The category is open to all businesses in the hospitality sector, from independent pubs to national chains, hotels and contract caterers. All operators need to do is provide details of their business strategy for food waste management.
This could include systems and equipment put in place to manage food waste, such as staff training and customer communication, along with any schemes or initiatives to reduce, reuse and recycle food waste – including Unilever Food Solutions’ free downloadable Wise up on Waste toolkit.
The SRA’s newest category, the first award to be made open to non-SRA members, recognises and rewards businesses’ innovative sustainability systems that make a positive difference to the environment. The category is free to enter and the results will be announced at a ceremony on 4 February at OXO2 inside the OXO Tower, London, supported by SRA President Raymond Blanc and chef Bruno Loubet.
Tracey Rogers, managing director, Unilever Food Solutions, said: “With restaurants wasting almost five times more food than the average UK household, it’s vital that we celebrate the operators that are making small changes to the way they work to help the environment and, more importantly, save money.
“Following the success of our United Against Waste campaign – which brought the industry together to discuss ways of tackling avoidable food waste – we’ve felt passionate about helping operators review and reduce avoidable food waste.”
Details responding to the above criteria should be emailed to: Ed Franklin, SRA, on ed@thesra.org.uk or posted to The Sustainable Restaurant Association, 25 Gerrard Street, London, W1D 6JL no later than Monday 28 January.