The Sustainable Dish - 01/05

Welcome to The Sustainable Dish, your biweekly update from The Sustainable Restaurant Association.?

We have plenty to share in this week’s letter! Read on for:?

• the exceptional winner of the Sustainable Bar Award at North America’s The World's 50 Best Bars ,?
• the details of a fully funded winemaking course, a full-day seafood symposium and a new competition for UK chefs to show off their culinary skills in eliminating food waste,?
• advice on how to up your game when it comes to an impressive alcohol-free selection,?
• the story of a university that joins only 10 businesses around the world with over 90% in the Food Made Good Standard,?
• insights on how implementing sustainable operations can boost your bottom line.

...and more!?

? Have a great week,?

– The SRA Team.?

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Announcing the winner of North America’s 50 Best Bars Sustainable Bar Award!?

We’re thrilled to announce San Francisco’s exceptional True Laurel as this year’s winner of the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award at North America’s 50 Best Bars, proudly judged by our team of sustainability experts. True Laurel impressed Team SRA with its demonstrable dedication to everything from using clean energy and reducing food waste to sustainable sourcing and getting involved with their community. Read more here.?

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Our website wins a silver award at the Indigo Awards!?

We’re delighted to share that our website is a silver award-winner at the Indigo Design Award ! This is a prestigious global event that celebrates design excellence, with hundreds of entries from around the world every year. The judges were looking for innovation, creativity and vision. Our fantastic web development partners Yoyo entered our website in this year’s awards under the ‘Best Website Design for Social Change’ category – and we bagged the silver! The judges were impressed by the creativity, originality and adherence to best practices for digital design. You can check out this year’s awards here, and see our entry here.?

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Dates for the diary?

Food Matters Live Tastes of Better, Manchester, 21st-22nd May?

We’re delighted to be participating in Food Matters Live Tastes of Better on 21st-22nd May at Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester! Join our MD Juliane Caillouette Noble as she hosts a Culinary Insights panel both days at 2:30pm, tapping into leading-edge thinking and emerging trends in food to help you solve your innovation challenges. Get ready to be inspired! You can apply to attend here.?

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A Tomorrow's Table Event presented by Mission Kitchen, London, 23rd May?

Tomorrow's Table is a new event forum exploring how food interacts with body, mind and the world around us. On 23rd May, our pals at Mission Kitchen will host ‘Future of Fish: Insights & Innovations Day’ – a full-day symposium of seminars, discussions, workshops and outstanding eating will bring together more than 100 CEOs, industry leaders, founders, chefs and innovators to discover, debate and taste the coming seafood revolution. The main event will run from 11.30am-6pm, with an evening networking session from 6-8pm. Tickets include access to all talks and workshops, plus food and drink throughout the day. Find the full line-up of talks and workshops and buy tickets here.?

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ReThink HK, Hong Kong, 12-13th September?

The SRA is proud to be a Roundtable Partner of Rethink Media Hong Kong , to be hosted on 12-13th September 2024 at HKCEC! Stepping into its fifth edition, ReThink HK is the city’s most ambitious business event for sustainable development, a large-scale, cross-sector platform that champions ESG transformation and showcases game-changing innovation. This year, ReThink HK will gather 500+ expert speakers across eight theatres and stages. Solve some sustainability issues at the ReThink roundtables and hear insights on six key themes: Net Zero & Nature Positive, Circular Transition, Liveable Cities & Transportation, People & Purpose, Buildings & Facilities and Finance & Supply chains. Stay tuned with event updates at www.rethink-event.com. You can view the full programme here and register for your Early Bird delegate pass here. We look forward to meeting you at ReThink HK 2024 on 12th and 13th September!?

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Stories worth sharing?

The Good Guide for Ethical Entrepreneurs?

Our friends at In Good Company have launched the Good Guide for Ethical Entrepreneurs, a carefully curated collection of over 130 of the best awards, grants, programmes, sales partners, accreditations/certifications (including the FMG Standard!) and communities for good companies, all in one place. Founder Sarah Kingston says, “We know from recent in-depth research we did with 50 impact founders that many were struggling to find the right support for their ethical business, like grants, awards and certifications (and we've been there too). So, we developed the Good Guide based on a database we’ve built up ourselves from hundreds of hours of research. It's designed for impact founders to save them time, energy and resources so they can focus on amplifying their positive impacts.” Anyone referred by The SRA can avail of a 20% discount – just check out the Guide here and use the code PARTNER20.?

Apply now for this fully funded Principles of Winemaking course!?

Our friends at Be Inclusive Hospitality are running a new Principles of Wine Making Scholarship, a one-week intensive winemaking course at Plumpton College. They’re offering six fully funded places, including the course as well as travel and accommodation for its duration. The course runs from Monday 3rd to Friday 7th June, and will include theoretical and practical education on everything from harvest and grape processing through to fermentation, clarification, wine stability and bottling. The deadline for applications is this Friday, 3rd May, and you can apply here.??

This new Conscious Cooking contest is open for entries?

Mercato Metropolitano and The Felix Project have announced the launch of their first conscious cooking contest, a competition that will see London’s chefs and small food businesses craft, share and cook recipes using repurposed food scraps that would otherwise have been thrown away. Shortlisted chefs will have the chance to compete in an all-out battle on 26th June, and the top 10 recipes will be featured in a cookery book illustrated by UAL students. All book sales profits will be donated to support The Felix Project.?

The winner will also be invited to host a series of supper clubs at Mercato Metropolitano. This is a fantastic opportunity to take a stance against food waste while showcasing your culinary skills and creativity. Entries are now open until 24th May and chefs can apply here.?

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Stars of the FMG Standard?

Three stars: University of Sussex?

Huge congratulations to the University of Sussex for scoring an astounding 92 on our Food Made Good Standard, giving them a remarkable three-star result! Since their initial accreditation in 2019, they have consistently maintained three stars. However, this latest score stands out as one of their highest achievements to date, with only 10 other businesses worldwide reaching the ambitious 90% mark in our evaluation. Some of their fantastic initiatives include setting clear goals to source 70% of fresh meat, dairy and vegetables from regenerative agriculture by 2030; reducing food waste across operations; analysing the carbon footprints of their menus; and hosting free 'Social Kitchen Sessions' to teach the local campus community how to cook healthy, nutritious meals. Well done to the entire team! It’s great to see such solid policies and action plans in place for improving even further.??

Insights from The SRA? ?

How to build an alcohol-free offering that delights the modern customer?

In this article, we explore why it’s important to include a great selection of alcohol-free drinks on your menu and how you can create an alcohol-free offering that truly delights your customers. Read here.?

How embracing sustainability can boost your restaurant’s bottom line?

We often mention that sustainability can increase profitability – so we thought it was time to elaborate! In this article, our CFO Jackie Freeman explains the links between embracing sustainability and improved finances. Read here.?

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Sustainable Bites?

Your bite-sized round-up of hospitality, food and sustainability news?

European Parliament approves new supply chain sustainability rules?

Members of the European Parliament approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, requiring firms to carry out thorough due diligence processes to avoid environmental and human rights violations in their supply chains. The Directive will also require companies in scope to adopt and implement a climate transition plan in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Read more.?

UK plans for eco-labels on food are scrapped?

The UK government has scrapped plans to introduce a mandatory approach to eco-labels for the F&B industry – its latest U-turn on environmental plans under prime minister Rishi Sunak. In addition, the Food Data Transparency Partnership, set up in response to Henry Dimbleby ’s National Food Strategy, has also scaled back plans to standardise a system of measuring and reporting for Scope 3 emissions. Read more.?

Climate crisis is hitting global wine production hard?

A new report from The International Organisation of Vine and Wine has revealed that global wine production reached a historic low in 2023 as a result of extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods and fires. Italy was one of the worst-hit wine-producing countries, seeing a 23% drop in productivity. Read more.?