Great News! Welcoming a New Partnership with Luxury Restaurant Guide

What makes the Food Made Good Standard the right sustainability accreditation for luxury hospitality businesses?

It doesn’t matter what kind of restaurant you operate; the FMG Standard can outline real, tangible actions that you can implement within your existing business, playing your part in building a more sustainable future for all of us. 

• Sustainability is no longer an option, and there is no sustainability without transparency. Businesses of all kinds need to be deliberate and transparent in the actions they take; the Food Made Good Standard takes every part of your business into account, assessing behaviour, measuring action and celebrating progress.
• Accreditations that can be applied to any industry often miss the nuances of hospitality. Restaurants are incredibly busy and operating within a wider pressure cooker of a landscape; the Standard helps to break down big-picture tasks into small, straightforward actions that you can fit into your day-to-day work.
• While decarbonisation is critical, sustainability is a much bigger story. Stepping past the carbon narrative to embrace a holistic, 360-degree approach can have a much more meaningful impact. As an added benefit, the effects of working like this can include real cost savings in the longer term, as well as safeguarding against increasingly stringent environmental legislation.
• This is an industry built on people, and the ‘S’ in ESG is too often forgotten. How restaurants interact with their staff, customers, communities, supplier networks and stakeholders is a really important part of what it means to be sustainable, and this is central to the FMG Standard.
• Consumers, staff and other stakeholders are increasingly demanding more from the food industry. Having your sustainability assessed by an independent third party provides credentials that you can use to communicate and shout about your hard work – invaluable when it comes to marketing your business and for attraction, recruitment and retention.

Some of the Food Made Good accredited businesses in the Luxury Restaurant Guide include:

Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, A Belmond Hotel

Led by Head Chef Raymond Blanc, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons is a hotel out to prove that luxury stays don’t have to come at the expense of our environment. With a low-waste ethos and a commitment to seasonal and local sourcing illustrated by a thriving kitchen garden, it’s clear that sustainability is built into the very foundations of this business – which is why they’ve maintained an exceptional three-star rating since they first signed up to the Food Made Good Standard in 2011.

Raymond Blanc, OBE, Head Chef of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and President of The SRA, said, “As proud President of The SRA and with Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons recognised by the Food Made Good Standard and listed in the Luxury Restaurant Guide, I’m very pleased to see this partnership come to life. It is absolutely true that luxury and sustainability can go hand in hand, and – since prestige venues hold considerable sway in our industry – it’s important for businesses like ours to rise to this challenge. I look forward to seeing this new relationship inspire more luxury businesses to take action on sustainability, using their influence to set a positive example for others. Yet, for all these good things to happen, the restaurants must embrace these values, create the right changes and pass them onto their teams.”

Daylesford Organic Farm

Daylesford Organic started following The Sustainable Restaurant Association in 2010 and decided to work towards the Food Made Good Standard to showcase their ethos around producing and sourcing organic, seasonal and local food and to gain the benefits of credible third-party certification. They found that the Standard provided structure and goals towards which they could work, and inspired them to build sustainability into their business in a more holistic way. “Food Made Good’s evolution over the last few years has challenged our teams to evolve across the environmental and social pillars, too,” said Will Dennis, Head of Sustainability. “The Standard is incredibly detailed and provides a robust, comprehensive assessment of the business from all angles of ESG.”

Searcys

One of the UK’s oldest catering companies, Searcys has been catering for events, parties, meetings and conferences for over 175 years, and this longevity is at least partly owed to its ESG work. Searcys first came across The SRA in 2019, on the hunt for an exacting framework with clear-cut objectives. “This is where the Food Made Good Standard became vital,” said Anna Fenten, Marketing Director. “It’s a very thorough process, requiring an enormous amount of detail and supporting documentation, but this ensures the robustness of the process and, ultimately, the value of the accreditation.” The team was awarded their first three-star Food Made Food Standard at the beginning of 2020 and has retained this into 2023.

OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar & Brasserie

Situated on the top floor of the famous OXO Tower, OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar & Brasserie has been a London staple for over 25 years – and has been with The Sustainable Restaurant Association since the very beginning. When The SRA was founded in 2010, the OXO Tower team saw their ethos reflected in the Food Made Good Standard. “As a fine dining restaurant that was rooted in modern British dining at that time, The SRA also emulated our sourcing and environmental principles, so it made good business sense,” said Andrea Zick, CSR Lead at OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie. Andrea emphasises the Standard’s focus on continuous improvement, an important consideration for businesses that are considering signing up. “See the evaluation as a journey of iterative learning. The process is more important than the result. Many restaurants and catering businesses want to receive accolades, but the greatest value is in the journey you’ll take to get there.”

We look forward to seeing what this exciting new partnership can bring to the table.

Customers interested in making sustainable dining choices can find a full, up-to-date list of our Food Made Good accredited businesses here. Visit Luxury Restaurant Guide for more details on their network of high-end hospitality businesses.

Restaurants wishing to learn more about the Food Made Good Standard should contact Will Browning at will@thesra.org. Quote Luxury Restaurant Guide to enjoy an exclusive rate!