Gone are those days when having a top-notch menu was enough to gain success in the restaurant industry. The deteriorating environmental issues including climate change have made people vigilant about the need for eco-friendly solutions in all industries. As a result, the demand for sustainable restaurants is on the rise.
If you want to transform your ordinary restaurant into a sustainable one, read this article thoroughly to learn about sustainability in restaurants and its best practices.
Let us begin with a brief introduction to the concept of sustainable restaurants.
What is sustainability in restaurants?
Sustainability in restaurants signifies the initiative that restaurants take to reduce their impact on the environment by adopting paperless operations, reducing food water and electricity wastage, introducing healthy menus, and more.
Importance of restaurant sustainability
Besides customers’ demands, restaurant sustainability offers many other benefits that prove the importance of sustainability.
> Brand reputation
By maintaining sustainability in your restaurant, you show your customers that you care for the environment and the planet which ultimately improves your brand reputation and credibility.
> Reduce food & water wastage
Restaurant sustainability helps you reduce food and water wastage which will accelerate environmental conservation.
A sustainable restaurant adds organic ingredients to its food preparations that encourage vegan and healthy eating.
> Recycling
Recycling things boosts efficiency, and reduces energy wastage and your expenses.
> Go paperless
Besides saving trees, embracing digitization to go paperless helps you avoid clutter and simplifies restaurant operations.
> Enhance customer-base
Offering healthy organic food, and other environmentally sustainable practices in your restaurant impresses your customers and helps you gain new ones.
Best practices for restaurant sustainability
Restaurant sustainability is all about caring for the environment that would help you decrease your restaurant expenses, encourage healthy practices, and build a better world for the upcoming generations,
Here are some of the best restaurant sustainability practices that you must be aware of:
1. Reduce food wastage
Statistics show that more than 19 percent of food is wasted worldwide which is an alarming rate. This puts immense pressure on the planet Earth which makes it essential for households and restaurant owners to reduce food wastage.
Poor stock management is one of the main reasons behind this in restaurants. To maintain sustainability you as a restaurant owner need to carefully observe and analyze your menu based on which you determine the quantity of each item you serve to your customers.
2. Use sustainable food packaging
Using sustainable food packaging is a great way to preserve the environment. You can go for the following options to embrace sustainability in packaging:
- Biodegradable: These packages are created with plants or plant wastes and easily degenerate within a few days.
- Reusable: reusable packages can be used in the future as well. They are typically made of bamboo, glass, wood etc.
- Recyclable: These packages are for single use but we send them to a recycling center to transform them into new products after use.
3. Decrease carbon emissions
Carbon emissions usually increase due to stock deliveries. To reduce this, you need to look for local suppliers and depend on seasonal products. This not only helps control carbon emissions but also lets you serve food cooked with fresh and healthy ingredients.
4. Adopt recycling
To reduce material waste, you need to adopt recycling. It is better to have multiple bins where you can store waste and keep recyclable items separately. Teach your employees about how to separate different types of waste.
5. Use energy-efficient equipment
Using energy-efficient equipment and appliances is also a great way to adopt sustainability in your restaurant. They might seem to be a bit expensive for small businesses but they consume less energy which makes them an energy-efficient option.
You can also go for second-hand energy-efficient restaurant equipment to save costs here.
6. Reduce water wastage
Controlling water wastage is a crucial step in maintaining sustainability in restaurants. Train your restaurant staff properly and encourage them to reduce water wastage in every possible way.
7. Embrace digitization
Embracing digitization means managing your restaurant operations online which completely eliminates the need for paperwork. Starting from accepting orders to delivery and table reservation everything can be managed digitally with the help of the right software like WP Food Manager.
Embrace restaurant sustainability with WP Food Manager
If you want to go online with your restaurant and manage restaurant operations online use an efficient WordPress restaurant management solution like WP Food Manager.
Why WP Food Manager?
It offers an A to Z solution to your online restaurant including
- An impressive WordPress restaurant theme.
- Table reservation service
- Online orders
- Delivery management
- Google Maps for displaying restaurant locations.
- Restaurant Gallery
- Tax invoices and more
- Besides all these services, it offers great support for users.
Frequently Asked Questions on Restaurants Sustainability
What is food sustainability in the food industry?
Food sustainability in the food industry refers to the process of ensuring food security and nutrition that helps protect the environment.
What are the goals of restaurant sustainability?
The goals of restaurant sustainability include the following:
- Protecting the environment
- Reducing food and water wastage
- Serving vegan and healthy food.
- Adopting a paperless culture with digitization.
What are the key components of restaurant sustainability?
The key components of restaurant sustainability include the following:
- Managing waste.
- Embracing environment-friendly practices.
- Food sourcing
- Maintaining energy efficiency.
