Industry gives a thumbs up to Footprint Forum!
Following the inaugural Footprint Forum on HMS Belfast, delegates were asked for their comments on the event. These are the stats:
First ‘Foodservice’ Footprint Forum on sustainability calls on Government to do more!
Footprint Forum 8th of October 2009
The inaugural Footprint Forum, sponsored by Sodexo on HMS Belfast in London, brought together the great and the good of the foodservice industry to discuss the burning issue of the day – how to achieve sustainability throughout the industry.
A panel of industry experts debated a wide range of concerns including waste, procurement, the confusion in some areas between organic and sustainable, fishing, equipment and energy, transport and incentives offered by the Carbon Trust to buy new greener kit.
Introducing the Forum, Footprint Media Group CEO Nick Fenwicke-Clennell said “the objective of Footprint Forum is to create an environment where the decision makers and influencers of this industry can come together to debate the issues, exchange ideas and benefit from the knowledge of others as we drive towards a more sustainable future for foodservice.”
The keynote address by chef Cyrus Todiwala MBE, concentrated on the huge problem of waste produced by the hospitality industry and how best to combat it. Todiwala’s multiple award winning restaurant, Café Spice Namasté is a showcase for sustainable practice. He is a highly vocal environmental campaigner and chairs the Waste Committee for London.
Cyrus Todiwala speaking at Footprint Forum HMS Belfast 8th October 2009
Todiwala’s controversial take on the problem of waste is that collectors should pay operators to take it away, as happens in India. This would, said Cyrus, encourage people to segregate and conserve for recycling and save operators a fortune into the bargain. “In India newspapers, empty bottles, used clothes, pots and pans, old wood, scrap iron/steel, wood, aluminium, cardboard and cartons are all paid for by the waste collectors. People are very careful about how they store their valuable rubbish – scrap buyers come to your doorstep asking for rubbish to buy or exchange for new goods. I firmly believe that if India were a thousand miles closer to the UK I would become a millionaire just selling scrap from the UK,” he said. “The system we use in the UK is ridiculous and is the reason why there is no incentive for people to dispose of their useful rubbish effectively.
Restaurants and hotels pay hefty amounts to have their rubbish cleared away. Those of us who are environmentally conscious end up paying much, much more, thereby eliminating any incentive. The collectors, however, make massive profits since they sell on our rubbish by the tonnage and charge us for collecting it as well. “Waste disposal operators contracted by councils and other authorities should be made competitive. They should be made to collect free – if not actually to buy the rubbish. That way everyone would make sure they put their rubbish out as carefully as they can and not mix and pile it randomly. “Foodservice has to lead the way. Ideally, in five years time, if we all act collectively we will get manufacturers, producers and collectors all listening and doing exactly what we wish them to do which is to help us to create a zero waste community of end users,” said Todiwala.
He also went on to deplore the ‘unjoined up thinking’ afflicting many schemes designed to push sustainability. “There is a failure to communicate between initiatives and this leads to duplication of effort. There are several streams of Government funding going into several projects, the problem is no one knows about the various initiatives and often the organisations involved within those initiatives themselves don’t know what is going on and end up duplicating work someone else is doing.”
As Todiwala finished to applause from the delegates, the panel of experts chaired by Peter Backman of Horizons assembled to take questions from the audience. An expert on the structure and dynamics of the foodservice sector, and its supply chain in the UK and across Europe, Backman regularly speaks at conferences in North America and Europe.
Footprint Forum Panel HMS Belfast 8th of October 2009
Responding to questions from the floor the general consensus of opinion from the panel was that although a lot has been done and improvement is ongoing it is just scratching the surface, not just on the problem of waste but also addressing other sustainable issue such as fishing, incentives for procurement both of energy efficient equipment and food and drink. The panel also echoed Todiwala’s concerns that there is no ‘joined up thinking’ from Government and there is a need for more incentives for operators to buy into sustainability.
Glenn Roberts of refrigeration giant Gram said: “The problem we see at Gram is that although the Government, in the form of the Carbon Trust, is doing good work promoting sustainability in the media it needs to understand ‘Catering plc’ better. The Carbon Trust’s Energy Technology List (ETL) lists 18,000 products in all that are eligible for Government tax breaks because they are ‘green’. In catering, only refrigeration figures on the list. Bearing in mind that refrigeration accounts for a mere 6 per cent of energy consumption in kitchens this is not enough, more equipment needs to be on the list. But first we need to know how energy is used in commercial kitchens. There needs to be a benchmark for prime cooking and other equipment. The catering Equipment Manufacturers Association (CESA) is currently lobbying the Carbon Trust and it is clear the Trust doesn’t understand the foodservice sector. As for manufacturers, we must listen to the market place. It is vital that we do this. Sustainable products are more expensive and very difficult to sell in the current climate.” Gram performed a survey of the industry two years ago and is now conducting another one to show the amount of change since then. The Gram Green Paper offers insight and statistical information on a range of areas such as operators’ interpretation of what green means to their business, as well as demonstrating personal green initiatives currently in place. It also highlights perceptions on cost/saving implications as well as which sectors could be doing more to ensure foodservice is an environmentally responsible industry. “The findings showed people are desperate to do something decisive. The market place can be bothered: they just want to be show how,” he said. “However, we have found there is a gap between what people say they want and what they do. The driving force is for the procurement department to save money. Joined up thinking doesn’t happen. If it costs £1400 to replace a refrigerator with an energy efficient version, they will go for the £900 option even though it uses 5-6 times more energy and will struggle to maintain temperature. It is very hard to get people to take that on board. After all, they may well be thinking that they may not be in business next year so why pay the extra?” he said. Thomas Jelly of Sodexo suggested that large companies that commit to sustainability should be ranked in a league table. He said that incentives in the form of tax reductions would get finance departments thinking hard and would get them behind the initiative.
Ian Booth, Technical Director of fresh food supplier Reynolds said: “In the public sector local government should set objectives such as the percentage of sustainability in procurement to be achieved whether it be in equipment, food – everything. The Government must do this to make it work. It will be interesting to see where that will go. Europe is telling Government to look at procurement.”
Mike Berthet, Director of Fish & Seafood, M&J Seafoods said: “It is disappointing that the Government has not set the pace. I raised this question with Hilary Benn recently at an open forum. The Government just hasn’t taken the lead. There should be two fish dishes on school menus per week and the fish should be from a sustainable source.” He had some good news to impart, however, telling delegates of positive initiatives taken by the fishing industry. One example he cited was that of seven boats out of Scotland now have video cameras rigged to the trawl so they can see what fish is being discarded. “One guy has a camera on the underwater trawl bar – if he sees they are about to catch cod when they are over quota they can simply reel in and start again. This is also invaluable, say, if they start fishing in an area with too many juvenile cod. They can pack up and move to another area. The area with the juvenile cod can then be closed to fishing for a month to allow stocks to grow.” Berthet also told delegates that we have the raw materials for producing fish feed for sustainable aqua culture literally on our doorsteps. “Ragworm can be farmed from any old detritus. There are billions of tonnes of that in London alone of that in London alone,” he said.
Ian Booth made the valuable point that there is confusion about ‘organic’ and ‘sustainable’ products with some people thinking they are the same thing: a comment that was greeted with agreement from the panel and the delegates.
Thomas Jelley said: “Sustainability is not about one product being local or one recyclable. We have to take in other individual components such as transport and put it all together seamlessly.”
Heidi Easby of Brakes warned that working out a long term strategy takes time and industry employees have their part to play, saying that it sometimes pays to start from basics. “To really try to change the ethos of people in business it is important not to just concentrate on mileage. It is possible to have day to day impact. At Brakes we have no bins at desks so staff have to walk to recycle points to chuck stuff away. This has reduced waste by 40 per cent. Big schemes may require financing but small things like this work well.”
“Smaller things persuade the industry to take responsibility. Why not ask staff what they want to do?” responded Jelley.
“What we do in the crunch to offset against a lower income will work in better times. This is a good time to make changes and when things get better everybody is used to it,” said Todiwala.
“Ultimately, the Government must set out standards to look at the bigger picture. Sustainability is ultimately win-win for everybody,” concluded Ian Booth, who seemed to echo the thoughts of most people at the event.
Charles Miers, Managing Director of Footprint Media Group reflected: “It is desperately sad that the industry, friend or foe, haven’t cooperated more. Seeing all these influencers under one roof, nevermind talking to each other is unheard of – we changed that today! Let’s hope that this might set the precedence going forward.”
McZero?
McDonald’s initiative to reach zero waste to landfill has reduced carbon emissions in waste management by 48% thus.
25 McDonald’s restaurants have their waste collected by Veolia Environmental Services and sent to South East London Combined Heat and Power, an energy recovery facility. There it is converted into energy and channelled into the national grid.
The scheme was piloted in Sheffield in 2007 and when independently audited by the Carbon Trust was shown to reduce carbon emissions from waste by 54%.
The initiative is forecast to divert 2,500 tonnes of waste from landfill every year and will generate enough energy to power 22 million light bulbs for one hour – equivalent to supply enough light for one evening of light in every home in London.
Just form filling?
In a statement by Charles Clover on www.fish2fork.com regarding a bad rating the website initially gave two of Caprice Holdings’ restaurants, he writes: ‘We were previously critical of both restaurants [J Sheekey and Scott’s] for not providing enough detail in their online menus about the fish and seafood on offer’. It goes on to say ‘…we had to assess the two restaurants through what was available on their online menu’.
My initial thoughts were….hold on, if a restaurant does not supply the information required by the fish2fork team and does not make overt references to sustainability, local, organic, farmed etc on their communications, it thus gets badly rated? Does this reflect the reality of sourcing fish sustainably or is the website’s rating system flawed?
Caprice Holdings has challenged fish2fork.com and provided the required information. Consequently, the two restaurants’ ratings have subsequently been upgraded from red to blue.
Two espressos later I had to conclude that, yes, the industry is accountable. Yes, chef’s and restaurateurs are busy people but aren’t we all! With the threats that we are facing, it is foodservice’s duty to partake in such evaluations. Transparency is important and if certain aspects of sourcing need to be addressed within a business, it is these systems that will help restaurants to do so. www.fish2fork.com is not about naming and shaming, it is about leveraging restaurants to appraise their sourcing policies and sharing this information on the grounds that foodservice operations have a responsibility to the environment.
As much as you can eat and more…
Of course you can have more boy! And more and more and more...
In the news this week has been the success story of Whitbread’s gluttony restaurant concept, Taybarns.
Over the last 6 months, the ‘as much as you can eat’ chain has shown a 3% increase in sales, in marked contrast to the industry norm, and is now planning to roll out another 30 units.
Customers pay on entry – £5.99 during the day and £7.99 in the evening – and then have the opportunity to gorge themselves from a trough, sorry, food counter, longer than a standard cricket pitch! As Taybarns’ Operations Director Simon Ewins says, “People want to try new things. But if you go out on a Friday night and you try a new main course in a traditional restaurant and you don’t like it, that’s a disaster. At Taybarns you can just try something else or go back to your favourites.”
It is recorded that Taybarns customers eat 3.37 platefuls of food per sitting. One has to wonder how much food waste must result from this.
Well done Whitbread, though, for taking advantage of a market opportunity with immaculate timing. Great marketing – give the punters what they want, when they want it and more, more, more of it!
But doesn’t this once again highlight the contribution of foodservice to the obesity story; one that arguably had its roots in early 1970’s USA, but also one that demonstrates that commercial reality outweighs social conscience when it comes to perpetuating sales.
And how does this square with Corporate Social Responsibility? Whitbread’s ‘Healthier Lifestyles’ policy says ‘Our overall approach – based on extensibve (sic) customer research – is to give our customers a wide range of choices in the food and drink they order and the fitness programmes they follow.’ ..fitness programmes they follow…mmm.
Fishermen’s Tales
'But I caught them over there.....honest!'
Not long after the launch of online seafood restaurant guide, fish2fork.com, Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons has gone public with its sustainable sourcing policy. Owner Raymond Blanc’s iconic restaurant has posted a full statement on its website about its fish purchasing policy and is updating its menus to give customers more information about its seafood dishes.
The new website www.fish2fork.com is the brainchild of the team behind the film The End of Line, which addresses the crisis of diminishing fish stocks in our oceans. The guide scores the country’s fish restaurants, not on their food and ambience, but according to the degree to which they are contributing to the destruction of the world’s ocean ecosystems by serving endangered fish.
Integral to the fish2fork team is End of the Line’s author, Charles Clover. Interviewed by Foodservice Footprint, he was asked if he felt the out of home sector was doing enough to support sustainable fishing – “Absolutely not. I think we all need to sharpen up, but we are at the bottom of a learning curve on what can be done. People who source their fish in Europe need to be aware that many fisheries they take their fish from would be regarded as disaster areas in America. Cod and herring on the west coast of Scotland, for example, cod in the North Sea, though there has been a small improvement, plaice just about everywhere. In the US there would be closed areas and fishing with much more selective gears. If European regulators won’t make these things happen, then it is going to be consumers and the big players in the food industry who have to make them happen.”
Farmed fish counts for half of fish consumed in the world!
envirofinfish.org
According to a Stanford University study, half of fish consumed around the world is now farmed!
Farm fish production has almost trebled between 1995 and 2007, driven by a massive rise in consumer demand for Omega – 3 fatty acids.
In order to enhance the growth and flavour of farmed fish, fish farms use large quantities of fishmeal and fish oil made from less valuable wild caught species.
This, however is putting a strain on the marine system. In 2006, 20 million metric tons of wild fish were caught to produce fishmeal. It is suggested that it takes 5 pounds of wild fish to produce 1 pound of salmon.
All we hope is that foodservice’s growing enlightenment is having and effect in leveraging the growth of farmed fish driven by domestic demand.
Organic Agincourt!
A French study has concluded that there are nutritional benefits to organic produce after all, yet The Food Standards Agency claims the study is too limited.
The review published by the French food agency AFSSA contradicts the findings of the Food Standard Agency’s report that caused so much controvercy because of its conclusion that there were no significant nutritional differences between organic and conventional food.
The French report concludes that organic plants produce more dry matter, minerals and anti oxidants. It found that between 94 percent and 100 percent of organic food did not contain any pesticide residues and that organic vegetable contain 50 percent fewer nitrate compounds.
Anglo French relations as usual!
Join the Debate! Footprint Forum: HMS Belfast, October 8th
On 8th October the Footprint Forum is launched on HMS Belfast, kindly sponsored by sodexo.
Few business decisions are made today without considering their impact on a sustainable environment. In UK foodservice this is hardly surprising when it is estimated that the industry uses 21.6 million kWh of energy, adds 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and creates over 3 million tonnes of food waste, all in the course of a calendar year!
From its inception, the objective of Footprint was to provide the foodservice sector with a single reference point to learn about and debate the environmental issues that were impacting the industry. Today, as we have become more enlightened on this issue, the story is arguably reversed and has become how the industry is impacting the environment and how we can reduce this! Irrespective, we wanted to create a transparency to the issues involved and to enable operators to access the debate using the medium of their choice; in essence, to become the ‘go to’ place for information on this subject.
Foodservice Footprint is still the only industry specific publication dedicated to the subject and with the foodservicefootprint.com blog attracting increasing numbers of visitors, we are now entering the physical interaction arena with the launch of the Footprint Forum.
The objective of the Footprint Forum is to bring together the industry’s key decision makers and opinion formers; those with the power to influence, be it from a corporate, media or political stand point, to initiate cultural change.
Members will hail from all stages of the foodservice supply chain and others, such as those in the food waste conversion arena, whose businesses have a direct relationship with the industry. Footprint Forum is not a conference, it is not a lecture, but a Forum/Symposium, which is entirely interactive and will allow members to air their opinions, uncover the paradoxes and hypocrisies, and be seen within the right environment. We are simply encouraging transparency, debate and cooperation to find the right balance between commercial and environmental realities. We would also like to think that, as Footprint Forum develops, we will be able to generate a consensus that will offer members the chance to play their part in improving the industry and provide a platform for exercising leverage, as a body, on government.
The first meeting takes place on October 8th, aboard the WWII battleship, HMS Belfast, moored on the Thames near London Bridge. This will open with a keynote address by Cyrus Todiwala on Food Waste and its implications. This is a subject particularly relevant to the foodservice industry, as one can see from the statistic above, and one that Cyrus has been highly vocal about for a few years now. When we read that produce farmers, growing for supermarkets, forecast on having to dispose of 30% of their crop for failing one criteria or another, and then hear that 30% of that accepted is then thrown away unsold, we realize the staggering levels of wastage going on.
Cyrus’s address and discussion period will be followed Footprint Panel, a Question Time style Q&A session with a panel of senior industry experts lending their knowledge on a range of environmental issues. The panel is being chaired by Peter Backman of Horizons, who will act as compere, timekeeper and referee, and will offer delegates a first hand, practical insight into the realities of some of the key talking points of the moment.
The first Footprint Forum will finish with a presentation on organic wine by Dan Senior of Corney & Barrow, tantalizingly entitled Green Whites and Reds, which will take us all into the world of organic winemaking and expound on the theories of biodynamics. It will, of course, be necessary to sample some of Dan’s delightful wines during a closer networking session.
The Forum will come together for a General Meeting four times a year at various venues. In addition, we will be forming Special Interest Groups (SIG’s) which will exclusively focus on separate areas such as Equipment, Distribution, Contract Catering, Manufacturing etc, and will be encouraged to meet separately. There will be a summer and Christmas party and a Forum member will have the added advantage of having exclusive access to the full membership, together with research and information made available only to the Footprint Forum membership.
For information about joining Footprint Forum, please contact admin@footprint-forum.com
Footprint launches in Europe!
After five months of research, Footprint Media Group is establishing an office in Munich, under the lead of Patric Bauer, Managing Director of Footprint Publishing Europe Ltd. The objective is to replicate the Footprint project and its various media vehicles across mainland Europe.
Ironically, although German green-technological advances are light-years ahead of the UK, foodservice, in terms of sustainability, is surprisingly behind. Furthermore it is clear that a large numbers of suppliers to UK foodservice have their roots on the continent and so it makes commercial sense to offer our content via a number of media in Europe.
Footprint Publishing Europe will be launching Foodservice Footprint and Infrastructure Footprint in Q4 of 2009 and will publish in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with a view to expanding into France and Italy in 2011.
Patric and his team have unrivalled experience in events management, so please watch this space in the Forum and Events environment!
Any questions please do not hesitate to contact patric@foodservicefootprint.com
