Waste No Food: The Assemblies Ltd.

Since 2017, The Assemblies have achieved and maintained three stars in the Food Made Good Standard – reflecting an outstanding commitment to sustainable practices.

Their latest evaluation in 2023 saw an incredible score of 92% across their three venues, The Canteen, No.1 Harbourside and The Old Market Assembly.

Sustainability has been a core tenet of The Assemblies since they opened the doors of their first venue, The Canteen, in 2009. Their mission is ‘to create beautiful sustainable venues with ethical practices, celebrating and supporting Bristol’s communities and economy through quality food, drink and entertainment.’ Sustainability Manager Liam Stock filled us in on where The Assemblies stand today when it comes to sustainable business practices – especially where food waste is concerned.

Tackling the cost challenges

“Sustainability has always been at the very heart of our business,” says Liam, explaining that the team at The Assemblies looks at sustainability across three pillars: people, planet and profit. Having watched the business landscape evolve in the 15 years since they opened, he emphasises that this is an especially challenging moment. “This is a really difficult time for hospitality, and staying afloat means having to make hard choices at times,” he says. “Right now, the biggest challenge facing any sustainable operation is, without a doubt, cost.”

One way in which they tackle this is by nurturing strong, long-term relationships with local suppliers, farmers and growers. “We're fortunate with where we’re based in the South West, as finding and sourcing quality suppliers within a 100-mile radius is very possible. Building relationships with these suppliers has served us well over the years.” Another key focus that helps manage costs is the careful management, measurement and active prevention of food waste.

Wasting no food at The Assemblies

“The stats on food waste are crazy,” says Liam. “Our industry produces around 10% of all food waste – but there is no need to waste food! If we all make small decisions in the right direction and implement slight changes, we can decrease the amount of food wasted every year.”

So what sort of changes are we talking about? The team is smart about gathering and using information, leveraging both weekly and year-on-year data to spot trends that enable them to monitor ordering, reducing the chances that surplus food will arrive in the kitchen in the first place. “We also make our stocks with veg peelings and meat bones, and use offcuts to create other dishes. For example, we trim off the ribs from our pork belly, roast them off and make stock to add to sauces,” Liam says.

One simple strategy – yet a revolutionary one in some ways – is that the kitchen team will allow dishes to ‘run out’ during service. “Many bigger chains would avoid this,” Liam observes, “but the alternative is over-prepping and throwing food away. This is a fine line to walk: if we’re not careful, it can lead to profit loss.” 

Liam is particularly proud to mention their circular menu design, built around seasonal produce that is plentifully available. “When we put an item on the menu, we aim to use every part of it in as many dishes as possible. For example, when we’re serving our charred cauliflower, the leaves can go into stocks and soups or will be used in another dish, like our cauliflower pakora.” The current menu features a vegan nacho cheese sauce, which is made using leftover vegetables from their Sunday roast (“If we have any left, of course!”).

Those close relationships with suppliers that we mentioned earlier also play a big role in waste prevention. Maintaining regular communication allows the chefs to create specials around produce that’s nearing its date, preventing waste closer to the source. “This keeps our menus fresh and inventive, and gives our chefs the opportunity to create interesting dishes and keep developing their talents.”

Food Made Good does good at The Assemblies

Liam says The Assemblies’ involvement with Food Made Good has contributed to this impressive food waste strategy. “The SRA sends out lots of relevant information with new ideas and initiatives for reducing food waste. The Standard provides a really great Framework for measuring and benchmarking against, as its holistic approach helps us look at sustainability across the entire business. For us, it's important to operate as sustainably as we can, so that we're building a business for the future.”

He advises businesses who are getting on board with the FMG Standard to allocate sufficient time to the process. “It's really interesting to go through it all,” he says, “but it will open up more questions (which is a good thing!), so it's really important to dedicate the right resources to it.”

Information on their sustainability initiatives is included on all of The Assemblies’ menus, and they’ve also created infographics that are now displayed in all three venues. “Our customers are always impressed with our supplier boards, too.”

So what’s next for The Assemblies?

“We received our ‘On The Road To Net Zero’ certification (from Net Zero Now) last year,” says Liam, “so we’re busy looking at how we can meet our targets and submitting last year's data.” This includes further reductions in waste, and examining how they can be even more efficient in reaching their zero waste kitchen goals. “One example of the particular things we've been looking at is how to repurpose our coffee waste. Actually, that was inspired by a ‘Waste No Food’ webinar from Food Made Good!”

Visit The Assemblies online to learn more about their sustainability work at The Canteen, No.1 Harbourside and The Old Market Assembly. Read more about how ‘Waste No Food’ fits into the 10-point Food Made Good Framework here, or get in touch at standard@thesra.org with any questions about the FMG Standard – the only global sustainability accreditation designed for hospitality businesses.