Sustainability in Restaurants: How Taqtics Can Help?

As the world focuses more on the betterment of the environment, sustainability in restaurants becomes a crucial topic. Customers are aware that restaurants face several environmental issues, such as pollution and food waste, hence making sustainability in restaurants important. Besides, the implementation of sustainability practices in restaurants operations are likely to grow as consumers become more aware of environmental impact and as sustainable options become more readily available. 

Restaurants take a stand to act more sustainably; they give customers the power to do so too in their everyday lives. This approach heavily influences people’s decisions when eating out. Let’s ask yourself if you’re choosing between two eateries, one is sustainable or the other isn’t, which one you would prefer? Think of? Don’t worry; in this blog, I will clear all your doubts regarding sustainable restaurants and how to establish your ones. Let’s start!

What is Sustainability in the Restaurant Industry?

Sustainability in a restaurant refers to a restaurant’s commitment to minimizing its environmental impact, supporting local communities, and promoting social responsibilities. We live in a digitally connected world where everyone is aware of most of the pressing issues, and sustainability and global warming are among them.

Nowadays, sustainability is more than being nice; it has become the standard that every restaurant should follow. Over 80% of respondents said that sustainability is an important deciding factor when choosing a place to eat, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the Sustainable Restaurant Association.

Sustainable practices are essential to meet the needs of the present without sacrificing the needs of the future. Besides, you need to show your customers that what they are paying for if want to attract customers.

Key principles of sustainability in restaurants include:

• Leveraging sustainable packaging
• Minimizing food waste
• Reducing carbon emissions
• Introducing healthy food options
• Buying energy-efficient appliances and equipment
• Composting
• Reducing water and energy consumption
• Supporting ethical local practices
• Sourcing local and seasonal ingredients
• Minimum purchase at a time

Implementing these key principles in your restaurants can create a holistic approach that benefits your business, the environment, and society. 

Benefits of Sustainability in Restaurants

Here are some of the notable key benefits of sustainability in restaurants.

• Brand Loyalty

Sustainability drives customer loyalty; when your restaurant’s values align with your customers, they are more likely to feel a connection to your brand.

• Growth of Customer Base

Sustainability in restaurants isn’t limited to specific niche markets. Incorporating a range of vegetarian and vegan dishes on your menu will attract more customers and appeal to many customers who are interested in changing the way they help the planet. 

• Increased Profits and Recovered Costs

As the number of customers increases, your restaurant’s profits will also increase in the long run. Moreover, following sustainable practices, like lowering waste and investing in eco-friendly products, will help you to reduce revenue loss. Even though adapting to sustainable practices will be expensive initially, in the long run, the assets will definitely pay off.

• Top-Notch Services

Sustainable food sourcing can help your menu look more refined, varied, and of high-quality. This will promote your restaurant more, bringing in more customers and expanding your customer base.

• Shortened Supply Chain

When you start sourcing food from local suppliers and businesses near your area, you are shortening your supply chain. This means less distance is travelled to get the perfect veggies and everything you need to cook delicious foods. This all translates into less carbon emissions and adds sustainability to operations. Moreover, you are supporting local businesses, which is another plus point. 

Besides, you can add more people (preferably your customers) to this chain of adopting sustainable practices, by adding simple facts to your menu. These facts should make your customers think about how their small steps can lead to big change. You can tell your followers subtly on social media how your restaurant is playing a part in sustainability to gain attention and create awareness. 

Ways to Improve Your Restaurant’s Sustainability

Here are some effective ways that you can use to improve your restaurant’s sustainability.

1. Use Sustainable Food Packaging

You can use sustainable food packaging in your restaurant. There are primarily three types of sustainable packaging available: biodegradable, recyclable, and reusable.

• Biodegradable Packaging: This type of packaging is single-use and can be easily decomposed in just a few days to months. It is made of cardboard, paper, or bio-based polymers. Biodegradable packaging is widely used in restaurants, particularly in the food and beverage industry. 

• Recyclable Packaging: Recyclable packaging is a type of packaging that can be easily recycled instead of disintegrating. In the past few years, demand for this packaging has immensely risen. Many businesses in the food or beverage industry prefer to use single-use packaging instead of polluting alternatives.

• Reusable Packaging: Reusable packaging is a sustainable alternative to single-use containers that can be used numerous times over their lifetimes. In recent years, this type of packaging has been very in demand due to its environmental friendliness and cost-efficient features. It is highly durable and made of glass, wood, aluminium, bamboo, or recycled plastic. 

2. Reduce Delivery Carbon Emissions

Have you ever thought of a carbon footprint in your restaurant? There should be no doubt that the food industry leaves behind a large footprint, especially because of delivery orders after the pandemic. However, this carbon footprint can be manageable with some innovative and simple steps.

• Improve delivery efficiency by prioritizing orders, avoiding traffic, and assigning specific areas to drivers.
• Assign drivers to deliver several orders at once so most of the stops can be covered in one trip.
• You should invest in electric vehicles such as scooters or cars for your drivers.
• Disposable but safe cutlery should not be given unless specifically requested.

There are field-service management apps with AI features that can assist your field workers in streamlining deliveries. The app will suggest the best route, considering all the real-time obstacles, including traffic, road construction, and others, and suggest the shortest route. It is best to invest in such apps, and they are only suitable if your restaurant offers home-delivery services. 

3. Minimize Food Waste

Next, reduce food waste in your restaurant to improve sustainability and reduce carbon footprint. You can do it by buying ingredients in small quantities instead of bulk, monitoring inventory levels, and adopting portion control.

You can also donate excess food to local shelters or composite it. For instance, you can use the FIFO (first-in, first-out) method or adopt restaurant inventory management software if you want to manage your restaurant more efficiently.

4. Introduce Healthy Menu Options

You should incorporate a menu that has healthy eating options to improve sustainability in your restaurant. This can be useful for attracting health-conscious people plus reducing carbon footprint as well. Here are some tips to make your menu more nutritious and delicious.

• Incorporate dishes with more veggies in your menu (e.g., vegetarian burgers, pizza, curry, etc.).
• Buy local, seasonal ingredients.
• Label all meal ingredients and sources.
• Increase whole foods on your menu.
• Reduce processed food usage.
• Offer healthier side dish options.
• Use more legumes and nuts on your menu.
• Use plant oil for cooking.
• Focus on healthy fats.
• Serve seafood dishes
• Offer alternatives to dairy products.
• Reduce the use of added sugar.

We suggest adding more vegan options because most livestock farming and fishing practices are unsustainable and damaging to the environment. Whether it be greenhouse emissions, ocean pollution, mass deforestation, or water contamination, animal farming can have a significant impact on your business. 

5. Purchase Energy-Efficient Equipment

Restaurants consume a significant amount of energy by cooking, lighting, and refrigeration. However, by implementing energy-efficient appliances and equipment, the restaurant can reduce its energy consumption. These methods can be expensive in the beginning, but they consume less. Additionally, you can use programmable thermostats to cut down on energy use and expenses by turning off lights when not in use. 

Another significant investment you can make is purchasing and installing solar panels. We understand that it is a huge expense, but many government programs reduce the upfront cost, and it is cost-efficient in the long run. 

6. Reduce Water Usage

Restaurants use a lot of water in their day-to-day work, including cooking, cleaning, and other activities. However, by implementing water conservation measures, restaurants can minimize their water usage. For example:

• Fixing faucets
• Using high-efficiency dishwasher
• Use water-saving toilets
• Use solar panels for water heating.
• Store rainwater for the garden.
• Encourage your staff to turn off taps when not in use.

All of these tips can help you make your restaurant sustainable and eco-friendly. The hospitality and food services produce around 2.87 million tonnes of waste every year and less than of it is recycled, according to WRAP Statistics. So, as an emerging restaurant, pledge to take a step towards sustainability and make your restaurant different from the competitors in your area.   

How Technology Helps Restaurants to Introduce Sustainability?

Here are the key points for sustainability in restaurants, organized by technology:

• Utilize a guest-facing point of sale (POS) technology, so customers can check their bill on the screen and pay through the QR codes. It reduces paper waste from receipts. Besides, you can use a POS system that sends the receipt digitally.

• Implement kitchen display screens to eliminate paper tickets in the kitchen and streamline the communication between the front and back of the restaurant.

• A Digital Guest Feedback Solution to replace paper connect cards or suggestion boxes and collect real-time feedback for immediate response. The data can be stored, and you can drive analytics to get insights. These insights can help you refine your operational and marketing strategy.
• Invest in a restaurant inventory tracking solution to encourage better management and optimize purchasing decisions and menu offerings.
• Use Payroll Software to reduce paper use for timesheets and schedules and enable digital distribution of pay stubs and tax forms.
• Use digital menu boards to eliminate the need for printed menus and streamline updating the menu and dish prices. 

These tips are essential to upgrading your restaurant’s IT infrastructure and making it more advanced and updated. All the technology advancements are designed to simplify operations and automate monotonous and less-productive tasks. 

Sustainability in Restaurants: Examples

This Eden is a Chicago restaurant serving fresh American cuisine. Their ever-changing menu showcases seasonal flavours from their in-house greenhouse and local farm, surrounded by full garden beds and a variety of pots and growing vessels. This restaurant offers simple yet delicious dishes for brunch, lunch, and dessert. Experience farm-to-table dining at its finest in the heart of Avondale!

Similarly, there is another restaurant named The Inn at Little Washington, Washington, VA. This restaurant won an award and delivers sustainability meets culinary excellence experience. Chef Patrick O’Connell’s commitment to eco-friendly practices and local sourcing earned them a prestigious Green Star. Don’t miss their mouthwatering American cuisine or their new casual spot, Patty O’s—a must-visit for food lovers in Virginia!

How Taqtics Can Help to Achieve Sustainability in Restaurants?

Taqtics can help you achieve your sustainability goals. Our restaurant operational management (ROM) software is designed to automate and digitize some of your team’s crucial operations and save time. Let’s look at the features of our ROM software.

• You can create training lessons and train your team without having to handle the papers to remember all the key points. You can create quizzes and assessments and assign them teams based on the location, name, or location.
• Our software offers a content repository from which you can access your files and share them instantly, eliminating the need to print them out and hand them in person.
• The software makes it easy to digitize, customize, and schedule daily checklists to ensure employees are meeting quality standards.
• Restaurants can use the software to conduct digital audits. You can create, schedule, assign, and conduct store audits. The auditors can click and upload photos through the in-mobile app, and you can submit customized PDF reports.

The software even offers Virtual merchandising features where you can manage the look of your restaurants. Whether you have one branch or multiple, this can ensure a consistent look across all the branches and places your products, like (bakery items or anything) in a strategic location visible to customers from all sides. 

The Bottom Line

Sustainability in restaurants is becoming vital as customers become more aware of the environment. It includes when the restaurant minimizes its environmental impact by addressing sustainable farming, carbon footprint, food wastage, sustainable packaging, and more. However, they may look overwhelming to implement at once; you can adopt them in your restaurant one at a time and implement them gradually. So, don’t wait too long to start adapting sustainable practices at your restaurant today that will help you boost your business’s reputation. 

Tactics can assist you in incorporating sustainability and digitalizing your operations. Book a demo today and see our ROM software in action. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. How can I make my restaurant more eco-friendly?

You can make your restaurant more eco-friendly by following these tips:

• Use eco-friendly cooking products.
• Buy sustainable equipment and appliances.
• Recycling and composite programs.
• Use little to no paper.
• Use washable serving equipment. 
• Monitor water, food, and electricity waste.
• Promote your sustainable initiatives subtly.  

2. How can sustainability improve a restaurant’s performance?

A better sustainability performance helps to improve our environment along with your businesses. It reduces costs, enhances your brand loyalty, attracts and retains customers, and creates value for your stakeholders. 

3. Why is sustainability important in food service?

Firstly, implementing sustainable practices can reduce energy consumption, carbon footprint, and water, and food waste, ultimately preserving natural resources and the environment. Secondly, you can cut your expenses by following sustainable practices.

4. Does sustainability attract more customers?

Yes, nowadays, people are becoming more educated and know the importance of the environment; they seek out products that are eco-friendly and emit less carbon. A restaurant can offer discounts, rewards, or other incentives to customers who choose sustainable products and services.

Soumyajit