Greene King leads the way and signs up to two food waste reduction pledges
Greene King, the country’s leading pub company and brewer, has signed up to the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap – managed by resource efficiency experts WRAP and the IGD – as well as the government’s Step Up to the Plate pledge.
Zero waste to landfill is no longer enough – reducing waste is a higher priority in the long term. Both national pledges aim to cut down on food waste and Greene King’s announcement further boosts its sustainability credentials.
Under the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, Greene King will set a food waste reduction target, measure progress and prioritise actions necessary to meet that target, working with suppliers but also engaging with customers to help them reduce their food waste too.
Greene King will also work with the government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to highlight to customers more changes we can all make to reduce our food waste as part of Step Up to the Plate.
SWRnewstar has been Greene King’s recycling and waste management lead partner for over three years and fully supports the initiatives. Earlier this year, Greene King became the first pub company to launch Too Good To Go, an app allowing people to purchase leftover carveries from some of its Farmhouse Inns and Pub & Carvery pubs at the end of each day. After a successful trial, this has now been rolled out to all of these pubs nationwide.
Signing up to these new pledges now empowers Greene King to look into further innovative waste reduction schemes across its pubs and also to consider rolling out existing schemes on a wider basis.
Commenting on the news, Greene King’s Chief Commercial Officer Phil Thomas said: “I’m delighted that we will be working further with WRAP and DEFRA to implement changes that make a material difference to our environment and our society. We have long been advocates of reducing our food waste and signing these two pledges demonstrates our ongoing commitment to making further changes.
“With more than 1,700 managed pubs around the country, we believe we have a responsibility to lead the industry on cutting back food waste on a significant scale, as well as taking our customers with us on this journey. We have already introduced a number of steps to reduce our food waste, which have proved both effective and popular, and we look forward to introducing more.”
Ben Elliot, the government’s Food Waste and Surplus Champion, said: “I’m delighted Greene King has signed the Step Up to the Plate pledge. Pubs and restaurants can play a vital role in helping to reduce the amount of food waste thrown away every day and it’s great to see Greene King leading the way in this respect. It has been good to learn about the work they are already doing and I look forward to seeing further initiatives introduced to help reduce food waste further.”
Eleanor Morris, Hospitality and Food Service Sector Specialist WRAP, said “We are delighted that Greene King has signed up to the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap. Food waste remains a key issue in the hospitality sector and costs the industry nearly £3 billion every year. By bringing the practice of Target-Measure-Act on food waste into all of its sites, Greene King will be able to identify where food waste is occurring and prevent good food going to waste. This focus on front and back of house is a key consideration, and it’s great to have Greene King announce its move to Stand Up For Food.”
