There are some robust industries out there in the world to work in, but none are more challenging than the hospitality industry. The business is in entertainment and satisfaction. Get that wrong, and there is no business to be had. Running a restaurant is one of the toughest things to do in the sector as a whole, and it’s one that relies on you dishing out the yummiest food to keep the customers coming back over and over again. You want people to love the experience of dining with you, and your restaurant business is a reflection of you. With this in mind, you want it to be as kind to the environment as possible: eco-friendly restaurants are a thing, and they are possible!
You want to have a restaurant that is looking after the environment as much as it’s looking after its customers, and that’s possible! You want happy staff, happy customers and a happy world and we’ve got some pretty simple rules to get you there.
Rule One: Recycle
The average restaurant goes through mountains of packaging every single year. You don’t want to be the sort of restaurant responsible for food packaging and other waste going to landfill when you can recycle. Saving a little bit is a good thing, but working with the right recycling companies to save a lot? That’s going to be everything for your reputation and for the planet. Make sure that customers are aware that you are a business that recycles, and rewards your staff for good recycling practice while they are on shift. It’s not as expensive as you think to recycle, so look into waste management companies to help you with yours.
Rule Two: Start Composting
You are running a kitchen, which means that food waste is an everyday result of delicious meals being served to happy customers. You can compost the food scraps so that you have fertilizer in the gardens. If you are fortunate enough to grow a lot of your own veggies at home, you’ll know how good compost can be to the environment. You can offer the excess compost to your staff to take home for their own gardens, and you can even see if there is commercial composting available to you.
Rule Three: Get Rid Of Waste Wisely
As part of your kitchen waste, you will find grease. It’s not a beautiful thing to come across every day, but you need to get rid of it somehow. Commercial grease isn’t the same as what you will find in your personal kitchen at home. Industrial grease can be managed with companies like https://gfcommodities.com/, who will ensure that your waste goes where it should go and not into the sewers. Fatbergs are a big problem under cities and towns, and your new restaurant business does not need to be a part of the problem.
Rule Four: Put Your Customers First
People are drawn to ethical businesses. If you know this, put this first for your customers! They will respect you as a business and pass onto their friends that they had a delicious meal in a restaurant that puts the world first before profit. Your customers are your bread and butter, and if people are calling for a business that cares, then you better answer that call!
Rule Five: Buy Local Produce
Some of the most significant costs in the restaurant industry come from importing goods. Now, while we all love some authentic fruit and veg from around the world, you can often get delicious, home-grown options from your local farms and suppliers. Buying local saves the greenhouse emissions caused by shipping, unnecessary packaging and the energy taken to ship worldwide. It also gives you the chance to support a local business – just like yours.
Rule Six: Go Green When You Clean
Most people forget that their cleaners are coming in every day to clean the restaurant and the kitchen and are using industrial cleaners to do it all. Cleanliness and hygiene is an absolute must in a restaurant but do you really need toxic chemicals to achieve the level of cleanliness you want? Nope! You want to protect the environment and keep people safe; you also want not to get shut down for code violations. Choose a cleaning company that leans toward eco-friendly and greener chemical options.
Rule Seven: Save As Much Energy As Possible
You could go as big as you like here! Add solar panels to the roof or start using wind power to power your ovens if you want to go big. However, if your budget won’t stretch you that far, then you do the smallest things to save energy, including just asking people to turn off the lights behind them when they go home. Such a simple gesture can save a lot of money!
Rule Eight: Watch The Water
When you are continually running the faucet to wash dishes, rinse hands and fill pans for cooking, the pipes and connectors in your restaurant are going to take a battering! It would help if you were extra vigilant about your water usage more than most things in the restaurant you are running. Keep a plumber on speed dial for the pipes and leaky faucets, and change to steaming your food instead of boiling it to keep the water use down. Water waste will cost you money and will require the earth in a time we are all doing what we can to conserve it!
Rule Nine: Budget For Better Equipment
When it comes to your ovens, dishwashers and the range of appliances your business relies on to cook fantastic food, you need to make sure that you are using the most energy-efficient commercial equipment options on the market. You want to save money, and a big part of that will be in replacing old equipment for the new so that you can save money and keep your food fresh and safely cooked at the same time.
