The Pizza Hut and Itsu operator discusses the importance of engaging suppliers and championing decarbonisation, as part of a series of finalists’ profiles for the MCA Hospitality Awards’ Sustainability category, sponsored by Pernod Ricard
Engaging colleagues, suppliers and the wider industry is fundamental in championing decarbonisation, says Heart with Smart sustainability manager Cerys Jenkins-Lowe.
The Pizza Hut and Itsu operator recently set its Science Based Targets verified by SBTi – with its net-zero target verified to 2040.
“Our targets are pretty strong and ambitious.
“But we’re really just led by what the planet is telling us, and what the science is telling us.
“It’s an opportunity to trade in the right way and set ourselves up for the future that we want.
Jenkins-Lowe says that operationally, “carbon really is the main focus,” however the brand is keeping in mind the wider landscape.
“We have a holistic understanding of sustainability as well.
“It’s really about the economics and the people as well as the environment, because you can’t fix the system by only fixing part of the system.”
The brand has been using 100% renewable electricity since 2015, diverting 99% of waste from landfills.
She says it also undertakes regular reporting and is keen to empower each restaurant to be able to interpret their own data and manage inputs and outputs.
Key considerations going forward include gas, heating and refrigerant emissions alongside water and food waste.
It is currently testing a step away from gas ovens, and move to electric where it is already renewable.
Furthermore, it has a program to update all fridges and freezers to use low emissions refrigerant gases by 2030, in line with legislation.
The brand also ensures 75% of its Pizza Hit menu options, by recipe, are meat-free.
“We want to make sure that the options are there for all types of diets, but slight reductions in meat is something which I’m really interested in.
“If customers want to have a really meaty pizza, at least then it’s well sourced and we are working down to a farm level to improve the emissions of that meat or that cheese.”
Proactively engaging suppliers is a key driver in yielding significant carbon reductions, says Jenkins-Lowe.
Alongside its mozzarella supplier, the brand has participated in a farmer innovation group, providing lean training to dairy farmers and enhancing farm efficiency.
The brand is keen to continue this support in its supply-chain journey to net zero.
“Cheese and dairy is a good opportunity because it’s around 34% of our company footprint, which is really hefty.
“We are focusing on those high impact suppliers to build a sustainability link.”
This involves setting up a supplier engagement framework - so that sustainability becomes, “part of a regular supplier discussion.”
“We have to go along on their journeys, by putting ourselves in the room and asking the questions.”
She adds, “Being able to build that cross-supply chain link has been so powerful.
“We genuinely think it’s a game changer in terms of what it delivers for farmers, reducing footprints and making tasty cheese.”
Heart with Smart is also a keen founding member of the Zero Carbon Forum, signatories to the WRAP Courtauld commitment, and an SRA-certified ‘Food Made Good’ business.
Jenkins-Lowe says the treating sustainability in hospitality as a joint venture, is key.
“Even if we’re working for competitors on paper, for us sustainability is a completely pre-competitive space.
“We just want everyone to build that momentum and do the right thing all together, because we can’t fix our bit of the system.
”We want to make the whole industry more economically and environmentally sustainable.”
The Sustainability category at the MCA Hospitality Awards is sponsored by Pernod Ricard
