Sustainable hospitality in a few steps

Sustainability = competitiveness

A few years ago, it was enough if a restaurant presented a delicious menu with unique dishes, a pleasant atmosphere and friendly service, but today the quality of food and staff behavior are no longer the only factors that matter to consumers. Along with guests, environmental awareness has crossed the threshold of hospitality venues, and has become a criterion that increasingly influences consumer decisions, and thus restaurant competitiveness as well.

In a study conducted by the London-based Sustainable Restaurants Association, 80 percent of respondents said that sustainability could be a decisive factor in choosing a restaurant. Moreover, four out of five people expect the restaurant to do something for sustainability. But what exactly is sustainable hospitality, and what does it mean for the daily, operational functioning of restaurants?

What does it mean to be a sustainable restaurant?

Sustainable hospitality encompasses restaurants that strive to minimize their ecological footprint. Such efforts include sourcing ingredients from domestic producers instead of multinational companies, emphasizing seasonal ingredients (we wrote more about the importance of seasonality in this article), having a large proportion of vegan and vegetarian dishes on the menu, or using environmentally friendly packaging materials in delivery. In international trends, it is also noticeable that sustainability has played an important role in hospitality, as it increasingly appears among the evaluation criteria of competitions.

Tips for a sustainable kitchen

1. Nose-to-tail movement: The nose-to-tail movement was founded by Fergus Henderson, owner of the Michelin-starred St. John restaurant, who believes that "if we slaughter an animal, it is fitting that we consume every part of it". The movement bears witness to a kind of confrontation, as it often concerns those parts of animals that city dwellers have become unaccustomed to seeing. Some people eat only chicken breast, others only the noblest parts of beef, and the rest goes to the trash. The nose-to-tail kitchen philosophy naturally doesn't just work with meat. Fish have much more parts that can be processed than we might think – in this case the expression fin to tail is used. And we don't use plants completely either – the stem to root concept was created to counter this. You can read more about tips like these on our Instagram!
2. Storing mushrooms, vegetables in salty brine, vinegar or oil: Storing in brine or vinegar is one of the easiest ways to preserve. Cut flowers and vegetables can be stored in salt, vinegar, vanilla honey, or oil. Pickling and fermentation are also good options. You can even do this at home. If you want to preserve vegetables in vinegar brine, first pour two parts water into one part wine vinegar, then add some salt and sugar while bringing to a boil – if you like, you can also add mustard seeds and pepper. Meanwhile, cut the vegetables (those that cannot be eaten raw, such as eggplant, should be cooked before preservation). Then place the cut vegetables in a sterile jar and pour the boiled liquid over them. Let the sealed jars cool, then store them in a cool place. With this method, vegetables will keep for up to a year. For preserving brine, check out this page.
3. Local producers, excellent ingredients: "One of the basic requirements of a restaurant kitchen is fresh and high-quality ingredients. Of course, this comes from the region, from local producers, to the pantry, and from there to the plate. Personal relationships and working together are important to me. I know which ingredient comes from whom and how it was produced. They say you are what you eat... Let's eat quality food made from good ingredients, thereby supporting the work of local small-scale producers" – said Ricsi Farkas, chef of Pajta, in an earlier article. One of the basic requirements of a sustainable kitchen is that the production and transport of ingredients harm the environment as little as possible – and for this, cooperation with local producers who grow seasonal foods, do not overexploit the land, and emit as little carbon dioxide as possible during transport is an excellent opportunity.

Tips for sustainable operations

Beyond the menu, there are many opportunities for a restaurant to operate sustainably. From packaging, to food waste and waste management. Below we have compiled some helpful tips that not only benefit the environment, but also make your hospitality venue more competitive and socially responsible.

Sustainability in packaging

In the operation of a hospitality venue, packaging is one of the largest waste-generating parts. This doesn't just mean takeaway boxes, but PET plastic bottles, packaging of ingredients from suppliers, takeaway cutlery, and even though it may seem small, small-scale packaging (such as 5-gram sugar, honey, toothpicks, etc.) can also significantly contribute to a restaurant's environmental burden. To prevent as much waste as possible, you only need a few small steps:

- Instead of polystyrene packaging (this is the foam-like packaging similar to styrofoam that restaurants use to wrap hot food), prefer using your own boxes or join deposit-based systems like RAKUN, Cupler, etc.

- Don't offer PET plastic bottled drinks. Choose glass instead, or homemade syrups, lemonades, etc.

- Choose suppliers who, like you, strive for environmental awareness and this is reflected in their operations (packaging materials, transport, sustainable sourcing..)

Sustainable hospitality in waste management

Although there are restaurants that operate with almost zero waste, in the early stages waste will still be generated, so we have compiled some tips to handle waste responsibly.

- We know that selective collection already happens from the tap, but perhaps this is the easiest way to handle waste accumulated in the restaurant more environmentally consciously. All you have to do is separate glass, paper, plastic, metals, hazardous waste, and kitchen green waste.

- If you've already managed to collect kitchen green waste separately, you can use it most effectively through composting. We've written about this in more detail in an earlier article.

Sustainability through reducing food waste

30% of food waste is generated in the hospitality industry, which on an annual basis means roughly 390 million tons of food. Food waste generated in hospitality doesn't just mean leftovers left by guests, but also waste accumulated in the kitchen. Here's what you can do about it:

- One of the most important steps is gaining clarity. If you regularly measure how much food waste is generated at your hospitality venue, you can track not only the magnitude of the problem, but also day-to-day and week-to-week progress.

- In the kitchen, use as much of the ingredients as possible. For example, excellent stock can be made from vegetable scraps, and you can create new-wave dishes from unusual animal and/or fruit and vegetable parts.

- Serve smaller portions too. Guests often leave leftovers on their plates, which is very difficult to handle in an environmentally friendly way. If you want to prevent this, offer the option to choose smaller portions as well.

- Become a Munch partner. Through Munch, you can sell high-quality leftover food, so you can realize income that would otherwise be lost, which can even cover the salary of one full-time employee. You can read more about Munch and joining here.

Race to Zero restaurant award

Within the framework of the Kaposvár Save and Reuse program, we announced a sustainability award jointly with the Blue Planet Foundation and the Rakun Box Community.

With this award, we want to recognize hospitality venues that have already started on the path to sustainable operations. You don't need to operate 100% waste-free or with zero carbon emissions: it's enough if you answer a few questions compiled by the Responsible Gastro Hero Foundation and write about why environmental protection is important to you, what green measures you've already introduced, and what you're planning for the future!

From the applicant restaurants, the professional jury will select the Professional Award winner and 10 hospitality venues that can participate in the public vote.

The awards include free used cooking oil disposal, a €500 sustainable package, commission-free months with Munch and RAKUN, and free media coverage.

The evaluation criteria emphasize the main topic of the Race to Zero project, waste reduction, but also include environmental protection, innovation, and corporate social responsibility.

You can find the application form here!