Sustainable Hospitality in 2025: 9 Trends To Look For

While regenerative agriculture as yet lacks a clear, legal definition, the concept of farming in ways that restore nature, protect biodiversity and replenish soils is gaining traction among industry, governments — and customers. As technology has improved and AI has entered the arena, farmers can now use data to tailor their approach at a localised level and apply regenerative practices in the most effective ways.  

What does this mean for restaurants? In addition to the chance to work with thoughtfully produced, high-quality ingredients, it means an opportunity to have a positive impact on nature through your procurement choices, as well as a powerful narrative to share with your customers. 

Driven by the need to reduce costs and cut carbon emissions (and by increasingly stringent legislative requirements, like the Simpler Recycling law that will come into effect in the UK from March 31st), more businesses are taking a more exacting look at their waste. 2025 will see more innovative packaging alternatives to plastic, including new, planet-friendly biodegradable or home compostable materials (made from things like seaweed) as well as more reusable solutions designed with circularity in mind.  

When it comes to food waste, the lines between primary products and by-products are blurring, and more chefs are planning their menus in ways that use every part of each ingredient, often across multiple dishes. In 2025 and the years ahead, the idea of wasting food will become increasingly socially unacceptable.

3. AI is coming to dinner 

The advent of AI and improvements in automation are reshaping the dining experience, from handling reservations to offering data-driven menu suggestions based on customer preferences. Their applications are also revolutionising back-of-house operations, improving speed, accuracy and efficiency. Expect to see more automation in managing kitchen tasks like dishwashing, waste segregation and stock control, all of which will have a significant positive impact on metrics like water use, waste and carbon footprints. 

Health and wellness have featured on food trend lists like this one for years and show no signs of disappearing from the discourse. What is notable this year is the growing impact of GLP-1 weight management drugs like Ozempic, which are increasingly prevalent and changing how – and how much – many people eat. Research suggests that restaurants and other F&B outlets that offer lighter, healthier options will be better placed to handle this shift. Offering the same menu items in various sizes – for example, small plate, main course and sharing – is another way to cater for a variety of appetites while avoiding plate waste. 

Elsewhere in wellness trends, interest in foods that perform specific functions in our body continues to grow; think mushrooms that support memory and cognitive health, or microbiome-friendly fermented foods. Meanwhile, plant-based eating has seen a retreat from ultra-processed meat alternatives, with consumers in 2025 more likely to want natural, whole-food dishes. The most popular proteins on our plates will come from legumes and pulses, tofu, tempeh and seitan, mushrooms, nuts and other plant-based sources. 

5. Fast food made good 

Speaking of health, the rise of nourishing, high-quality fast-food options is by no means over. Customers are increasingly interested in food that is healthy and sustainable as well as delicious, and they want fast, casual food options that reflect this demand. 2025 will welcome more QSRs and high street eateries that focus on fresh, locally sourced wholefood ingredients, including plenty of plant-rich dishes. 

Nostalgia has a role to play in this; since the advent of the pandemic, continued economic and social uncertainty has led consumers to seek solace in classic comfort foods. In 2025, we’ll see more menus that offer healthy, creative, modernised and often plant-based iterations of familiar favourites. 

Restaurants are operating in a highly pressurised business environment and dealing with multiple, concurrent challenges on a daily basis — so the most successful F&B businesses in the years ahead will be those who find new ways of becoming more flexible and adaptable. Driven by supply chain disruptions and a growing consumer interest in local food and provenance, restaurant operators are seeing the value in building short, resilient supply chains and working directly with small-scale local growers, fishers and producers. This will translate into shorter, more agile menus that can adapt based on ingredient availability. 

What a restaurant looks like is evolving, too; with lower overheads and great adaptability, food trucks and pop-ups are more popular than ever, allowing operators to test new offerings without taking the financial leap of opening a physical, full-service site. ‘Ghost kitchens’ that service only takeaway orders are also gaining traction as a cost-effective solution.  

7. You can go your own way 

Oliver Truesdale-Jutras, founding member and current Chairman of Singapore's F&B Sustainability Council, recently spoke with us about what he calls a ‘monoculture of the mind’. “Chefs are pulling from social media, using a standardised global palette of ingredients pushed by massive distributors, and following a well-charted path to the same tired awards,” he said. “Food that could be produced anywhere is being made everywhere […] Instead of making menus anyone could create with common ingredients, chefs should craft menus only they could envision — specific to their time and place. This would make food scenes more unique, exciting and sustainable by championing indigenous products, seasonality and local farms, and reinvesting in communities.”  

In 2025, we hope to see more rebel chefs carving out their own path, rather than regurgitating more iterations of the same tired dishes. We often speak about the urgent need for more diversity in our diets and on our menus; here’s where adding that diversity can really help differentiate your brand. Think rare breeds of livestock that are unique to your area, heritage grains and pulses, less commonly eaten but plentiful varieties of seafood or invasive species that pose a threat to local ecosystems. Explore the culinary traditions of your region and how they can be adapted for modern plates and palates. Find inspiration outside of what other chefs are doing on Instagram, tap into your creativity and make your menu truly your own.