According to research, 70% of shoppers think about carbon footprint and its relation to food. Consumers are becoming more conscious about the environment and the impact they have across every area of their life, including what and where they eat.
People are making more sustainable choices which has led to a change in food habits. In 2022, offering vegan options should be a given, and organic and eco-friendly products and food are on the rise as more people are becoming aware of sustainability for health, economic or environmental reasons.
Consumers are also keen to see organisations and businesses, including restaurants lead the way, and are interested in how the places they eat are reducing carbon emissions while meeting the needs of guests. While customers are driving interest, many food businesses themselves are keen to make a positive contribution and may have in place specific guidelines or requirements for sustainability.
This might be via looking at locally sourced, organic, or sustainable ingredients, or considering specific ingredients that are free from elements like palm oil. While free from dishes, like vegan options can be a positive step forward, some also come with additional energy requirements in production or shipping, so it’s important to consider all the aspects of a particular ingredient or change to your menu.
When it comes to supply chain, packaging can make a big impact, whether that’s reducing plastic, looking at recycling options or removing unnecessary inner packaging. As well as thinking about packaging for customers, we also work with our suppliers to ensure any ingredients coming to us are not excessively packaged.
At Classic Cuisine, we always work closely with our customers, and suppliers to ensure we can meet requirements, while also considering the environmental impact of ingredients, packaging, production and distribution. It’s important to work together, while some change comes at a government level, for example plastic or cardboard tax, other change can be driven by individuals or businesses, which can have a large knock on effect as we all look to mitigate environmental impacts.