One restaurant which is leading the way in sustainability is the award-winning Arbor Restaurant at The Green House Hotel in Bournemouth.
Every decision made within the hotel is evaluated for environmental impact, ensuring produce is sourced ethically with the highest standard in mind.
Restaurants from the capital to the coast are making more informed decisions about the food they purchase and where it comes from. Whether it’s getting rid of single-use plastics or using ethically sourced produce, the British restaurant industry is becoming more sustainable.
Sustainability has become a major factor in recent years and is crucial in making a brand a favourable choice among ever more informed diners.
Produce that is local as well as seasonal and sourced from suppliers who share the same ethical values, is key. By reducing food transportation miles, which contribute to carbon emissions, and reducing waste products, restaurants can minimise their environmental impact.
The Arbor restaurant uses low-energy induction cookers, sustainable floor timber, and only sources the best quality, ethically produced local ingredients to reduce their food miles.
Famous for being as serious about sustainability as it is luxury, the kitchen team at the 2-rosette award-winning restaurant are constantly coming up with creative ways to use the ingredients available to them to reduce food waste. And the little food waste that is produced is composted and used in the hotel’s eco-garden.
Olivia O-Sullivan, the General Manager at The Green House Hotel, said: “We consider the environmental consequences of every choice we make when it comes to our luxury hotel and restaurant running as efficiently and responsibly as possible. We work with a variety of local producers, independent farmers and organic suppliers to ensure our guests receive the best quality food and drink.
“Customer demand for sustainably sourced food has never been stronger, with people wanting to know where the food on their plate has come from. It’s great to see an increase in restaurants becoming more sustainable and reducing their food miles and waste.
“In the case of food sourcing especially, there’s often a chance to go beyond this and help encourage genuine positive change. We only use quality-assured specialist providers who are as passionate and committed to ethical food excellence as we are.”
Fish
Fresh fish and seafood is sourced from multiple fishmongers in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. The ethos behind the Arbor is to source the fish from ‘port to plate’ in just 24 hours. The team keeps a close eye on the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide which promotes the best environmental and sustainable policies and practices in the industry and protects future stocks.
Meat
Meat used within the restaurant is produced from happy, well-fed, traditionally reared animals and birds. All animals are free to range, free from hormones and growth promoters, fed an organic, natural diet, and humanely slaughtered. Most of the meat comes from Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire and where appropriate, the meat is hung for maximum flavour and tenderness.
Local Suppliers
The hotel prides itself on buying from ultra-local small producers within a few miles of the venue to obtain the freshest fruit and vegetables. Local hand-crafted cheese producers are selected from across Dorset and Somerset, and a small farm in Fordingbridge provides the free-range eggs from hens who live on two independent family run farms. The hens lay their eggs, take shelter and roost in airy well-ventilated mobile houses and are free every day to explore acres of grassland on free draining gravel and chalk soils.