcing to sustainable packaging, the effort to go green and become better partners with our planet has topped the radar of many operators. According to National Restaurant Association’s What’s Hot Report, 86% of chefs surveyed noted that the top 2 culinary trends for 2022 would be sustainability and plant-based foods; to date, those predictions have been spot-on.
As restaurateurs seek to lower their carbon footprint, many find that, as with anything in the restaurant industry, going green does not come without its own set of complications. An unavoidable fact of sustainability is the higher pricing that comes hand in hand with it. Here are a few points of guidance where restaurant operators can find the balance between sustainable kitchens, quality packaging, and product, and profitability – all while creating a positive guest experience that keeps those patrons coming back for more!
Sustainable Packaging
Many restaurant sustainability practices begin with low-hanging fruit, like sustainable packaging. The evident shift from in-house dining to a heavier focus on take-out and delivery has forced operators to review their utilization within proper packaging and more narrowly, eco-friendly alternatives. Items like boxes, cutlery, cups, bags, bowls, and straws have all received green makeovers to ensure sustainable kitchens can move closer to a no-waste model. In fact, in a Press Release by Zion Market Research, it’s stated that the sustainable packaging market is projected to reach roughly $358.3BN by 2028.
The fine line that operators must walk is ensuring that these environmentally conscious options will still fit within their budgets and work with the nature of their food product, so the end result is still of the utmost quality for their guests.
Focusing On Product Integrity
To ensure restaurant operators aren’t sacrificing their product quality, it’s imperative to consider the type of food being served. This thought process needs to happen before an operator even considers the type(s) of packaging they want to utilize for their products.
- What menu items am I going to sell to-go?
- Make sure the items you choose will travel well to protect your brand and the integrity of your product
- What are the temperatures at which my product needs to be delivered?
- Hot items need to stay hot while cold needs to remain cold.
Finding The Right Packaging To Fit Product Integrity
Once an operator has determined which menu items can translate to a to-go or delivery scenario without losing quality, they can strategize on their packaging options. A few questions to consider include:
- How am I going to package my to-go items?
- What type of packaging corresponds to the respective menu item being sold?
- Where can I meet sustainability goals within my packaging?
- All too often, operators don’t focus on one aspect at a time and instead try an overhaul to meet an initiative of sustainable kitchens. It’s ok to focus on one product at a time: This could mean paper bags in place of plastic, cardboard instead of foam, and slowly trickling in the eco alternatives as you work towards the greater goal on a smaller, more manageable scale.
- How am I going to brand that packaging?
- Remember that product packaging is a great place to squeeze in some extra branding and marketing for your restaurant to reestablish your presence in the market.
Working With The Right Packaging Partner
Working with the right distributor to collaborate towards finding quality and the end goal of the product and restaurant sustainability practices while remaining cost-effective is essential to every restaurant operator. Knowing there are still lingering issues with the supply chain, it’s equally vital to work with your distribution partner (keyword here is partner) to ensure you’re mutually communicating about stock and product availability. Keep in mind that you can’t sell products without packaging, so positive relationships with your distributors are crucial!
Food Waste Management In Your Restaurant Or Bar
Another restaurant sustainability practice that frequently goes unnoticed due to flashier agendas in going green is food waste management. Operators who can successfully manage food waste in their restaurants or bars are not only reaching closer towards the goal of sustainable kitchens, but they’re also able to reduce their COGS as well – a win-win operational and financial strategy! Each of the items mentioned below interweaves between reducing overall waste and saving dollars while you’re at it.
Implement a Declining Spending Budget & Order PAR Levels
A best practice here is to involve your management team in forecasting. Educate your order writers to understand that your sales are fluid, so PARS should also be fluid. A declining spending budget can assist with this methodology as it tracks purchases throughout the week and alerts managers to know how much they have left to spend on order time.
Accurately Track Waste
Tracking waste by going old-school is a failsafe method to quantify said waste. Even the most modernized managers take it back by using a clipboard or even a waste bucket for this purpose! If you prefer that our team rings it in through the point of sale, make sure to void that sale (with the category of waste) instead of comping or discounting it. Additionally, check with your state to learn about its waste requirements; this is especially relevant to liquor. Some jurisdictions require spillage to run through your POS to ensure the booze is all accounted for.
Adopt The W.E.P.T Mentality & Train Your Team Accordingly
W.E.P.T stands for waste, error, theft, and portioning. If you train your managers to intimately know each of these factors within the BOH, you’ll be well on your way to better food waste management within your establishment.
- When it comes to waste, managers need to understand what that term actually means. Is the waste spoilage, or are managers over-ordering on PAR levels?
- Errors, on the other hand, can come from mistakes in the way that servers may be ringing in an item through the POS, or they may not recognize the difference between a void and a comp.
- Restaurants are businesses operating on slim margins. If chefs are consistently portioning incorrectly, something as seemingly minor as a half an ounce of extra dressing on salads night after night will add up quickly.
- Theft is an unfortunate gremlin in the underbelly of the restaurant industry. This is less of a restaurant sustainability practice in the sense of going green and more so just a good tip to keep your kitchen running smoothly in terms of general waste reduction (i.e. your bottom line won’t be sustainable if everything’s getting stolen or comped). Train managers to recognize if the product is going out the back door or if it’s being given away to customers without being properly rung in.
Keep Inventory Levels Low Without Running Out Of Product
Lastly, Lower inventory levels have been proven to minimize kitchen waste, among other significant benefits. For example, as we mentioned above, over-portioning; the less product available, the less likely your staff is to over-portion. This is a delicate balancing act as you never want to keep your inventory levels so low that you’re running out of product. Running out of product reflects poorly on your brand, so you have to find the inventory level that works best for your restaurant!
Restaurant Sustainability Practices In Summary
Overall, no matter how an operation chooses to participate in the efforts to create more sustainable kitchens and a greener future for the next generation, there are financially and operationally savvy ways to go no-waste. It takes a keen understanding of your product, budget, management engagement, and overall eco-friendly priorities to find the initiatives that work for your guest, your team, and of course, your profit.
Author Headshot & Bio
Dan Jacobs
RASI Chief Operating Officer
A tenured expert in the restaurant industry building long standing relationships with numerous QSR/TSR, single, and multi-unit operations for 20+ years in various leadership roles. Previously worked across North America implementing MICROS, Aloha, Digital Dining, and their respective back-office enterprise applications into SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise hospitality.