Sustainability is a bit of a buzz-word in the food business – so you probably shouldn’t just take restaurants at their word about it. You should, however, instead look to the likes of Which? to tell you which ones are really as green as they seem.
Luckily, the consumer watchdog has just released its first ever study of sustainable practices in the hospitality sector. Researchers looked at 22 of the UK’s biggest restaurant chains and analysed their eco-credentials to discover that Wahaca is officially the most sustainable of them all.
How did Which? come to that conclusion? Well, it asked each restaurant a series of questions about stuff like their resources and emissions, sourcing policies, waste and plastics, transparency and customer choice and their targets. Then, it scored them points in each category.
Wahaca came out with an overall score of 84 percent thanks to its top notch sourcing policies, transparency and customer choices. Which? said that the Mexican chain scored highly for ‘using free-range chicken, pork and eggs, reducing its beef offering to one menu option and championing plant-based eating - with six in ten of the dishes on its menu being vegetarian’. It also got kudos for being the only restaurant that lists carbon emissions for its meals.
Big chains like Nando’s, Pret and Wagamama also got 'Eco Provider' endorsements, with Nando’s achieving top marks for its waste and plastics policies (none of its food waste is sent to landfill!). But Which? added that every one of the restaurants in its study can still do more to minimise their impact on the planet.
At the other side of the spectrum, neither Greggs nor KFC did great. Both refused to share info on their water usage and food waste but got average scores in other categories. At least they weren’t Five Guys, Hungry Horse, Pizza Express, Subway, TGI Fridays or Yo! Sushi, which were all named and shamed at having ignored or declined requests to take part in the survey.
You can read Which?’s study in full on the official website here.
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