How to Reduce Emissions Through Clever Menu Design

Introduction: Juliane Caillouette Noble, The SRA

The morning kicked off with an introduction from our Managing Director, Juliane Caillouette Noble, who was acting as MC for the event. “Our house is on fire,” Juliane said, addressing the reality that the climate crisis is already affecting restaurants’ supply chains. “Agri-food supply chains, from farm to fork, are responsible for one-quarter of all emissions,” she said, “and scope 3 accounts for 90% of the emissions of foodservice businesses. There is no road to a net zero future that doesn’t go through restaurants and food systems.”

Juliane went on to highlight that consumers are overwhelmed with information and often confused. “Restaurants should be guiding customers towards better decisions with delicious, inspiring and enticing food,” she said. Not all foods have equal emissions, so it matters what’s on our menus and our plates. “Positive change is possible,” she concluded, before handing the mic over to Chloe MacKean of the Food Foundation. “Can restaurants be part of the solution rather than part of the problem?”

What gets measured gets managed: Chloe MacKean, The Food Foundation

Next up was a presentation from Chloe Mackean, Business Engagement Manager at The Food Foundation. “We need to focus on health and nutrition when shifting to sustainable foods,” she said, emphasising the need to include public health as a top priority alongside sustainability. “It’s not just a case of swapping in a processed veggie burger instead of having meat on the plate, but of transitioning to including more fresh fruits, veggies and pulses on our menus.”

“Corporate reporting is here to stay,” Chloe continued. “There's a clear trend towards more sustainability in corporate reporting. Voluntary frameworks are insufficient; mandatory ones are necessary.” She noted that it’s critical for reporting to be well designed from the start due to diverse demands and metrics.

Targets – ideally sales-based, in order to provide an accurate reflection of consumption – are a fundamental part of this endeavour, providing essential guidance before embarking on any actions. “Targets are your North Star. They allow businesses to develop a roadmap for improvement and drive activities towards an overall goal.” Meticulous data collection is required in order to set these targets and to measure progress. “It takes time to gather the right data, so start now.” Chloe also noted that it’s not all about reducing the meat on our menus: targets should also focus on increasing fruit and vegetables and reducing foods high in fats, sugars and salt.

Retailers are ahead with sales-based targets, she said, and it’s time for restaurants to make their mark. “Transparency is key here, as it leads to pressure and – crucially – subsequent actions.” She mentioned ‘Plating Up Progress’, an initiative from the Food Foundation that assesses the progress being made by major UK-operating businesses within the food retail, foodservice and restaurant chain sectors across key themes relating to the transition to a healthy and sustainable food system. These benchmarks result in annual reports. “The overall direction is towards increasing demand for corporate reporting and business transparency,” Chloe concluded, calling on the restaurant sector to take action.

Case study: Peter Lambie, ISS

Peter Lambie, Development Chef at ISS, stepped up next to share a case study of how they’ve been using menu interventions to reduce their emissions. ISS targets align to Scope 1 and 2 by 2030 and Scope 3 by 2040, with published external targets. Underscoring what Chloe had said earlier, Peter emphasised that good information is crucial. “Progress wouldn't be possible without good data.”

Reducing carbon impact involves both operational and behavioural changes, he said. “Operational changes are much easier than behavioural ones.” Some examples of the operational changes they’ve made include recipe amendments and blended meals: any ‘wet’ dishes now contain a mixture of both animal and plant-based proteins. He conceded that these blended dishes can be challenging due to kitchen complexity and cost constraints, but they’ve found shortcuts like using quick-to-prepare ingredients for beef blended dishes. They also no longer cook with animal fats, which has made a big difference. Feedback on these recipe changes has been positive. ISS was the first business to introduce Coolfood labelling on menus in the education sector.

“Behavioural change is crucial, and sustainability needs to be part of every conversation,” he said. “Without organisational belief in sustainability, efforts will fail.”

Levers to champion plant-rich options for food and drink businesses: Edwina Hughes, WRI

Edwina Hughes, Head of Coolfood at WRI, presented the new edition of their Food Service Playbook for Promoting Sustainable Food Choices, saying to restaurants, “We understand that there is a lot on your plate: sales, hospitality and now also a calling to be agents of change. This Playbook is designed to make your life easier by providing straightforward guidance based on behavioural science.”

She shared that customers make their diet-related decisions in less than a minute, so that it’s essential that F&B businesses make it easy for them to make the right choices. “Seventy-three percent of UK consumers believe that adopting more sustainable foods is urgent,” she said. “We have good intentions, but we do not make those right decisions all the time. The food environment is very important and has a significant influence on our choices.”

Mirroring one of Chloe’s points, Edwina said that – while food is a critical pillar of climate action – foodservice isn't moving quickly enough. “Restaurants play a significant role in influencing sustainable diets,” she said, “and WRI aims to make these changes easier by providing insights for positive action.”

The Coolfood Playbook includes 90 science-based techniques, 18 of which are designated as feasible, ‘no-regret’ operational strategies. Some of the techniques Edwina highlighted were:

• Menu composition has a clear impact on food choices: a 75% plant-forward menu drives plant-forward meal selection. 
• Arrange your menu to maximise visibility of plant-based items.
• Promoting taste and flavour resonates most, even with meat eaters.
• Ensure that the most appealing ingredients are most visible within dish descriptions.

How to apply these ideas to foodservice operations: Panel discussion

Our panel discussion served to bring these big ideas to life, exploring how to break them down into tangible actions for F&B businesses. Our MD Juliane moderated the panel, which brought Peter Lambie and Edwina Hughes back to the stage alongside Kathryn Richmond, Development Director at Searcys, and Greg Bramwell, Director of Food at BaxterStorey.

Kathryn shared how, at Searcys, one simple strategy has been simply reordering the options on their menus. Plant-based items are now listed first, followed by dairy-based dishes, then fish. Meat-based options are listed last. ISS are also putting plant-based items first, and Peter stressed that interventions like those in the Playbook are also key: “We need creativity and marketing for dishes.”

Greg mentioned the evolution of the plant-based movement, saying that it’s getting more exciting all the time. “This is providing fresh inspiration for chefs,” he said.

Edwina spoke about the importance of labelling, mentioning that the EU has new guidelines for food labelling and to prevent greenwashing. “With Coolfood, there is an assurance that this is science-based. We’re helping to promote food that is low-carbon but also nutritious and healthy.” “Food is also healthcare,” Peter added. “Our role is also about taking care of people through food.”

5 key takeaways: Anna Taylor, the Food Foundation

Wrapping up the morning, Anna Taylor, Executive Director at the Food Foundation, delivered five key takeaways for attendees. These were:

1. The time to act is now. The 2030 milestone is rapidly approaching, we must bring down our emissions and the food sector is lagging behind on this. “We need to talk about meat,” she said.
2. You can use the power you have. “There is a real opportunity to deliver something you can be proud of and to have a real impact.” 
3. Targets are key. They commit your business to action and the data you collect can be used to drive powerful change.
4. Use the Playbook. Start by adopting the 18 no-regret strategies in WRI’s Playbook.
5. This is an opportunity for a win-win situation. We can align our efforts to address both health and climate issues, bringing broader benefits for everyone.

A big ‘thank you’ to our friends at Brigade Bar + Kitchen, who hosted this event and fed our attendees very well with a gorgeous (and sustainable!) breakfast.

We're here to support the hospitality industry on its sustainability journey, and as part of this we have just published our guide to Understanding Scope 3 in Hospitality. This completely free resource is designed to help restaurants and other F&B businesses navigate the challenge of tackling scope 3 emissions. Download your copy now!

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE

Stay up to date with our latest resources and insights by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram and LinkedIn!