5 Key Takeaways From Our New Biodiversity Toolkit

In partnership with the UK’s Hospitality Sector Council and sponsored by Liberty Insurance and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, we’ve just launched a Biodiversity Toolkit for hospitality businesses in the UK. Free to download, this is a practical resource packed with actionable advice for how restaurants and other foodservice businesses can manage their impact on the natural world while enhancing company reputation and long-term resilience.    

To ground this advice in practical, real-life examples, we’ve also included case studies from a variety of organisations, including pubs, caterers, casual dining restaurants, a national park with luxury holiday homes, and an estate that’s been returned to the wild. The ways in which these businesses are protecting biodiversity come in many forms, big and small, highlighting that no matter what the individual situation, there is always an opportunity to get creative. 

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What do restaurants have to do with biodiversity? 

With the climate and biodiversity crises at critical points, today’s food choices will make all the difference to tomorrow’s food landscape. The ways in which we build and run our businesses have a significant impact on how we affect the natural world on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, with awareness around the biodiversity crisis growing, regulatory requirements are tightening, while customers, staff and investors are increasingly concerned about environmental impact. From back-of-house to the boardroom, every decision we make — from how we light our premises to what we include on our menus — needs to become a conscious, responsible act as well as a creative one.  

While this is true for every industry, restaurants in particular have the power to contribute to a better food future for all of us, informing, guiding and facilitating climate-friendly choices at consumer level. By actively championing biodiversity, chefs can build interest in more diverse ingredients, driving change upstream in what food is grown, raised and caught, and downstream to influence how people eat in restaurants and, ultimately, when they’re at home. This can help to strengthen our food systems, support farmers and producers and improve public health.   

1. EVEN SMALL PROJECTS CAN HAVE A REAL IMPACT.

Whether it’s a café planting pollinator-friendly flowers, a restaurant sourcing regeneratively farmed produce or a hotel investing in rewilding projects, even small projects can have a big impact. One of our case studies comes from CH&Co., a Food Made Good certified catering company, who partnered with Urban Organic to transform a small grass verge beside a car park into a miniature garden for wildlife. With at least 20 species spotted here since the project’s completion — including birds, bees, butterflies and moths, spiders and other insects — this is a fantastic example of how even the smallest space can be leveraged to support biodiversity, while also providing social value for employees. 

2. POLLUTION TAKES MANY FORMS.

Hospitality businesses need to manage multiple forms of pollution — including those that might not come to mind as quickly, such as light and noise pollution. Light and noise pollution can have a big impact on critical natural behaviours in animals and insects, such as foraging, reproduction, migration and predation. Keeping biodiversity in mind when it comes to things like outdoor lighting and insulation can limit the impact your business has on local ecosystems. 

3. SERVING ‘LESS, BUT BETTER’ MEAT IS A KEY STRATEGY.

Meat production is particularly hard on biodiversity, so it’s important that foodservice businesses take a ‘less, but better’ approach. Our case study from Mexican-inspired casual dining brand Wahaca provides a fantastic example of what this looks like in practice. Reducing the number of beef dishes on their menus, incorporating less popular, slow-cooking cuts and buying half a carcass at a time has had the incredible effect of reducing the number of cows slaughtered per week from 420 to just 10. Meanwhile, on the ‘better’ side of things, they’ve switched to beef reared on Grassroots regenerative farms, where soil health and biodiversity are protected and space is left wild for nature. This has attracted a wide variety of bird life, with 77 unique species recorded across their six farms to date. 

4. DIVERSIFYING YOUR MENU BENEFITS EVERYONE. 

Exploring foods that go beyond the ordinary can make a big difference. Think ancient grains; heritage breeds; invasive species; unusual seafood varieties; native herbs, berries and other foraged foods; and wild game. Foods like these are more likely to come from small-scale agriculture using sustainable methods, and are more likely to have a better nutritional profile and flavour. Choosing foods like these helps to preserve our planet’s edible biodiversity as well as our cultural heritage, encouraging creativity in your kitchen and helping to convey a real sense of place through your menu. 

5. FIND WAYS TO COLLABORATE. 

We’re all stronger when we work together, and collaboration is key to broadening your impact. Finding ways to connect with other businesses in your value chain and work together for the benefit of biodiversity is a great way to create wider change. You could support farmers in your supply chain as they switch to more biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices; get involved with reforestation schemes through donations or team volunteer days; or work with other businesses in your area to bring more native, pollinator-friendly plants into your town.  

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