Tag Archives: restaurant

Otarian eco-minded restaurant lists carbon footprint for each menu item

Much the way French Europcar shows customers the carbon emissions associated with each of its rental cars, so a new restaurant chain includes such information for every item on its vegetarian menu.

With two restaurants in each of New York and London, Australia-based Otarian bills itself as “the first ever low-carbon restaurant chain, using a cradle-to-grave analysis in the carbon footprinting of every menu item.”

Almost everything in Otarian’s restaurants—from the floor to the tables and chairs—is made from recycled materials. They use the most energy-efficient equipment available, and all the electricity powering them comes from wind, water or sun. Water use is minimised, and local supplies are selected whenever possible.

Targeting the heavy emissions associated with the livestock industry, meanwhile, the restaurant offers no meat on its menu. Most interesting of all, however, is that Otarian uses international standards like BSI PAS 2050 to carbon footprint its entire menu; it has also been selected to road test the new Greenhouse Gas Protocol product standard.

Its “Eco2tarian Labelling” shows the difference in greenhouse gas emissions between its veggie meals and similar dishes containing meat, fish or egg. Otarian even goes so far as to reward consumers for the carbon they save by eating at its restaurants.

Specifically, every purchase earns them “Carbon Karma” credits, which are tracked by way of the restaurant’s Carbon Karma cards; consumers can track both their credits and their carbon savings online. After 100 credits, they are treated to a free Choco Treat off the menu.

As legions of eco-minded consumers begin tracking their impact on the environment, there’s no shortage of opportunities for companies to stand out by offering the eco intel they need to do that.

via Eco-minded restaurant lists carbon footprint for each menu item | Springwise.

 

How to achieve Sustainability in the Restaurant Industry

The notion of sustainability will remain for countless years to come. No matter if you’re talking about the product design, agriculture, construction, food or restaurant industries, sustainability is at the forefront.

While most industries are developing more sustainable approaches to products and services, the food and restaurant industries are making tremendous headway, in alliance with health and environmentally-conscious consumers.

Nowadays, consumers are taking note of how they eat and are taking strides to make changes. Not only do they want healthier foods on their tables, they want a cleaner, healthier planet. In fact, an increased portion of food dollars are being spent at local farmers markets, as well as an overwhelming number of consumers taking part in Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs.

Furthermore, the One Green Score for One Earth sustainability research study revealed some 63% of those surveyed said they were extremely committed to buying sustainable goods. It doesn’t stop there. More and more, consumers are taking on the task of self-farming. In fact, Forbes predicts that by the year 2018, 20% of all food consumed in U.S. cities will come from rooftop and parking lot farms.

The restaurant industry, one of the most wasteful industries in the world, as a whole is seemingly tackling sustainability in its own way as well. By adopting certain practices such as utilizing solutions like Foodem to purchase sustainable, organic food products, putting food education at the heart of their businesses, realizing industry partnerships are mandatory, creating ways to reduce and reuse food waste and being environmentally-conscious when designing and building dining locations, the restaurant industry has finally wrapped its head around what needs to be done, even though there remains tons to accomplish.

To put the vision of sustainability and the restaurant industry into perspective, check out Chef Arthur Potts-Dawson’s enlightening Ted Talk.

via Sustainability and the Restaurant Industry: It Can Be Achieved | Foodem.com.

How to run a sustainable restaurant or pub | VIDEO

It is now almost two years since the Sustainable Restaurant Association launched in a bid to help restaurants, pubs and caterers become more sustainable and hundreds of businesses have since been audited and rated.

BigHospitality has recently published a very interesting video filmed by Hospitality Media about how to run a successful sustainable restaurant. Not to be missed.

A cool interactive system projects food onto restaurants diners’ plates

When dining at new restaurants, trying to select a meal from an unfamiliar menu can often place patrons in a quandary. A new projection system in London’s Inamo restaurant, however, hopes to alleviate some of this uncertainty by displaying images of meals on diners’ tables as they browse the menu.

The pan-Asian restaurant uses unique technology called E-table, which is designed to give patrons more “control over their dining experience”. Projectors are installed in the venue’s ceiling, which turn the tabletops into the equivalent of a computer monitor. Using a touch mousepad on the table, diners can navigate the interactive ordering system, with images of each meal being projected onto their plate as they browse the menu. The system also enables diners to place their orders themselves, change the pattern of the projection to function as a virtual tablecloth, view a live webcam feed of the kitchen, play games with other diners, find out more about what’s happening the neighborhood, and order taxis. A video with Inamo co-creator Noel Hunwick can be viewed below:

The versatility of the system means there is plenty of potential here both to make the dining experience more entertaining and immediate, as well as for sponsorship and themed events and launches. Whilst we’ve seen numerous restaurants create apps and install tablets on-site, Inamo have bucked that trend to create a dining experience that is truly unique. Food for thought! (Source: Springwise)

McDonald’s opens its first green restaurant in Italy

Ho.Re.Ca and sustainability: in Italy there are still people who do not like to match these two words or that asserts that “the time has not yet come,” and this is the great challenge we are – successfully – addressing  with ECOFFEE. We strongly believe that the Italian consumer is able to perceive and reward the added value of sustainable products and services, and the news that McDonald’s has just opened its first green restaurant in Italy, in Lainate (near Milan) do prove that we are not wrong. This green McDonald’s was designed to be completely self-sufficient in energy: thanks to solar, wind and biomass. The project costed € 5 million, 20% more than a traditional restaurant but at the end of the year it will certainly pay off in terms of increased brand reputation, reduced  environmental and social impact, not to add the reduced costs due to the energy saving architecture and technological process. 
At the end of 2011, the results coming from the adoption of these policies will be evaluated by an Italian green environmental consulting company ECOFFEE has already established a business connection with a while ago.  Meanwhile, McDonald’s aims to achieve the European certification EN 16001, which will help the company to organize systems and processes aimed at improving the economic benefits of energy efficiency and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

But let’s talk about the “McGreen” in Lainate – a project whose details are available at the McDonald’s site www.persapernedipiu.info Currently, the restaurant is able to produce up to 90% of the energy needed, but within three months it is said to reach 100%, thanks to a pioneering trigeneration plant that use the exhausted cooking oil as fuel. The building structure is earthquake resistant, and thanks to the “Einstein”system  customers are always updated with real-time data regarding energy consumption and savings thanks to a monitor positioned at the entrance of the restaurant. Particular attention was paid to the restaurant supply chain and to the ingredients used in the menu, where customers can also find “local” ingredients belonging to the traditional Italian cuisine, like the Alto Adige IGP Speck, Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP, IGP oranges from Sicily, to name a few. The coffee served will not be the one of the Italian companies Illy or Lavazza, which are known for their sustainable products, but the one certified by the international organization Rainforest Alliance.

On the outside of the building, ecoattivo asphalt – when struck by sunlight it triggers a  reduction of pollutants- energy-efficient refrigerators and incentives for the customers using electric cars.
“Lainate is not a departure or arrival point, but a stage of a journey that McDonald’s sets out a while ago. For the Expo 2015 we will be able to implement a reduction of 15% of our CO2 emissions, an increase of 15% of our energy savings and another 15% increase of the energy we use from renewable sources. In 2020, these percentages will rise up to 20% allowing us to meet the Kyoto Protocol parameters”said Roberto Masi, McDonald’s Italy CEO.

In fact, McDonald’s Italy is not new to these kind of sustainable initiatives. As early as 2010, in fact, it adopted new standards for construction and renovation, with the use of building materials with high environmental sustainability, solar panels, heat pumps, roof ventilation and, where it was possible, photovoltaic. But not only that: technologically advanced machinery, power management systems, occupancy sensors, insulation and LED lighting fixtures to reduce air pollutant emissions. All new openings have already been planned to include some or all of these technologies. The 2012 politics has already been planned aiming at using certified renewable energy in all McDonald’s restaurants, building a fleet of delivery vehicles composed by 100% biodiesel  and a company’s car pool with low dioxide carbon emissions . (Source: MarketingOggi)

Serving up local sustainable food: Gather Restaurant

Fresh Worldwide Press, retail food, sustainability, , , , , , , , ,

Gather RestaurantWhen searching for examples of sustainability in the Retail Food sector it often happens to look at what is going on in the U.S.A. The eco Gather Restaurant, located in the greenest building in Berkley, The David Brown Center. Not only locally grown food but also wines coming from the eco wineries in the surrounding. A great, successful example to follow! (courtesy of Inhabitat and Gather)