How to Leverage Climate-Aware Menu Design for Business Success

On Wednesday, we gathered in Searcys St Pancras Bar & Brasserie, London, for a morning of discussion around the power and potential of conscious menu design, as part of London Climate Action Week. Together with World Resources Institute’s Coolfood initiative and the Food Foundation, we set out to show how rethinking what you serve can cut emissions, restore nature and support the people producing your food — all while offering healthier, more diverse choices for diners and helping you manage costs, strengthen your brand and improve sales. Read on for a summary of the key lessons shared. 

What to Know: Climate & Food Policy in Europe 

Jenny Arthur, Head of Coolfood at WRI, opened the event and welcomed everyone to what would be a highly engaging morning. First to take the floor was Stientje van Veldhoven, Vice President and Regional Director for Europe, World Resource Institute, who laid the foundations for the discussion ahead by giving an overview of climate and food policy in Europe. Sustainability is being integrated into business resilience and competitiveness. She pointed to the impacts of the climate crisis already being felt — for example, in 2024, the UK experienced its wettest 18-month period since records began, and an estimated potential revenue of £889 million (ECIU) of food were lost for farmers on key crops due to extreme weather leading to shortages and price increases. We can’t afford not to act.  

While Europe’s Farm to Fork policy aims to make Europe carbon neutral by 2050, mitigating climate change whilst providing access to safe, nutritious and affordable food, we still have a long way to go. Stientje did point to one significant success story: in 2024, Denmark added a tax on agricultural carbon emissions. Already, this has had an impact, and Denmark is now overtaking the EU in its emissions goals. Copenhagen is a great example of city action, having utilised a variety of strategies, from teaching school children about plant-based foods to contracting with celebrated chefs to create delicious food offerings. By leveraging its procurement to serve more plant-based dishes and less meat, Copenhagen has already reduced absolute emissions by more than 25% — more than five years ahead of the 2030 target date.

Boosting Plant-Rich Diets 

Jenny noted that the sustainability landscape in the UK and Europe has changed; however, business competitiveness and health are important factors to consider alongside climate action. She then introduced Anna Taylor, Executive Director of the Food Foundation, who discussed how better uptake of plant-rich diets is the key to unlocking better public health as well as improved environmental impact. Anna observed that the UK consumes twice the global average when it comes to meat, emphasising that WHO classifies red meat as ‘probably carcinogenic’ and processed meat as unquestionably so. In spite of this, over one-third (36%) of the meat eaten by children in the UK is processed. She said that reducing our levels of meat consumption matters for both health and net zero targets. 

Noting that 15% of overall calories come from meals eaten outside of the home, she pointed to an opportunity for F&B businesses to encourage healthier habits, encouraging operators to reduce their meat sales and increase the proportion of plant-based options on their menus. Since few companies have formal targets in place for this, she called for government-mandated reporting on healthy food sales. She also noted that setting targets for, and disclosing data on, the percentage of plant vs. animal protein is an effective way to improve Scope 3 emissions. 

Anna mentioned the Food Foundation’s ‘Low Hanging Fruit’ report, which promoted pulses and beans as excellent alternatives for meat: high fibre, low fat, rich in micronutrients, low greenhouse gas emissions, environmentally positive and affordable. While levels of fruit and vegetable consumption remain strongly linked to socioeconomic status, she said, bean consumption is more evenly spread. Beans feature across a wide and diverse range of cultures and culinary heritages across the world and should play a key role in this dietary shift we need. As the Food Foundation embarks on a three-year programme to increase bean consumption in the UK, Anna called on F&B organisations to engage in this activity by signing up to a commitment pledge to increase the use of beans across the business.

Behaviour Change: What’s New and How to Put It into Practice 

Next, Jenny spoke about the practical ways in which restaurants can encourage this shift to more plant-richs foods, bringing Matt Hay, Head of Culinary UK & Ireland at Sodexo, into conversation to share how Sodexo have tackled this. WRI’s Coolfood Initiative was created to support organisations in reducing carbon emissions by 25% by 2030, accomplishing this through procurement data analysis, progress tracking and publishing The Food Service Playbook for Promoting Sustainable Food Choices, driving behavioural change. Working with 80 clients around the world, including restaurants and contract caterers, universities, hospitals and cities, the initiative supports serving nine billion low-carbon meals annually. Their research has repeatedly shown that making plant-based options more available encourages consumer uptake. 

At Sodexo, they've committed to reduce food related emission through accelerating low carbon meals with a target for 70% of their total 18K recipes by 2025; they’ve already surpassed this target, and the figure currently stands at 76%. They’ve also increased sustainable fish usage from 10% to 16% and reduced red meat on all of their menus from 30% to 11% — largely by putting the techniques outlined in WRI’s Playbook into practice. Matt shared that this was achieved through a deliberate emphasis on plant-rich dishes, including enhanced marketing efforts around these. To ensure that dishes were truly appealing as well as readily available, they also put work into deliberately improving texture and flavour (for example, dialling up the umami in a recipe).  

Matt’s key advice was to begin with menu analysis, then focus on your supply chain, simplifying your supply chain SKU list and keeping your ingredients list small to drive better margins. He also underscored the importance of making food delicious. “Bad food experiences linger,” he said, warning that any ingredient swap must be balanced with maintaining optimal taste.  

Panel: What Real-World Operators Have to Say About Managing Costs While Curbing Emissions 

This led into the morning’s panel discussion, moderated by our Managing Director, Juliane Caillouette Noble. On the panel were Cameron Holder, Head of Commercial, Strategic and Sustainability at Wahaca; Sam Walton, Executive Development Chef at Vacherin; and Adam Raffa, Head of Sustainability at Dishoom. The goal of this session was to seek real-world insights from operators about how they manage costs while curbing emissions. 

At Wahaca, reducing beef on the menus has been a three-stage process over two years, working to the ideal of ‘less, but better’. First, they reduced the number of beef-based menu items from six to three, lowering carbon footprint through simple reduction. They switched the main cut they served to slow-cooked beef, allowing for greater carcass utilisation; this has made an incredible impact, reducing the number of cows slaughtered per week from 420 to just 10. Finally, they partnered with regenerative farmers for sourcing these cuts; Cameron noted that this is a critical inclusion alongside straightforward reduction, contributing to better soil health and biodiversity and allowing cattle rearing to be environmentally restorative. This three-pronged strategy combined has led to a 42% lower carbon footprint as well as — crucially — better flavour.  

Wahaca’s menu now stands at 55% plant-based, although they note that there is a seasonal component, with vegan sales dipping to 47% in winter. They purposely avoid labelling dishes as ‘vegan’ as research shows that ‘healthy/restrictive’ terms like this can alienate meat eaters. The team is now making a conscious move away from ultra-processed plant-based foods (following increased consumer interest in whole foods), and working to incorporate more British ingredients. They’re also working on new high-protein bean-based dish launching this winter. 

Adam’s story focused largely around lamb. While the spotlight is so often on beef, he was initially shocked to learn the extent of lamb’s carbon footprint: around 50 times that of vegetables. They removed lamb from the menus in their Brighton location to appeal to environmentally conscious customers, but faced some backlash about this decision. Their solution was to reintroduce lamb at significantly reduced portion sizes and to offer a separate plant-based menu. Overall, their menus are now 45% plant-based, and they’ve seen a 5% growth in plant-based sales over the last year. They’ve also started producing impact reports that help them to track this information with accuracy and transparency. 

Sam emphasised that, to be successful in making these changes, commitment from management isn’t enough; you need enough training and education to get buy-in from the entire team. At Vacherin, they engage their teams through hands-on chef assemblies and masterclasses on topics like butchery, pulses and grains. He said that it’s important to promote the health benefits alongside sustainability, as this messaging resonates with both staff and customers. 

The morning wrapped up with a Q&A from the audience, followed by a networking session over tea and coffee. 

We’d like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to our friends at Searcys St Pancras Bar & Brasserie for hosting this event and for feeding our guests very well with a mixture of delicious vegetarian and vegan breakfast options: turmeric citrus zinger shots; green piña colada smoothies; golden Bircher muesli; acai, beetroot and almond chia pots; Searcys chocolate granola pots; tomato, flat mushroom and spinach on sourdough; and turmeric and blueberry breakfast muffins. Searcys certainly understood the brief, putting real thought into keeping the carbon impact of the menu low, and adding display cards to explain this to attendees.  

Searcys first completed the Food Made Good Standard — our sustainability certification tailored for hospitality — back in 2018. Since then, they’ve achieved it three times, most recently earning an impressive three stars, the highest rating. It’s a clear reflection of the care and attention Searcys puts into running a business that’s good for both people and the planet. 

We're here to support the hospitality industry on its sustainability journey. Interested to see how your own sustainability stacks up? Take our free five-minute Food for Thought quiz here.