Products & Technologies

Energy savings and lower Co2 emissions in catering: the 5 steps that can reduce the carbon footprint of your business

4 minutes

Have you ever wondered how much impact your restaurant or workshop has on the environment? What behaviours and strategies could you adopt to reduce the carbon footprint of your business? 

Carbon footprint is a generic term to describe the impact of a person (or activity) on the environment based on the Co2 emissions released into the atmosphere. Running a restaurant or workshop in a sustainable way also means optimising resources and reducing consumption and costs. 

Find out which 5 steps you can take today to start running your premises in an efficient and carbon neutral way: make your customers happy and respect the environment, while also increasing your profits.

Index


1 - Offer a “sustainable” menu to your customers

The production of the food we eat has a major impact on the environment. Offering your customers a menu that limits meat to certain days of the week, eliminating less popular dishes and replacing them with more environmentally friendly alternatives, or even offering seasonal menus that use local produce, can have a really significant effect both in reducing the carbon footprint of your business and in increasing your profits. According to the "National Restaurant Association", about half of consumers report that when choosing where to eat or buy food, they also consider as determining factors the efforts of the restaurant to reduce food waste, the use of “sustainable” produce and the commitment to recycle or donate food. Customers, particularly millennials and Generation Z, care a lot about environmental impact, and are more likely to choose to support businesses that align with their values. 

2 - Sustainable lighting

A large part of the Co2 emissions produced by your restaurant is caused by your lighting system. This means that by changing your lighting system to, for example, all-LED lighting, you can reduce your carbon footprint by 50% to 70%. LED lights can consume 90% less energy than traditional lights, saving you money and reducing your impact on the environment at the same time.

3 - Reduce food waste

According to the "World Wildlife Fund", food waste contributes to almost 10% of the world's Co2 emissions and, according to "Feeding America", 40% of food waste comes from restaurants, workshops, grocery shops and food companies. Minimising these types of waste often seems a difficult task: but what if it were possible to reduce this waste to zero? Thanks to innovative "hot preservation" technologies, your preparations can now be preserved for up to 3 days at serving temperature without compromising taste and appearance. Serve tomorrow what is not sold today, eliminating waste and increasing profits.

Want to know more? Discover EVEREO®, the first and only "hot fridge".

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4– Work with energy-efficient appliances and reduce energy waste

Approximately 73% of gas consumption comes from cooking and more than half of the electricity used in restaurants and workshops comes from cooking and refrigeration, essential components that you cannot do without but which you can manage efficiently with intelligent appliances. Taking advantage of EVEREO®'s innovative "hot preservation" technology and investing in the purchase of efficient ENERGY STAR®-certified appliances (such as the CHEFTOP MIND.Maps™ PLUS combi-oven), it is possible to reduce energy consumption without compromising on the quality of dishes. 

When thinking about reducing energy consumption, one might believe that using pots, pans and grills means less consumption when compared to using ovens and other professional appliances. In fact, the use of professional ENERGY STAR® appliances helps reduce heat loss, which results in less energy being wasted than with hob cooking

Find out how an ENERGY STAR® oven can help you save money in your restaurant or workshop: 

READ THE ARTICLE

5- Harness the power of technology for sustainable cooking

As the digital age advances, new technologies are being invented and updated every day. These include software, algorithms and devices that could perfect cooking processes and optimise the efforts of different activities to ensure more sustainable behaviours

Using tools that allow to monitor consumption and improve performance in the kitchen or workshop can be a key aspect in reducing costs and the impact in terms of Co2 produced in the environment.

An example of this is the CLIMALUX™ technology of UNOX smart ovens, which uses specific algorithms to reduce water and energy waste through perfect control of humidity levels in the oven cooking chamber. 

On the other hand, thanks to the SMART.Preheating feature, the temperature and duration of preheating is automatically set by the oven to ensure the least amount of energy waste and the most repeatable result at every baking.

Discover all the UNOX intelligent technologies:

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Becoming completely carbon neutral may seem like a really difficult task for kitchen professionals, but the reality is that soon there may be no other choice.

Start contributing to this important change process today, immediately reducing your consumption levels with efficient and sustainable solutions.
BOOK A COOKING TEST

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