Here's the Winner of the Sustainability Award at Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024
THE AWARDS CEREMONY FOR LATIN AMERICA’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS 2024 TOOK PLACE LAST NIGHT IN RIO DE JANEIRO. WE'RE THRILLED TO SHARE THAT THE WINNER OF THE SUSTAINABLE RESTAURANT AWARD IS LUNARIO RESTAURANT IN VALLE DE GUADALUPE, MEXICO! READ ON TO LEARN WHY OUR TEAM OF JUDGES WAS SO IMPRESSED BY LUNARIO’S SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS…
Based in the scenic Valle de Guadalupe, Lunario is a restaurant inspired and motivated by the ingredients and traditions of its surroundings. From impeccable local sourcing and waste reduction strategies to their community involvement, we found plenty of reasons to name Lunario the winner of the Sustainable Restaurant Award at Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024.
Sustainable sourcing at Lunario
- Lunario’s menu evolves on a monthly basis, driven by seasonality and local sourcing. This culture of change and their plant-forward focus provide welcome challenges for their chefs, fostering an environment of continuous learning that the team finds enjoyable.
- Reflecting this commitment to keeping things local — as well as to reducing their environmental footprint — Lunario have taken the brave step of eliminating beef from their menus. Their beef was previously sourced from over 1,000 kilometres away, but this decision has brought their sourcing radius to within 50 kilometres of the restaurant.
- In addition, Lunario has introduced a fully vegan menu alongside their omnivorous and vegetarian options. This shift has led to a superb 25% increase in the consumption of their vegetarian and vegan dishes.
- Their sister business, Finca La Carrodilla, is an organic farm and winery just 4km from the restaurant that provides more than 90% of the vegetables used at Lunario, as well as dairy, honey, olive oil, lamb and goat meat.
- The restaurant sits on the land of La Lomita, an organically certified vineyard and winery. Most of the wines they serve come from La Lomita or Finca La Carrodilla; the remainder are sourced from within the region, celebrating the traditions and identity of the area.
- Further supporting local wineries, the wine list showcases only regional wines. Lunario also collaborates with wine producers to organise two wine festivals: Festival Viñedos en Flor and Festival de Conchas y el Vino Nuevo; the latter also celebrates small-scale fishers.
- They’ve ditched international beverages in favour of a drinks menu consisting entirely of Mexican options, 95% of which come from within Baja California.
What social sustainability means at Lunario
- When it comes to community involvement, Lunario participates in various culinary fundraising events to support a variety of organisations including Corazon de Vida, This is About Humanity and Provino Baja California.
- They also donate their space for events in collaboration with a governmental institution that supports women experiencing homelessness.
- Lunario’s dedication to the region is evident in more than their sourcing policies. Lunario has partnered for a decade with Por Un Valle de Verdad, an ecological organisation that aims to preserve Valle de Guadalupe's natural beauty, landscapes and agriculture, including work on regulatory development.
- Management at Lunario also takes good care of employees. Staff benefit from an annual profit-share scheme, and the restaurant offers career growth opportunities based on tenure and performance. They also encourage and facilitate recreational and educational activities, such as organising visits to local farms and vineyards and holding regular training workshops on regional wines.
How Lunario reduces their enviromental footprint
- Their waste management practices are regularly reviewed, with new strategies implemented to meet reduction and recycling goals. They have successfully ensured that no waste ends up in landfills, reusing containers such as glass jars for preserves and ferments, as well as larger containers for transporting fruits and vegetables.
- The team at Lunario has cleverly enhanced their recycling systems for non-organic waste and is now sending no waste to landfills.
- To eliminate food waste, they keep menus flexible, adapting them depending on what they have in stock. Any leftovers are preserved and jarred for sale.
- They review their environmental strategies annually, adjusting where needed to achieve their waste reduction targets.
- Glass containers are reused for their ferments and preserves, and they use reusable containers for transporting their produce from their farm.
- As we mentioned, the shift away from beef reduced their sourcing radius from 1,000km to just 50km, drastically slashing their transport-related emissions.
Huge congratulations to the entire team at Lunario; your dedication to sustainable operations is truly impressive!
Lead image from Lunario’s Instagram.
Read more about our work with The World’s 50 Best here! To stay up to date with sustainability news from across the globe, follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn and sign up to our newsletter!
JOCELYN DOYLE ,
Marketing & Communications Lead
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