FOOD MADE GOOD JAPAN AWARDS HELP SPREAD THE GLOBAL FOOD SUSTAINABILITY MOVEMENT

By Food Made Good Japan

On 14th November 2022, the Food Made Good Japan Awards 2022 were held in Tokyo organised by the Sustainable Restaurant Association Japan (SRA-J). The award ceremony sponsored by Mitsubishi Estate was held in-person at 3x3Lab Future and shown online. Five of the SRA-J member restaurants were recognised for their outstanding achievements in 2022.

Based on the Food Made Good sustainability framework, the five categories including the Grand Prize and the three category awards (Procurement, Environment and Society) were judged by a panel of experts, including chefs, representatives of international NGOs and specialist journalists.

SRA-J included an award for Circular Economy for the first time this year. This was sponsored by the Committee for Milk Container Environmental Issues, an organization SRA-J has partnered on with a paper carton recycling project.

The winners of the awards were as follows:

・Grand Award : BOTTEGA BLU.（Hyogo・Ahiya）

・Procurement Award : PIZZERIA GTALIA DA FlLIPPO（Tokyo・Shakujii）

・Social Award :　haishop cafe （Kanagawa・Yokohama）

・Environment Award : TRATTORIA QENARU（Okayama・Maniwa）

・Circular Economy Award : BOTTEGA BLU.（Hyogo・Ahiya）

The Grand Award winner, Bottega Blu. not only achieved a high score in its Food Made Good sustainability rating, but also was evaluated based on true contribution to the entire agricultural and restaurant industry in Japan, including delivering sustainability training for staff of other restaurants and providing support for farmers to help them reduce food waste. You can watch an interview with Bottega Blu. here.

A particular focus on Fairtrade goods and sustainable seafood helped Pizzeria Gtalia Da Filippo win the Procurement Award. The restaurant sources and serves fish that would otherwise be discarded and only uses those caught using responsible capture methods in areas certified as sustainable. It is the only restaurant that received a rating of 70% or more in all four items of  the Procurement section of the rating.

Education is at the heart of everything haishop café does – helping it to win the Social Award. Providing culinary school students with classes on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and promoting lifelong learning are just two of the initiatives it’s been involved in to promote greater knowledge of sustainable food for the next generation.

Powered by 100% renewable energy, Trattoria Qenaru, which also provides staff with training on the importance of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling and ensures all its food waste is either composted of turned into biofuel, was the worthy winner of the Environment Award.

Sustainable efforts at the awards ceremony

Every aspect of sustainability was taken into consideration at this, the second Food Made Good Japan Awards ceremony – from the selection of ingredients for the food and drinks, to the plates and cutlery they were served with. The food was prepared by Mr Hitoshi Sugiura, Food Made Good Project Advisor Chef of SRA-J and Executive Chef of Onodera Group.

Guests were also served desserts and drinks made using Oabika a cocoa fruit juice concentrate made by Valrhona from the often discarded white pulp – a bi-product of cocoa production.

With the goal of keeping waste to a minimum, food was served using “sarasub”, Nikko’s small plate subscription service for restaurants and reusable chopsticks made with rubbed lacquer by Bo Project.

Expanding beyond countries and stakeholders

The ceremony, enjoyed by many people online as well as at the event itself, was an opportunity to share the ongoing and growing sustainability achievements of restaurants in Japan, globally. Video messages from the SRA in the UK and from Food Made Good Hong Kong were also screened to the audience that included corporate and organisational partners, supplier members, award sponsor companies, experts, and media.

You can watch the highlights from the awards event here.