A New Future For The Food Made Good Standard

After 15 years of operating in the UK, The Sustainable Restaurant Association has launched a new globally accessible platform to allow hospitality businesses everywhere to take 360-degree accountability for sustainability to a standard that is recognised by industry and consumers alike. 

In response to the universal scale of food system issues within hospitality, juxtaposed by a genuine desire from chefs and industry workers to contribute to a solution, The Sustainable Restaurant Association (The SRA) has developed the holistic, functional and global Food Made Good Sustainability Standard. This levels the playing field by supplying businesses with trustworthy, expert-led and up-to-date accreditation, as well as providing guidance on the next steps of their commitment to sustainability. Developed with input from international experts, including the Ellen McArthur Foundation, WRAP and the Ethical Trade Initiative, as well as leading food businesses, the newly global Standard is the only certification specifically designed to measure a restaurant’s social and environmental impact, wherever they are in the world. Completing the Food Made Good Standard also helps to highlight areas for future improvement and provides credibility in communicating sustainable business practices to customers.

Used by some of the greatest chefs in the world, such as Raymond Blanc OBE, Elena Reygadas, Richard Ekkebus and Ángel León, the Standard is designed to measure a business’s social and environmental impact and is built on a 10-point framework, organised across three pillars: Sourcing, Society and Environment. In order to be both effective and globally applicable, the Food Made Good Standard is closely aligned with international norms, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The newly redeveloped Standard builds on The SRA’s signature Food Made Good assessment, which has been the sustainability accreditation of choice for UK foodservice businesses – covering more than 12,000 sites – since its launch in 2010 and has been used as the basis for judging the sustainability award for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Bars and all its regional offshoots since 2013. 

Juliane Caillouette Noble, Managing Director of The SRA, explains: “In an environment in which chefs and restaurant operators understand the need to act urgently and decisively, we recognise the need for a holistic framework defining what ‘good’ looks like across both environmental and social issues. Issues like food waste, treating staff fairly and animal welfare are universal. Now’s the moment for a global conversation about what it means to be a good restaurant in every sense, with a certification that is digestible for every business, supplier, owner and guest. We are setting the Standard by which a restaurant in Buenos Aires, Beijing or Birmingham can accurately compare its sustainability achievements and join the Food Made Good movement to build a better industry for our planet.”  
 
Raymond Blanc, OBE adds: “The work The SRA is doing through globally standardising sustainability in our industry is not only inspired but essential. We, as restaurateurs and business operators, need to understand where we are today to work out where we’re going tomorrow. By creating the tools needed to turn the individual's commitment to sustainability into measurable, reportable action, the Standard is offering accountability and transparency, which are fundamental to the future of our livelihoods and indeed our lives.”

Henry Dimbleby, MBE adds “The hospitality sector has a unique ability to influence the decisions people make when it comes to feeding themselves, both in and outside our establishments. This means that every restaurant and café can play a powerful role in making the right food choices - for the health of both people and planet – become the go to choices. And there is no better way to do that than to sign up to The SRA’s Food Made Good standard. It’s time to lead the charge.” 

The Food Made Good Standard launches worldwide on June 12th, 2023. From today, any restaurant, anywhere in the world can start this journey at standard.foodmadegood.org. Our ambition directly and through our partners is to help 100,000 restaurants by 2030 to transform what we eat, how we eat and the impact this has on the wider world. 

Businesses wishing to begin the journey to sustainability can find out more information via www.thesra.org. Those ready to sign up should visit standard.foodmadegood.org. 
 
ENDS 

For more information, please contact Gabrielle Brown at Eightyfour (gabrielle.brown@eightyfour.com)

Notes to editors  

Food Made Good operates under The Sustainable Restaurant Association, which partners with like-minded organisations around the world – including the likes of HSBC, World's 50 Best Restaurants, National Restaurant Awards and the San Pellegrino Young Chef Awards – to provide a global voice and authority on sustainability in food. 

Since 2010, The Sustainable Restaurant Association has set the Standard for sustainable foodservice businesses globally. The SRA connects businesses around the world to accelerate change towards a hospitality sector that is socially progressive and environmentally restorative through the world’s largest sustainability certification tailored for the sector: Food Made Good.  
 
Sourcing:  
1.    Celebrate provenance  
2.    Support farmers and fishers  
3.    Serve more plants, better meat  
4.    Source seafood sustainably  
  
Society:  
5.    Treat staff fairly  
6.    Feed people well  
7.    Support the community  
  
Environment:  
8.    Reduce your footprint  
9.    Waste no food  
10.    Reduce, reuse and recycle  
 
To achieve the Food Made Good Standard, a business must score at least 50% in the Food Made Good evaluation. Answers and evidence are submitted on the Food Made Good digital platform. Each submission is evaluated, evidence-checked and subjected to a final enquiry from The SRA experts, before a final report is completed with a score and an action plan for improvement.  Those that score 50-59% will be awarded a One Star rating; those scoring 60-69%, Two Stars; and 70%+, Three Stars.