Statistics have revealed the impact sustainability has on a restaurant’s profits, with 65 per cent of restaurateurs claiming that their revenue has been boosted following the introduction of socially and environmentally responsible policies.
Research from restaurant booking service,Bookatable.co.uk to launch their ‘Leaders in Sustainability Campaign’ in partnership with the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) found 73 per cent of sustainability mindful restaurateurs said that reducing food waste is very important to running a profitable kitchen.
Positive effects of sustainable efforts
Speaking to industry frontrunners in sustainability, the research polled over 50 restaurateurs covering more than 1,000 independent and chain venues UK wide, with resultshighlighting the positive effects and need for wider industry adoption of sustainable efforts.
Interestingly, while the research indicates that many early adopters understood the benefits of greater sustainability, financial incentives were not a primary motivation despite leading to a reduction in costs and boosted revenue – a misperception that is a common barrier for those not engaged with sustainability.
Ethics and reputation are key
When asked about their motivations for acting sustainably, ethics and reputation were shown to be key to industry leaders; with 96 per cent saying that policies complement the ethics at the heart of their business and 93 per cent having business reputation in mind. Loyalty of current customers (64 per cent) and attracting new customers (56 per cent) also comes above financial savings, which was found by Bookatable and the SRA to motivate just 11 per cent of sustainable restaurants.
The huge majority (98 per cent) agreed that the restaurant industry should be doing more to improve sustainability and went on to provide their insights into why adoption has been slow. In order of importance, the key perceptions behind the reluctant pace of implementing sustainable policies include:
| Reasons behind the industry’s slow adoption of sustainable policies | |
| Perception of expense of adopting sustainable restaurant policies | 88 per cent |
| Lack of industry pressure to adopt sustainable restaurant policies | 62 per cent |
| Lack of awareness of the benefits of sustainable restaurant policies | 55 per cent |
| Lack of understanding of how restaurants can be involved in sustainable initiatives | 55 per cent |
| Lack of awareness of support available to help restaurants adopt such policies | 52 per cent |
| No perceived financial benefit | 52 per cent |
| Lack of interest from consumer in sustainable eating out options | 40 per cent |
| Lack of information available on sustainable restaurant policies | 24 per cent |
Bookatable offering compelling discount
In light of these findings, Bookatable’s ‘Leaders in Restaurant Sustainability’ campaign is offering a compelling discount on SRA membership to the restaurant booking service’s database of over 11,000 restaurants. The campaign aims to encourage restaurants to become more sustainable businesses, by helping them to change the way they source food, manage their resources, and work with their local communities: (seen here)
Joe Steele, CEO of Bookatable, commented:
“Within the industry there is a misperception of both time and financial expense in adopting sustainable policies, but we have partnered with the SRA to re-align this. Two thirds (69 per cent) of the early adopters we spoke to said that embracing sustainable policies in their establishment was easy or very easy, and a similar level admit to seeing a direct impact on their bottom line, although financial motivations were clearly not initially their primary motivation.
“By incentivising our clients to think about sustainability and commit to SRA values, we hope to make the embracing of socially and environmentally responsible policies even simpler. Our goal is to make sustainability a front of mind issue in the restaurant industry, not an afterthought.”
For more information about Bookatable click here
For more information about The SRA click here