Blog
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The Dreaded Disposable
Ugh! Disposables. They clog up your bin, they clog up the planet and we’ve all been working so hard in the last few years to improve our packaging. We are restaurants in office spaces, for the most part. This means that when people eat with us, if they don’t dine in, they’re on the run. This means that they need packaging for their food. Sometimes, better packaging can lead to less waste as food stays fresher and avoids being squashed. So, it’s a necessary evil, although within the last 12 months we have partnered with several new clients and offered plastic free food offers. This has been achieved with no plastic drinks bottles, no grab and go available and where it’s available, using jam jars for fruit pots and having a deli bar instead of sandwiches to grab. But there is a cost. Extra labour, extra equipment. Cost comes before the planet in a lot of cases sadly.
Sadly, in recent months we have seen a complete shift from the reduction of disposables to an increased use of disposables due to the C word that we don’t like mentioning in this happy place. And so the conversation about packaging, good packaging, because it does exist, is still a hot topic for us.
We’ve been working with our suppliers on this issue. Not just our disposables suppliers. All of our fruit and veg arrives in compostable bags, no more non-recyclable plastic packaging. The butcher packs the meat in environmentally friendly packaging. All ensuring less waste for our clients so we can help them achieve their sustainability goals.
Mozzo can’t give us recyclable cups yet but their cups have the most interesting story. The cardboard is Scandinavian, and the trees are part of a certified forest management programme called PEFC. There are 50% more trees there today than 50 years ago. For every tree harvested 4 new trees are planted. We are of course all working towards a recyclable paper cup but in the meantime, Mozzo’s supplier are at the forefront of most industry initiatives. Watch this space.
Belu water, whilst their water is mainly sold in plastic bottles, give 100% of their profit to WaterAid and in the last year we have helped improve over 300 lives through our partnership. Here we do have to fight the fight of the good plastic bottle. If we stop selling Belu, it means we stop giving money to their cause, and their plastic bottles aren’t too bad. Every bottle is made from other recycled bottles. 100% recycled and 100% recyclable. They give all their money to charity, to us it seems like a happy medium.
Where we do have to have packaging for grab and go items, the credentials of each and every item is scrutinised. Which bin will it go in? Can we recycle it? Is there any part of it that’s non-recyclable – which is a no. Will the food stay fresh in it? Let’s do a test run (always looking for excuses to eat over here). What do our clients think? What do our teams think? Does it look presentable? How much does it cost?
So, yes, we are about to see an increase in disposables again, and yes, it’s set all the good work we’ve done back a bit. But there is a lot of work that is being done to make sure that our footprint is as small as possible, whilst keeping an eye on cost for our clients.
