Greener restaurants: 80% have changed raw materials and menus with the environment in mind

Seasonal cuisine, links with the local area, zero use of plastics and maximum limitation of food waste. Today, adopting behaviors related to environmental sustainability is a widespread awareness, even at the table. Especially thinking that the world’s food system is responsible for a quarter of total greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. We must therefore make a difference even when cooking and sitting at the table by adopting menus and economic models that are good for both our health and the planet.

The new concept of catering that is making its way among restaurateurs and their customers starts from these green considerations. The confirmation that in the last two years there has been an acceleration in this direction comes from Annual report on sustainability in catering presented from TheForkthe platform for online restaurant reservations in Europe and Australia.

“Since 2020, 80% of Italian restaurateurs have adopted more sustainable solutions. About twenty years ago, the terms zero kilometre, organic and sustainability tiptoed into our dictionary. Today, however, they constitute an increasingly heartfelt and widespread, even at the table”, explain the analysts who worked on the data made available by the 20 million reviews published by the TheFork community (20 million are the monthly visits).

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And it is no coincidence that the report was made known precisely on the occasion of the month of the Earth. Precisely to underline the link that restaurateurs, who are embarking on a path of sustainability, want to have first of all with raw materials. The study reads: “For restaurateurs, in fact, i genuine products seem to be a priority: the85% of respondents say they buy food from local provenancewith the 90% which he prefers seasonal raw materials (more than 30% of the total). The 45% admitted to choosing products with the brand of organic certification (more than 20% of the total).

For most restaurateurs, the 67%the motivations behind these choices are related to superior quality of productswhile for 44% they also join this ethical reasons and in line with the local corporate philosophy. A confirmation of how the sustainability increasingly represents a pillar of the restaurants’ mission”.

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Among the restaurateurs who declared that they are still in the process of transitioning towards more sustainable choices, there is 39% who expressed doubts about the cost increase of management related precisely to sustainability. Yet, in a context of rising inflation rates and gods energy coststhe choice to resort to more sustainable solutions such as the use of natural sources alternative energythe supply of local and seasonal raw materialshad, for about 40% of restaurateurs, a positive impact on their businesses, leading 60% of them to save between about 10 and 30% on running costs.

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Sustainability from kitchen to table

More and more restaurateurs are trying to concretely bring sustainability directly from the earth to the fork. Indeed, the 65% he said he had included at least one on the menu full vegetarian meal and the 22% undertakes to offer at least one with exclusively zero kilometer products. There is also 30% who say they have at least one product from the menu on the menu fair trade. In addition to food, water also plays an important role, and beyond the 44% of his favorite activities water from sources located within a radius of 100 kilometres.

Garbage collection and fight against waste

Attention to raw materials and their production chain, however fundamental, is not the only solution that restaurateurs adopt to make their businesses more sustainable. Self separate collection it is considered a must for almost all restaurants (95% of respondents), also the recovery of used oils and fats represents a fundamental practice for the environment adopted by around the 70%.

Particular attention is also paid to the consumption of water and electricity where respectively 60% and 90% of the interviewed realities put in place solutions that limit waste optimizing consumption, such as the installation of toilet with double button flush (65%) e taps equipped with flow reduction (47%), the use of light bulbs class A (90%), periodic reviews of boilers and plants of conditioning and adoption (43%) of control systems for the turning off the lights (34%).

“Every actor in the restaurant sector, directly or indirectly involved, has the responsibility to adopt a more virtuous approach. – he explains Henriette de Robillard, Sustainability Manager of TheFork. – By partnering with restaurants for over 15 years and having built a community of millions of users and restaurants, we have a unique opportunity to drive positive change and set higher standards for sustainable practices. Restaurants are not only vital social hubs that foster community and bring people together, they also have the potential to serve eco-friendly food. By supporting the transition of restaurants to more sustainable practices, we aim to increase their profitability and improve their social and environmental impact.”