For those operators at the beginning of their carbon reduction journey, it’s about picking small areas to start from and gaining momentum from there, recommends Burger King UK’s director of commercial planning and ESG, Nicola Piece.
The fast-food franchise has been working on responsible business since it took on the master franchising rights the end of 2017.
Speaking at MCA’s Restaurant Conference, Pierce explained that Burger King UK had carried out a materiality assessment in order to work out which areas it could tackle that would have the biggest impact from an environmental perspective.
“One of the priority areas was plastics reduction, so one of the big steps we took was to take out plastic toys from our kids meals at the end of 2019,” she said. In the grand scheme of things it was actually a much more significant change in the business than something like removing plastic straws – which is what consumers were pushing for at the time as a toy weighs a lot more, explained Pierce. “That took out 220 tonnes of plastic per year.”
She said the business had recently melted down all the plastic toys it had and turned them into trays for its restaurants which were put into its Glasgow site last week to celebrate COP26, with the trays to roll out to the rest of its restaurants this year.
The introduction of plant-based menu items was another step it has taken in order to try and “bring customers on that journey with us as well”.
Mark Chapman, founder and CEO of industry not-for-profit organisation Zero Carbon Forum, agreed that it’s not just about big targets but about the everyday wins.
Commenting on the forum’s recently published roadmap, which sets out targets for its members to achieve zero operational emissions by 2030 and to then achieve net zero across its supply chains by 2040.
“Those are just dates, what’s more important is what you do today and tomorrow,” he said.
“You can’t tackle everything in one go,” added Mel Marriott, founder and MD, Darwin & Wallace, but a focus on being sustainable helps to inform the choices you make about your menus and your drinks.
Gone are the days when you start every bar shift by chopping up a raft of whole lemons and limes, for the leftovers to be thrown in the bin, she said. “There is an unbelievable amount of citrus waste in the industry. It is unnecessary.”
In addition to the food wastage from fresh garnishes – Darwin & Wallace freeze dries a lot of its own – Marriott said operators should question whether it’s really necessary to include additional garnishes on dishes that are put on plates and simply wiped straight into the bin when it comes back from the guest? “These small micro choices can make an enormous impact.”
Steven Packer, head of supply chain and IT and Pizza Hut Restaurants, admitted there are going to be some difficult conversations to come if operators are going to get down to some really good numbers on carbon reduction.
“Everyone was asking about plastic straws a few years ago, but I think thing have moved on a lot during the pandemic. You only have to look at the media right now,” he said. “People are both more informed and more passionate, and I think it is starting to play into their decisions about both where to work and where to eat.”
The biggest challenge, he said, is going to be scope three emissions, which are from the food and drink that we buy and that people eat. Pizza Hut Restaurants has made “some small gains in certain areas”, such as reducing the operational food waste in its kitchen by 80%, work around plastic reduction, and the introduction of vegan menu items, but the emissions from the items of its menus make up around 60% of its carbon footprint.
“Trying to change that on your own is really difficult,” he added. “Collaboration is key.”
