But something else is going on lately—something that has more restauranteurs across a wider-appeal spectrum taking a closer look at making root-to-stem and other zero-waste efforts a legit part of their operations.
Here are 3 hard-to-ignore reasons why.
Traditionally, it’s only been restaurants building a niche brand or chains pursuing some formal sustainability initiative that has more aggressively tried to implement food conservation practices in the kitchen.
But the operational shock and subsequent pricing spikes of a global supply chain in paralysis are changing that.
More operators are getting serious about maximizing ingredient supplies and more tightly controlling portions to stretch inventories and keep costs down on the purchasing side.
Applied industry-wide, these lower (though, many would argue, wiser) standards that accept ugly produce at the dock and on the plate, in turn, impact the supply side to further bring costs down.
It will be interesting to see if this current inflation dynamic can move the foodservice industry to reduce the 33 billion pounds of food waste generated by restaurants every year—not to mention the additional seven to 11 billion pounds coming out of the institutional sector. (Ethos, January 2022.)
It’s not just the fact that the big chains are now all compelled to dive into plants, demonstrating the power of generating LTO excitement—tough economy or not.
Even among QSRs like Stalk & Spade and fast casuals like Beatnic, more restaurant chains are launching—and expanding—with exclusively plant-based concepts that are appealing to consumers who perceive both the comprehensive personal- and planet-health benefits.
The result is an ever-widening door of opportunity for operators to resonate further with these consumers by introducing ugly produce, root-to-stem, upcycling, and other zero-waste kitchen concepts that stand behind the plant-based menus they already like.
This, of course, dovetails in with another reason for mainstream migration.
The key to number two is effective promotion.
Chains that dominate are those that understand the power of ongoing menu innovation—but, more importantly, innovation within the context of their brand. They are also seeing how the rise of more flexitarian concepts is about more than the food itself.
It’s about where that food comes from and how it’s made. Moreover, when these successful chains see something like the current plant-based movement, they also know how to optimize its profit potential.