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This month, we reach out to those in the know to find out how the hospitality industry is tackling sustainability and what more needs to be done for businesses to become more environmentally and socially conscious

interviews by Elliot RAMSEY

Tom Hill
Head Chef and Co-Proprietor of Ducksoup, London 
@ducksoupsoho

Tell us a bit about what you do…
Myself, Clare Lattin and Rory McCoy have two small restaurants in London. Ducksoup in Soho and Little Duck, The Picklery in Dalston. Ducksoup opened in 2011 and serves an eclectic array of dishes using the best seasonal ingredients available, and Little Duck opened in 2017 which is where we make all our own seasonal ferments, pickles and drinks.

What does sustainability mean to you?
To us, sustainability means being conscious about the choices you make, ensuring that they are the best choices within your capability and that they don’t have a detrimental effect on our environment. In short, it means constantly working to ensure that our practices support a sustainable way of operating and living.

When did you first move towards becoming a sustainable business?We’re a small business, so we’ve always been very connected to the decisions that are made every day. From the ingredients we cook with, how we recycle and how we manage our waste, down to the cleaning products we use and the uniforms we choose for our staff.

What steps did you implement?
We don’t work with any ‘bodies’ as such, but we do take care to ensure that our team operate mindfully and sustainably. We aim to buy our produce locally whenever we can, we ask our suppliers to pack our food in a way that represents our values – for example, using less plastic – and we store all our prep in reusable vessels. We apply a root to leaf approach in everything we do, turning much of what might usually end up wasted into pickles or ferments, and incorporate the stalks, leaves or pulp into baking. We also utilise seconds or gluts where possible, working closely with our suppliers and taking what they’ve grown rather than letting it go to waste.

Why is it important for hospitality businesses to operate with sustainability in mind?
It’s important for everyone to do their part for the planet by living more sustainably, but I think that cooking always makes you question the journey of the ingredients you’re cooking with. That’s something that hopefully makes the hospitality industry more mindful… but not always!

What does the future of the sustainability movement look like?
Every one of us doing our bit, all the time, not just when it’s convenient.

Tony Papas
Director of Allpress Espresso
@allpressespresso

Tell us a bit about what you do…
Allpress is more than just a coffee roaster. We’re passionate about the community of independent thinkers that come together around coffee. 30 years ago, Michael Allpress opened a coffee cart in Auckland. Today, Allpress roasts and supplies coffee to customers in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Japan and the UK.

What does sustainability mean to you?
We look at sustainability from a social, economic and environmental perspective. These are often linked, and our approach to all of them is about continuous improvement.

When did you first move towards becoming a sustainable business?
A lot of our sustainability initiatives have been ongoing for a long time, but we’ve never really had a framework in place to guide the business as a whole. Each country implements its own practices organically, but that larger purpose is what we’re working on at the moment.

What steps did you implement?
We run lots of different initiatives on a global and local scale. From the coffee sacks that get sold to customers in our cafés (the proceeds of which go to local schools) to the solar panels powering our Dalston Roastery, to moving towards reusable or compostable packaging as standard. Each individual roastery is working on what it can change, and we also want all new company-wide products and services to be better than the current version.

Why is it important for hospitality businesses to operate with sustainability in mind?
This year is an opportunity for us to celebrate 30 years of people, flavour and innovation. None of that would have been possible without thinking sustainably economically, environmentally and socially. It’s been implicit in our business in many ways, from how we source our coffee to how we roast it, and how we power our buildings. Which isn’t to say that we’ve nailed it – we’ve certainly got a long road ahead.

What does the future of the sustainability movement look like?Sustainability in our minds looks like a holistic approach. Ideally, new and improved access to the right waste streams that are able to keep up with the people who are adopting more environmentally-friendly packaging. First Mile are a company already doing a good job of this in London and Birmingham, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. We also have to favour reusable options and move away from disposable items when we can – and choose the right materials when they have to be disposable.

Jules and Steve Horrell
Executive Chef and Operations Manager of Roth Bar & Grill, Bruton @rothbarandgrill

Tell us a bit about what you do…
Roth Bar & Grill combines gastronomy with contemporary art and is a vibrant, informal and convivial eating-place, serving honest, simple and seasonal food. We are situated on the site of Hauser & Wirth Somerset in Bruton and also have the beautiful 18th century Durslade Farmhouse guesthouse on the estate, which is available for single nights, weekends, week-long or mid-week stays.

What does sustainability mean to you?
For us, sustainability means achieving as high a level of self-sufficiency as possible. We champion ‘farm to fork’ cooking naturally – all of our meat comes from our farm and we have an incredibly close relationship with our farmers. We do all of our butchery on site and we age and cure any leftovers to make delicious charcuterie. Our kitchen garden supplies us with herbs and vegetables, and we also work with local foragers, game-keepers and fishermen.

When did you first move towards becoming a sustainable business?Sustainability is one of the key pillars of our business, so this has been very important to us since we opened our doors in the summer of 2014 – and because we pay so much attention to the growing, rearing, butchering and curing of our produce, we allow very little to go to waste.

What steps did you implement?
Since opening, around 90% of the ingredients we use have always come from within a 15-mile radius, but we are always striving to do more. When we began curing our own meat it was a bit of an experiment, but it was such a success and it has now developed so that charcuterie is one of our most popular dishes. We now also recycle our coffee in our kitchen garden, and pickle and preserve any excess produce from the kitchen garden.

Why is it important for hospitality businesses to operate with sustainability in mind?
It’s up to us to inspire our guests of all ages, and instill in them our deep love of the countryside. We run courses in foraging, fishing, butchery and cooking which are all centred around the core principles of sustainability and celebrating nature. We aim to educate people on how to be a little bit more sustainable, and by practicing what we preach, businesses like ours can make an actual difference.

What does the future of the sustainability movement look like?Staying local, seasonal and small-scale is more important than ever and we feel that the move towards this approach is the future. Our customers know about outstanding produce and feel comfortable in the knowledge that we share their values. We hope to lead the way for greater change across our industry.

Matt Thomas
Managing Director of Searcys, UK 
@searcystpancras

Tell us a bit about what you do…
Searcys is an event and retail caterer, one of the oldest in the UK actually – we’ve been around since 1847. We’re a British heritage brand but we’re contemporary at the same time. We have iconic venues across the country, from St Pancras to The Gherkin to Blenheim Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral.

What does sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability means doing right by the people that you live and work around. It means making decisions that are intuitive to you and your customers today, without compromising those that follow you tomorrow. We look to source ethically and like to think that we have an awareness of what consumers expect in today’s market. There is real evidence of what we do through our newly formed Searcys pledges.

When did you first move towards becoming a sustainable business?We started consciously in 2018 with the launch of our sourcing pledges. What then followed were further pledges recognising more broadly the communities within which we work and our approach to waste management. As an example, we partnered with the London charity Beyond Food, an organisation that inspires, supports and educates vulnerable adults at risk of homelessness. We train our teams to think sustainably and reward those who are most active in their participation.

What steps did you implement?
Loads, I would like to think. Free range eggs, Red Tractor milk, sustainably-sourced fish, British-reared meats, meat-free menus, carbon-neutral champagne, paper straws, work experiences within the community – the list continues. We have also committed to championing local produce, with all fresh fruit, vegetables, cheese and dairy coming from within a 40-mile radius of our venues.

Why is it important for hospitality businesses to operate with sustainability in mind?
Because we are a massive sector, much of what we do now plays a significant part on our environment. We are all aware of how serious an issue climate change has become for our generation, and organisations like ourselves have an obligation to be sustainably conscious, support ethical suppliers and do all we can to minimise waste.

What does the future of the sustainability movement look like?
I would like to think that the momentum will continue to build, and that awareness will continue to grow. We are trying to change behaviour and encourage inclusion and participation. It’s not always radical and it takes time, but with little steps and good intent, I am sure that we will continue making progress.