The National Restaurant Association recently released an intriguing report called the “2022 State of the Restaurant Industry.” 38% of adult consumers in a poll say they are more likely to select a restaurant they know offers food that is locally sourced. Further, 30% say they would rather choose a restaurant that offers environmentally friendly grown food.
It turns out that operating eco friendly restaurants is not only good for the environment but also for business too!
There is a lot more to running a restaurant than making food and serving customers. There are many ways of going green and a lot more benefits to go along with it!
Ready to learn more about the wonders of green restaurants? Keep reading!
Better Food
Sustainable food may seem boring or bland, but this is far from the truth. Many times, restaurants of the past will pack their food with artificial coloring and preservatives. Eco-friendly restaurants, however, are full of flavor and from local produce, leveraging the nearby flavor of their neighbors around them.
Making relationships with close-by businesses that offer local produce is a great way for eco-friendly restaurants to network. It attracts customers from the area, too, by making friends with local business owners and their employees. This is a way to build a big following of a loyal customer base, fast.
Creating Better Health
Customers will also appreciate that eco-friendly restaurants care for their health and well-being. Processed and mass-produced foods are not good for anyone’s healthy diet. It clogs arteries and causes cancer.
In fact, a recent study published by BMJ shows a direct correlation between ultra-processed foods and the risk of cancer. A 10% portion increase of ultra-processed foods in diets associates itself with a 12% risk of cancer overall. Specifically, an 11% increase is associated with breast cancer.
Offering fresh and healthy meals not only makes customers healthier, but it also helps their minds and boosts their energy, so they can have a better day. Getting more accomplished is a way to live a better life.
Reduce Waste
Sustainable restaurants are synonymous with reducing waste. You cannot have one while neglecting the other.
Benefiting the environment benefits the business. It even saves on cash.
Part of being a green business means recycling and using eco-friendly products. Another piece to it is reusing the materials they have, which attributes to how green restaurants create less waste.
A great way to go green is to opt for paper straws over plastic ones. When people see you have paper straws and care about the environment, they will give that restaurant preference and continue to visit them, increasing business profits for such eco-friendly restaurants.
Recent reports tell us that about 36% of all plastic the world produces is created in packaging, and 85% will end up going to a landfill. Around the globe, we produce approximately 400 million tons of plastic garbage each year.
In 2021, however, almost half of the recycled paper was reused to make cardboard boxes.
Reduces Energy
Sustainable restaurants of today see a reduction in energy usage. This is because clean energy restaurants make the switch to energy-efficient lighting, lowering their energy consumption.
Renewable energy sources are significant, and customers love seeing green restaurants going solar these days. Solar panels are sustainable and drastically reduce the cost of energy for the business.
It appears that this is the right time to jump on the solar bandwagon. In 2020, 3% of the electricity the United States used came from solar generation. However, experts believe that solar generation will be more like 20% of U.S. electricity by the year 2050.
Building Relationships With Customers
Remember, patrons take notice of such enormous changes that green restaurants make. Sustainable restaurants will outperform their competitors who are not going green. That is because customers have a more positive feeling and image of eco friendly restaurants.
Generations today are gravely concerned about the environment, so they are acting. This means it affects which companies these customers of tomorrow will choose to do business with.
Showing the actions that eco friendly restaurants are taking to help the environment will have its rewards for the future of their business.
Unfortunately, some restaurants won’t take the initiative of going green because they believe sustainable products cost more. However, eco friendly restaurants attract more business, meaning that in the end, profits will outweigh what it costs them.
Also, by not going green, restaurants risk losing business anyway. So no matter what the cost savings are for non-sustainable products, they will be harmful in the long run.
Increase Worker Productivity
Sustainable restaurants are about so much more than helping the environment. It saves money, and it makes customers happy, but that is not all. Employees enjoy working for an employer that cares about the environment.
Employees of eco friendly restaurants believe in their company values and that makes them happier at work. When you are happy where you work, you are more productive. Productive employees are very apparent to the customers they serve, and this also increases business and wins over customer loyalty.
There is a domino effect here so large that it is impossible to ignore!
Eco Friendly Restaurants
Restaurants that are looking to the future and growing their business cannot ignore going green. Eco friendly restaurants will outpace and outwit their competitors.
For more expert business advice on how you can help save the environment, why leave us? We have a lot more articles that will help you go green! Keep clicking, and let’s save the world together.
