Optimize hot water temperature

You don’t overcook your food, so why make water hotter than you need it?

You pay for hot water three ways and those costs add up. But one clear way to save on your water heating costs is to check your water heater and optimize the temperature setting. The best part of this exercise is it's a no-cost project.

Water temperature is set by health code mandates. Typically that means 120 degrees Fahrenheit at hand sinks and 140 degrees at dish machines, and you must meet those requirements. If you are setting the water hotter, however, you're wasting energy that could cost hundreds of extra dollars per year.

Spending just a few minutes at the hot water tank to adjust and optimize the settings can conserve both energy and money.

New tool will help zap food waste

The National Restaurant Association and LeanPath have teamed up to offer Association members a 10 percent discount on Zap, LeanPath’s food-waste prevention program.

The first 25 NRA members who sign up receive a free 60-day subscription.

“Our goal is to make it easier and more affordable for restaurateurs to prevent food waste,” said Jeff Clark, program director for the NRA’s Conserve sustainability program. “Many operators either don’t know how to get started or don’t think they have the money to install expensive tools to do it. This is a manageable way of making this environmentally responsible tool available to them.”

LeanPath says its goal is to help restaurateurs cut food waste before it’s generated, in an easy-to-use way that doesn’t take a lot of time.

“If we can help operators reduce food waste before it happens, that would be best financially and environmentally,” said Janet Haugan, the company’s director of marketing. “We want to make the process understandable and easy to digest. Zap will not only show operators what and how much they’re wasting, but how to prevent it from happening.”

LeanPath research indicates that approximately 4 percent to 10 percent of food purchased by foodservice operations is thrown out before it can be plated. Some of top reasons: overproduction, spoilage and excess trimming of meat and vegetables.

“If we can help capture some of what is being thrown out and put that back on the bottom line, restaurateurs will reduce food costs by 2 percent to 6 percent,” she said. “That is a significant savings.”

Haugan said LeanPath’s typical client ends up reducing kitchen waste by at least 50 percent.

The Zap program is available in three levels: 

• Zap Basic, which costs $69 per month and is designed for small operator who spend less than $300,000 a year on food
• Zap Connect, which costs $129 per month and provides the operator with more detail and customization
• Zap Enterprise, which costs $229 a month and is recommended for chains with 10 or more units

Subscribers get access to:

• LeanPath Online, a web-based reporting dashboard that records top-wasted foods, food waste by meal or day of week, and the top reasons for food waste.
• Automatic weekly emails summarizing waste and prevention opportunities from the prior week.
• A measurement and record of food waste on an ongoing basis. This allows restaurateurs to reduce waste by adjusting what they buy, how they produce it, what’s on the menu, and how they train staff.

Visit Conserve for more information on the program and sustainability solutions for the restaurant industry.

Want to blaze new sustainable trails in 2015? Here's how

Laura Abshire, the National Restaurant Association’s director of sustainability, recently attended the Last Food Mile conference at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. There, she discussed the Association’s Conserve program,   the issue of food waste, the Food Waste Reduction Alliance — of which she is co-chair — and making the business case for sustainability.

Why did the NRA start the Conserve program?

We started it to give operators the tools they needed to make their businesses more sustainable.  We believe in educating the industry on sustainable practices. Conserve is open to everyone, not just the association’s members. Before we began in 2009, there wasn’t really any place for restaurants to go to for information on this topic.

What is the biggest difference today in comparison to when Conserve began?

The program originally focused on energy and water conservation and some packaging issues. Food waste was just a part of it. But in the last few years we’ve been putting much more emphasis on that problem.

We also now have an advisory council – the Conserve Sustainability Advisory Council – which is made up of representatives from restaurant companies immersed in practicing sustainability at a high level, like Chipotle and Starbucks. They’ve really figured out how to apply some best practices at their stores so we’re taking our cues from them to figure out what more we can do moving forward.

You’ve become involved in the Food Waste Reduction Alliance. What is that?

The FWRA is an industrywide collaboration between the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Food Marketing Institute and the NRA.  The partnership began in 2011 as part of an effort to see how the industry could work to reduce, reuse, and recycle food waste together.  Since then, we’ve worked to support those goals by sharing best practices and producing tools the industry can use in their daily operations.

What’s one of the biggest lessons learned from participating in the FWRA?

We’ve found there are several barriers to eliminating food waste and increasing food donation. Whether it’s perceived or real, a lot of manufacturers, retailers and restaurateurs think there are difficulties in reducing food waste and we want to overcome that. We need to train our staffs better, have the infrastructure built out and make it something restaurateurs really care about. To do that, we have to make the business case for them, show they can save money and that their customers will really enjoy the restaurant experience because of it. But beginning to track food waste – that’s the most important piece. Also, the FWRA recently released its newest assessment on food-waste reduction. We found barriers to donation and recycling differ based on the size of the restaurant.

What technologies are available to help restaurants track food waste?

Conserve just partnered with LeanPath, which specializes in reducing commercial food waste, to give our members access to a program that will help them track and reduce food waste at their restaurants.

What’s important for restaurateurs to know about food donation?

A lot of them don’t know if they donate food there’s a tax write off for doing so. Also, under the Good Samaritan Act, restaurateurs are protected against liability claims associated with donating food. We’re trying to let them know that participating in these programs not only benefits them financially, but helps their communities, too. It’s a win for everyone.

Sustainability tops trends on 2015 What's Hot survey

Environmental sustainability, sustainable seafood and food-waste reduction are among the top trends at restaurants in 2015, according to the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) annual What’s Hot culinary forecast.

The NRA, as it does every year, surveyed approximately 1,300 professional chefs – all members of the American Culinary Federation – to determine the industry’s hottest trends, and in 2015 sustainability is going to be center of the plate, the respondents said.

“We’ve been seeing strong trends toward sustainability in the food space for several years now and that’s going to continue to grow,” said Annika Stensson, the NRA's senior manager of research communications. “Chefs and restaurateurs are realizing the benefits and cost savings that conservation and food-waste reduction bring, in addition to doing what’s good for the environment.”

Among the survey’s top 20 trends, environmental sustainability came in third, sustainable seafood eighth and food waste reduction/management ninth. Food waste reduction and management also ranks as a new top trend for 2015, while environmental sustainability and sustainable seafood retained their status as steady, top food trends for the sixth consecutive year.

“Managing food waste is gaining momentum right now as wholesale food costs are, again, on the rise and a top challenge cited by operators,” Stensson said. “This year alone, food prices have risen more than 5 percent, so minimizing waste and maximizing ingredient yield is top of mind for the industry.”

Further, chefs and restaurateurs recognize more customers are incorporating sustainability practices into their daily lives and want to extend that into the food space as well ‑ particularly when dining out.

“Diners want to learn as much as possible about what they’re eating,” said Jeff Clark, director of the NRA’s Conserve sustainability program. “They want to know why something tastes a certain way, how a farmer planted it and how far it traveled to get to a restaurant. Chefs and operators know this and are embracing it. They understand their guests are seeking foods that are good for them, flavorful, and minimally impact the environment.”

Stensson added that NRA research found 55 percent of consumers are more likely to choose restaurants that serve food grown or raised in an environmentally friendly way. She said that number is expected to grow.

The survey also found 42 percent of respondents thought environmental sustainability would be the hottest menu trend 10 years from now.

Visit Conserve for more information on sustainable practices for the restaurant industry. For information on the What’s Hot culinary trends forecast, go here.

Keep your fryer efficient with great purchases and practices

New research shows restaurants practice sustainability

The National Restaurant Association recently unveiled new research that shows a substantial number of operators are implementing sustainability best practices into their businesses.

The survey of 1,000 full service and quick service operators found that nearly three quarters of operators recycled used fryer oil, fats and grease. More than six in 10 recycled their cardboard and paper, used compact fluorescent lighting and bought products made of recycled materials. About three in 10 installed faucet aerators to conserve water.

“More operators are looking at ways to increase efficiency – environmentally and fiscally,” said Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs, NRA. “Restaurateurs today know a lot more about how sustainability can reduce utility costs and, in some cases, increase profitability.”

Key findings determined that:

• 74 percent recycled their used fryer oil, fats and grease
• 66 percent recycled cardboard and paper
• 63 percent used compact fluorescent lighting
• 61 percent purchased products made of recycled materials
• 48 percent installed low-flush toilets or waterless urinals 41 percent purchased products that can be composted
• 29 percent installed aerators on faucets
• 22 percent donated leftover food to food banks or similar organizations
• 17 percent composted food waste

Through its Conserve initiative, the NRA provides sustainable tips, tools and best practices for the food service industry. Learn more at Restaurant.org/Conserve.

NRA releases Sustainability Report offering expert advice and money-saving tips

The National Restaurant Association has issued a new report focused on sustainability best practices for the foodservice industry.

Created by the NRA’s Conserve sustainability program, the report, “Spotlight on Sustainability: Expert Tips from NRA Show 2014,” features tips, trends and real-world advice from industry experts who appeared at the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago.

“As restaurateurs grapple with implementing sustainable best practices at their operations, we want to ensure they have the best possible information that will help them save money and resources,” said Scott DeFife, NRA’s Executive Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs. “Practicing sustainability is more popular than ever before so it is important to us that we provide tools and education on how to do it in as cost effective a manner as possible. This report is one more way we can help make sustainability accessible to everyone.”

This year’s report features information culled from eight environmentally-focused education sessions at the 2014 NRA Show and features input from such renowned restaurant brands as Starbucks and White Castle, as well as restaurateur Dan Simons of the Farmers Restaurant Group in Washington, D.C., Christi Cook of contract foodservice provider Sodexo Inc., environmentalist and Ted’s Montana Grill co-owner Laura Turner Seydel, and Tim Trefzer of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority in Atlanta.

“Operators who are planning to incorporate sustainable practices into their businesses will find true value in the information contained in this report,” said Laura Abshire, the NRA’s Director of Sustainability Policy. “The advice and tips offered by our sustainability experts will give restaurateurs more access to information that will help improve profitability while protecting the communities in which they serve.”

The report is available for free download here.

“We hope everyone, especially those operators who couldn’t attend this year’s show, will take the information in this report and apply it to their respective business strategies,” said Jeff Clark, Conserve’s Program Director. “We are certain it will help save money, improve the environment and satisfy your employees and customers alike.”

The Conserve program has also released its free subscription-only “Bright Ideas,” sustainability newsletter, which offers tips and tools to restaurant and foodservice operators on eco-friendly practices that save money, resources and help protect the environment. Sign up today!

For more information about the report and Conserve, visit the website here.

7 ways to bring sustainability into your restaurant

Practicing sustainability is good for the environment, but can also cut costs and drive profits for restaurants large and small.

That’s the word from restaurant sustainability experts who shared tips and advice at NRA Show 2014, held in Chicago in May.

We’ve compiled their top tips in our new “Spotlight on Sustainability” report, to help spread the word about the easy steps restaurateurs can take to incorporate enviro-friendly practices at their restaurants.

Seven starters from the experts:

• Make sure your sustainability program blends seamlessly with your operation. “There has to be a reconciliation of your sustainability initiatives with what works for you,” said Elizabeth Meltz, director of food safety and sustainability for the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group.
• Compost your organic waste material into mulch and plant flowers outside your restaurants, like employees at some White Castle burger locations do. “Your cheapest resource tool is education and engagement,” said Shannon Tolliver, White Castle’s manager of social responsibility and sustainability.
• Reinvest efficiency savings into other projects. Helen Cameron of Uncommon Ground in Chicago spent $3,000 on six accelerated hand dryers for her two restaurants. In one month she saved $1,000 on paper towel costs. The investment resulted into annual savings of $24,000. She took that money and invested it in LED lighting for her business.
• Communicate the sustainable actions you take—particularly with millennials, born between 1980 and 1992. “The green message is critical to attracting and retaining [millennials’] loyalty,” NRA research and knowledge senior vice president Hudson Riehle said. “The research is pretty clear. If an operator communicates what he or she is doing, it can have a positive retention factor.”
• Outfit your restaurant with energy efficient equipment. Buying an energy-efficient fryer for $1,400, versus $700 for a traditional fryer, will cost more at the outset, but will end up extending the life of your fryer oil. Plus, local utility companies often offer rebates on the more efficient equipment. “Efficiency is saving you money,” said Richard Young, senior engineer and director of education for the Food Service Technology Center. “The market wants it, and it’s the right thing to do. Really, it’s good business.”
• Visit farmers’ markets for locally sourced items. Ryan Stone, executive chef at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., says farmers’ markets are “a great place to start [searching]. I also started reading labels on products in grocery stores to see what was out there.”
• Assess the amount of waste you create at your establishment. Sodexo’s senior sustainability manager, Christi Cook, said operators need to understand “what food and recyclables are coming through the back door. Education is important, and looking at portion control is part of that. The best way is to track your food waste and figure out where it’s being generated.”

Download the full Spotlight on Sustainability report.

Learn more about the Association’s Conserve program and sustainability best practices for the restaurant industry here. Also, subscribe to Bright Ideas, Conserve’s free, monthly newsletter focusing on sustainability tips and tools for foodservice businesses.

Where does your food go, donation or down the drain?

Increasing food donations to charitable organizations is one of the best ways restaurants can divert material from landfills, according to a new study on food waste.

 

The report, the third conducted by Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and commissioned by the National Restaurant Association, looked at the challenges nearly 600 restaurants in Durham, N.C., face as they try to cut waste, including the barriers that prevent many restaurants from composting and recycling.

This year’s study looked at steps the city of Durham, N.C. and the Association could take to increase interest in food donation programs among restaurateurs. Previous studies looked at how operators could achieve zero waste at their facilities as well as conduct on-premise organic composting.

According to the study, restaurants in Durham are responsible for 50 percent of the 16,000 tons of commercial food waste produced by the city annually. At the same time, nearly 20 percent of its residents suffer from food insecurity or hunger.

“Food waste is a significant concern,” said Jeff Clark, director of the NRA’s Conserve sustainability program. “Between 25 percent and 40 percent of food produced in the United States goes to landfills every year. At the same time, millions of people face food insecurity every day.”

The Duke University study determined that restaurants tend not to donate surplus food because of:

• A lack of awareness regarding food waste and food donation, including where and how to participate, and the benefits.
• Transaction costs, including staff time to arrange donations and costs related to storage and transportation.
• Confusion about food safety and fear of liability and bad publicity.
• A lack of relationships, trust and communication with food donation recipients.

Clark noted that many restaurants donating surplus food to the hungry are eligible for enhanced tax deductions and federal liability protection under the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act.

Laura Abshire, the NRA’s director of sustainability and government policy, said the Association is working to help educate restaurateurs better understand the issue of food waste and how they can help reduce it.

Abshire, who also co-chairs the Food Waste Reduction Alliance in Washington, D.C., noted that the NRA has partnered with the Food Donation Connection to increase food donation by restaurants. The organization pairs up restaurants with social agencies to provide food deliveries to people.

“It is important that operators understand that reducing food waste doesn’t have to be daunting or difficult,” she said. “Businesses that donate safe, edible food to food banks and divert that material from the waste stream make a positive impact financially, socially and environmentally across the country.”

Visit the Conserve website to learn more about sustainability in the restaurant industry. Watch this best practices video on food donation for more tips, tools and information.

Bright idea! Sustainability newsletter now available for restaurateurs

The National Restaurant Association issued “Bright Ideas,” its first-ever sustainability newsletter, which offers tips and tools to restaurant and foodservice operators on eco-friendly practices that save money, resources and help protect the environment.

The newsletter, which is produced by Conserve, the NRA’s sustainability initiative, features a variety of videos, best practices, case studies and personal accounts of chain and independent operators who have achieved success by practicing sustainability at their businesses.

“We are pleased to offer this newsletter that we think will go a long way toward helping operators embrace the prospect of sustainability and better understand the financial and environmental impacts it can make on their respective businesses and the communities they serve,” said Conserve Director Jeff Clark. “This is yet another way our Association can help educate operators on a subject many don’t yet fully understand, are confused about, but want to try at their stores. We know that this information will prove invaluable to them as sustainability becomes more widely integrated into our businesses and everyday lives.”

Subject matter experts, including Clarice Turner, vice president of U.S. business development for Starbucks Coffee Co., George McKerrow Jr., co-founder and CEO of Ted’s Montana Grill and Dan Simons, operating partner of Founding Farmers restaurants in metropolitan Washington, D.C., are among the operators to be featured in Bright Ideas and Conserve’s new and improved website, which launched earlier this month. In addition, blog posts and news stories will provide information on sustainability issues, tips and trends that impact restaurants and will help improve operations and practices.

The NRA is offering the newsletter free of charge, but it is available by subscription only. Subscribe today.

NRA launches enhanced Conserve sustainability website

The National Restaurant Association has relaunched its Conserve website designed to educate restaurateurs about sustainability and showcase how applying greener business practices will save money and help protect the environment.

The rebooted website (Restaurant.org/Conserve) offers numerous videos, case studies, best practices and personal accounts of becoming more sustainable, reducing energy and water consumption, decreasing food waste, recycling, composting and operating business in environmentally and economically responsible ways.

“Practicing sustainability is no longer a trend, but an important aspect of the restaurant industry’s daily operations,” said Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs, National Restaurant Association. “With this new and improved website, we are well on our way to helping restaurateurs increase their efficiency, reducing the amount of energy, water and waste they generate while saving money and being environmentally aware at the same time. By sharing the experiences, best practices and knowledge of industry leaders who are meeting their sustainability goals, we can assist those who are just beginning their own sustainable journeys.”

Well known restaurateurs, such as George McKerrow Jr. of Ted’s Montana Grill, Clarice Turner of Starbucks and Dan Simons of Founding Farmers restaurants, as well as celebrity chefs Rick Bayless, Amanda Freitag and Gale Gand, are just some of the experts sharing their sustainability experiences on the new website.

Conserve program director Jeff Clark said the redesign was driven by the goal of engaging operators, who would use the site as a guide moving forward, and refer to it often once they are immersed in their own sustainability plans.

“We know restaurant operators are extremely pressed for time and have an inordinate amount of responsibilities to juggle daily, so we needed to provide them with easily accessible, smart and solid information presented in an entertaining to help them achieve their goals,” said Clark. “We are pleased with this new and improved site, and think it will help operators and their employees understand not only how to practice sustainability, but more importantly, why they should do it at all.”

Laura Abshire, the NRA’s director of sustainability, said sustainability is one of the most talked about topics among restaurateurs and their customers, and is a discussion that continues to grow and become more relevant every day.

“Learning through the advice, tools and tips of others in environmentally sound and fiscally feasible ways will help our industry reduce its carbon footprint, make a big impact and see a great return on investment,” Abshire said. “That is a winning proposition on all fronts.”

Created in 2009, the NRA’s Conserve sustainability program is an education tool that shows restaurateurs how to reduce energy, water and waste, and save money and resources at the same time. More than 230 restaurant locations currently use the program.

Engage with the Conserve Program on social media. Follow us on Twitter @ConserveNow and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RestaurantsConserve. 

NRA releases industry sustainability report

Report offers insight into sustainability initiatives throughout the restaurant industry

The National Restaurant Association released its first-ever sustainability report, which looks at environmentally stable trends and initiatives within the restaurant industry, such as food waste reduction, composting, recycling and cost-efficient energy solutions.

“Sustainability and waste reduction are increasingly important issues across the restaurant and foodservice industry,” said Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs, National Restaurant Association. “We have seen incorporation of eco-friendly business practices from large chains to independent operators, as well as manufacturers and other supply chain partners. The National Restaurant Association is working to ensure operators have access to the education, tools and training needed to adopt successful and cost-effective sustainability best practices into their business models.”

“This is the first sustainability report the Association has ever produced,” said Clarice Turner, senior vice president of U.S. Business for Starbucks Coffee Co. and chair of the NRA’s Sustainability and Social Responsibility Committee. “It is a landmark document and we’re very proud of the work that went into it. It definitely outlines the Association’s sustainability goals nicely, and from a strategic standpoint, allows us to continue to tell this complex and important story. The report is a key piece of a comprehensive effort to demonstrate the ways in which NRA is being proactive and leading as a trade association on sustainability issues.”

As part of the restaurant industry’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the NRA is now offering its Conserve Sustainability Education Program (CSEP) as a member benefit. The program – designed by the restaurant industry for the restaurant industry – provides online tools and resources to successfully implement environmental practices, as well as a roadmap to help navigate toward reducing carbon footprints.

“With the help and support of some key leaders in our industry, we’ve created the Conserve Sustainability Education Program, which emphasizes education and makes the business case for sustainability,” DeFife said. “Understanding what goes on in the back of the house – from the appliances you cook with to your energy and water use, packaging, management process and even organics collection techniques – has a big potential positive impact on the average restaurant’s budget.”

CSEP includes industry-tried best practices, educational videos by industry experts, money-saving techniques and a personalized action plan for operators.

The sustainability report comes on the heels of the NRA’s just-announced Conserve Sustainability Advisory Council, which brings together some of today’s top corporate sustainability leaders as part of the Conserve Initiative.

According to the NRA’s 2013 Restaurant Industry Forecast, consumers find sustainability efforts important when it comes to choosing a restaurant, adding the incentive to restaurateurs’ of increasing guest satisfaction and attracting sustainability-minded diners. In fact, nearly half of consumers say they are likely to make a restaurant choice based on its energy and water conservation practices.

NRA research also shows that the majority of restaurant operators already have plans to increase their efforts on energy and water conservation this year; more than 6 out of 10 plan to purchase energy-saving kitchen equipment and light fixtures in 2013, and half plan to invest in water-saving equipment and/or fixtures.

“Shedding Light on Sustainability” can be downloaded for free here.

For more information on the report and Conserve, visit Restaurant.org/Conserve.