The Sustainable Dish - 01/08

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

Wrapping up July’s ‘Celebrate Provenance’ theme, we’re sharing some insights on how to build provenance into your menus and throughout the guest experience. In August, we’ll be focusing on how your business can Support Farmers & Fishers –– keep an eye on our social channels for insights, stories and advice from across our global network.

Below, you’ll also find news of our latest accreditations, dates for your diary and some hospitality and sustainability news bites. We’re also on the hunt for two new team members, so please spread the word to anyone in your network who may be the right fit; details below!

? Have a great week,

– The SRA Team.

Entries are now open for the British Street Food Awards!

We are proud that, once again, our team at The SRA will be judging the Sustainable Street Food Award at the The British Street Food Awards. This Award recognises a street food vendor that is going above and beyond to ensure that their food not only tastes good, but does good too. The entry questionnaire has been designed to provide an overview of sustainability practices, assessing a business across three pillars: Sourcing, Society and Environment. We can't wait to hear your stories and celebrate how the street food industry is championing sustainable dining! Entries are open now until 25th August and you'll find the questionnaire here: ENTER NOW.

We’re hiring!

We’ve got two exciting roles currently open in The SRA – please share the details with anyone you know who might be the right fit!

Our new Sustainability Analyst will be responsible for delivering Food Made Good Standard reports, assessing evidence submitted by hospitality businesses, communicating with clients to gather necessary information, tracking client progress and ensuring businesses have an optimal experience with the Standard. Read more.

Our new Growth Manager will grow our global network of hospitality businesses using the Food Made Good Standard, helping the sector move further and faster toward a progressive future. This is an exciting role with the opportunity to build sustainability knowledge alongside sales experience within the hospitality sector, to work with businesses around the world and to help shape the future of The SRA. Read more.

Dates for the diary

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ReThink Hong Kong, September 12-13th, HKCEC

The Sustainable Restaurant Association is proud to be a Roundtable Partner of ReThink HK 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. We’ll be hosting a roundtable as part of the exciting conference line-up on Thursday 12th September from 12:30-14:30. Titled ‘Rethinking Food Systems’, join us for a revolutionary session designed to inspire, inform and galvanise the sector for positive and impactful change. You can view the full programme here and stay up to date with the latest event announcements at www.rethink-event.com. We look forward to meeting you at ReThink HK 2024 this September – and we’re thrilled to offer our network an early-bird price for delegate passes! Simply register here by Monday, 12th August, using the code 24PSRA.

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Food Matters Live, 8-9th October, Ascot

We are delighted to be participating in Food Matters Live on 8-9th October in Ascot. Join our Managing Director Juliane Caillouette Noble for the insights programme, tapping into leading-edge thinking and emerging trends in food innovation to help you solve your challenges. Get ready to be inspired! Discover more here.

Stories worth sharing

A Food Made Good Success Story: Marugame Udon UK

We caught up with Hilary Ansell MCMI , Marketing Director at Marugame Udon Europe , to talk about their experience with the Food Made Good Standard and how Marugame Udon UK is continuing their sustainability work. Read here.

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Don’t miss this free climate course for London SMEs

The deadline to apply for Heart of the City ’s 'Climate for SMEs: 4 Steps to Action' is quickly approaching –– London-based SMEs should register by 6th September 2024! Delivered through workshops, masterclasses, online resources and expert mentoring, the course is delivered over four Modules that guide SMEs through demystifying the world of Net Zero building a business case for it, measuring carbon footprint and completing with a Net Zero action plan. The course is funded by the City of London Corporation as part of their Climate Action Strategy, and is FREE to SMEs based in, or with more than 50% of their operations in, the Square Mile. Find out more and apply via their website here.

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Great British Pie Challenge launched for UK chefs

Love British Food has launched the Great British Pie Challenge 2024 for Love British Food and British Food Fortnight , the national celebration of British food taking place from 20th September to 6th October. Chefs and caterers from all sectors in the UK are being challenged to create a pie using British ingredients to include on their menus during British Food Fortnight. Open to all catering and hospitality sites –– schools, hospitals, care homes, pubs, restaurants, hotels, cafés, business, destinations, event venues and stadia –– chefs and caterers will need to create the pie following industry guidelines on costs and nutrition. More details here.

Stars of the FMG Standard

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Two stars: Liverpool Hope University

Well done to Liverpool Hope University for earning two stars in their very first Food Made Good Standard! They're making great efforts to reduce their environmental impact, from conducting carbon footprint analyses and choosing renewable energy to redirecting food waste for anaerobic digestion. We were happy to see their sourcing of free-range eggs, MSC-certified wild seafood and Fairtrade coffee and sugar, and we especially loved their vegetarian-by-default menus when catering events! Universities have a big impact on people’s daily lives and throughout their supply chains, so we’re always delighted to see them make strong commitments to sustainability.

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Three stars: Olive Catering

Huge congratulations to Olive Catering Services Limited for achieving three stars in our Food Made Good Standard! We partnered with them on a Facilitated Standard, using a Materiality Analysis to pinpoint the most significant ESG issues impacting the business and its stakeholders, streamlining the submission process, benchmarking their performance against similar businesses, and creating a roadmap to outline next steps. Olive Catering stood out for conducting a carbon footprint analysis, removing single-use items like cutlery, setting a reduction target for their organic waste and making use of seasonal ingredients. They also ensure transparent and equitable treatment of team members through clear policies, handbooks and training opportunities. Keep up the amazing work!

Insights from The SRA

How hotels can make provenance part of the guest experience

We do a deep dive into what this looks like in practice, highlighting how you can build provenance into every part of the guest experience.

Read more.

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How to build provenance into your drinks offering

In this article, we explore how you can build provenance into your drinks selection in the same ways you do for your food menu, bringing your offering to life for your customers.?Read more.

Sustainable Bites

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

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First-ever application submitted to sell cultivated meat in the EU

A French cultivated meat start-up called Gourmey has submitted an application to EU regulators for authorisation of cultivated foie gras. The company has also applied in Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. Read more.

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UK won’t meet nature targets without big increase in budget

Increasing UK investment in nature-friendly farming to ￡5.9bn each year is essential to meet legally binding nature and climate targets and improve the resilience of the UK farming industry, according to new research. The current annual agricultural budget is ￡3.5bn, with just 20-25% currently spent on agri-environment schemes that benefit nature. Read more.

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Paris Olympics includes an ambitious food strategy

The Paris 2024 Food Vision outlines how food should be sourced and what menus should look like throughout the Olympic Games. We’re impressed to see clear targets for serving more plant-based foods, making sustainability certifications a priority and minimising food waste. Read more.