With all companies by law now having to disclose their activities that influence the environment and society and how they manage it, the onus will be on many food businesses to conform so as to be compliant to these new sustainability regulations. ESG or environmental, social and governance factors will need to be analysed, instigated and drawn into a business strategy to show it is being done. The policy will have to demonstrate that a food or catering business is literally getting with the programme so that it is doing the best it can for both human and planetary welfare.
For the food sector it is a big challenge. First off we have had the food miles and seasonality issues for decades now and they are still weak in my view in most food outlets and manufacturers. There is plenty of green washing in this area especially in the retail food sector. There is also a lot of energy needed in catering from heating, lighting and serious power to run machinery. There is plenty of scope for solar panel and wind turbines to generate power on larger sites. LED lighting and timers should be everywhere.
Harvesting rainwater and reusing it again is an easy practice to install as is retrofitting older buildings for better insulation. Once guests are informed and asked to partake then they will in most cases go along with the policy. Not having towels and sheets changed every day is a massive saving of water, energy and labour. Cleaning agents should be eco friendly and not flushed away in the water system.
Then there is food and disposal of waste. We have made good inroads into this subject the last few years but there is still a long way to go. Kitchens still throw out a lot of good food, I often tip a black bin bag out on a kitchen floor to show up careless staff and calculate the amount of money that has literally being thrown in the bin like good pieces of meat or fish, edible parts of fruit and vegetables and other foods that were still usable. Just five Euros worth per bag per day is almost a couple of grand every year lost in revenue.
The disposable waste is being separated at source much more but a lot of food businesses and producers just do not do enough to keep packaging materials to a minimum. Compacting is more common now and on site composting should be encouraged for all the raw trimmings and I see a lot of places now starting to grow their own herbs and salads too which is very encouraging. The circular economy is the only way to go across food and catering.
Transport too needs a shake up, I still see delivery vans spouting out their diesel fumes so vehicles need to go EV and make fewer trips anyway. Office work needs to go more digital so less paper is used and employees in general need to be fully educated as to company policies for ESG. That way they are all on board to make it work. The days of leaving gas ranges and grills burning all day in kitchens should be a thing of the past. If chefs had to pay the utility bills they would not be as apathetic.
The social aspect of ESG is all about staff and customer welfare, inclusion, diversity and equality as well as supporting local community. There will never be the perfect workplace and hospitality is already a labour intensive, high pressure, customer based, shift work environment that tests any employee to the limit. Any policy that will improve this has got to be welcomed never mind addressing the climate crisis and sustainability cause we all face. So owners and managers will now have to add this to their in tray going forward and they will have played their small part in a collective goal to help the environment for future generations.
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