Sustenance of Sustainability

The hospitality industry is taking the planet positive approach quite seriously. There are a lot of activities which can be conducted by the restaurants and the hotels to save the planet. Inhouse organic farms, farm to fork concept, consumer awareness, education initiatives, using seasonal produce, reducing food loss and wastage. All these have increased their commitment to sustainability. The Urban Indian fine out is completely changing. Here are a few glimpses of what is going on around the industry to keep their promise of sustainability. 

The Taj Safaris of IHCL keeps its carbon footprint low by purchasing local produce. They grow vegetables using natural manure and keep seasonal variations in their menu to maintain the nutrition value. “Sustainability is a prerequisite for our operations. We encourage awareness among guests about the source of the food they are consuming. Our sustainable culinary initiatives are driven inhouse, in collaboration with local communities, which allows us to give back to society by enabling their livelihood,” said Nagendra Hada, area director at Taj Safaris.

The restaurants at ITC Hotels use a traffic light indicator system to encourage diners to make a sustainable choice while ordering. The endangered marine species are not on their menu. The chefs use sustainable marine produce. It is a joint initiative of ITC Hotels, WWF India and Central Marine Fisheries Institute. More than 40% of the edibles at ITC Hotels are sourced locally. They serve smaller portions to stop food wastage. 

CAARA operates three restaurants in New Delhi. The Director, Alice Helme said that it is important to understand the right source for sustainable food. “Customers feel more at ease that we have made that choice of sustainable eating for them. Our website promotes our farm and we talk about food origins through the menus and informed staff, who we train about our ethos,” Helme said. “Communicating to the patrons what we stand for is the most effective way of conveying the importance of sustainable, conscientious eating choices.”

Fab cafe by Fabindia has tied up with Organic India to get the ingredients. The best approach is to buy the seasonal and regional grown ingredients, said Chef Sunil Chauhan.  Chef Jatin Mallick of Tres, the contemporary European Restaurant said, “It’s more about education and also what goes into our menu. Seasonal ingredients… and menu balancing is the main part of our job. It’s our moral responsibility to upgrade the menu to the season. There’s no point using ingredients like cauliflower, which isn’t available at a certain time of year, and put pressure on the environment and resources,” At the Go Native chain of restaurants in Bengaluru, menus are changed every quarter, depending on what’s in season. The food is organic and the ingredients bought from farms in and around Karnataka. The chain even promotes lifestyle changes by offering customers organic products and apparel in their retail space.

The famous restaurant Masque doesn't have a menu. This is where the education of their customers start. Their offerings are decided by the produce in the month. “We cannot have, in a menu, 200 dishes a year – that is just not sustainable. A menu should be driven by what is in season,” said Prateek Sadhu, co-owner of Masque. "I can’t have pumpkin or cabbage the entire month – the farmer doesn’t grow it that much. We are a 70% agricultural nation but we are still dependent on imported vegetables. We need to educate our clients about these. If you really want to run a sustainable restaurant, you must have only 10-15 dishes on the menu. We have been vehement about what people should eat,” said Sadhu. “We must have lost a lot of customers – but we have gained double the amount of people we lost.”