We said that this year was going to be the one in which the eco-friendly credentials of restaurants started to really matter and the just announced launch of The Sustainable Restaurant Association is part of the trend.
According to a survey carried out by the SRA, almost 70% of British diners think that restaurants aren’t doing enough to tackle social and environmental issues with a similar number saying that they are more likely to go to a restaurant that was.
While these results are obviously very handy for the SRA, the most forward thinking restaurateurs won’t ignore the issues. It might be a while yet before customers are asking their servers about the restaurant’s corporate responsibility policy and how this relates to their waste strategy but, on a more basic level, customers increasingly want to know where their food comes from and how it was produced. Waiters who say that the chicken was sourced from the freezer are going to get short shrift.
The survey results combined with feedback gathered by the SRA over the last six months from industry players, including top chefs, independent restaurants and restaurant chains, suggests that much more needs to be done to meet consumer demand for ethical eating. The SRA hopes to help meet that demand when it launches on 28th February at HotelOlympia in London.