University partnership helps Brighton restaurants measure their social and environmental impact

The UK’s restaurant sector faces significant challenges around its use of resources and the waste it generates, with WRAP estimating that the UK hospitality and food sector throws away over one million tonnes of food alone each year, costing businesses around £3.2 billion.

But food waste is only part of the story. Reducing water consumption and energy use, along with promoting sustainable sourcing, recycling measures, supplier relations and employee engagement all play a part in positively impacting the environment, people and the bottom line.

The team from the University of Brighton and Restaurants Brighton found that while restaurant owners in the city understand how critical it is to improve the sustainability of their operations and supply chains, they found it difficult to assess their current performance and identify examples of best practice to emulate.

Dr Adam Jones and Ivanka Majic

Dr Francisca Farache Aureliano Da Silva and Dr Julian Riano

To help restaurant owners, staff and suppliers to tackle this issue, the team has created a sustainability toolkit to assess and enhance environmental and social sustainability practices.

With a focus, on planet, people and profit, the toolkit includes a checklist which encourages restaurant owners to consider their current practices around water consumption, energy use, food waste and sourcing, environmentally sustainable materials, and social sustainability in relation to employees, suppliers and their communities. The process enables businesses to evaluate where they are on their sustainability journey and to consider areas for potential improvement.

The toolkit also includes inspiring case studies of restaurants in Brighton & Hove already tackling some of these issues. For instance, the owners of local sushi restaurant, MOSHIMO, share how they have prevented 1,860,000 litres of water from being poured down the drain and saved £115,000 in the process.

The University of Brighton team comprised Dr Adam Jones, Dr Francisca Farache Aureliano Da Silva and Dr Julian Riano from the School of Business and Law. The team was led by Dr Jones, who is a Principal Lecturer and Director of the university’s Help to Grow business leadership programme. He said:

“The partnership with Restaurants Brighton has grown from strength to strength – from an initial focus group to map out the sustainability opportunities for restaurants, cafés and bars in the Brighton and Hove area to the development and pilot of a sustainability toolkit. Together, we wanted to help the sector on their sustainable journey in a practical way to support our city’s net zero aspirations.

“It has been fantastic working with the Restaurants Brighton team. Through our partnership, we have shone a light on some amazing and inspiring sustainable practice being carried out by our local hospitality providers. In addition, we have engaged with stakeholders from the wider community to critique and contribute to our work, including activists and local councillors.”

Ivanka Majic from Restaurants Brighton said:

"As a small business, we would never have been bold enough to use our platform and network for a project that matters so much to us without the support of the University of Brighton and their research expertise in this area. By collaborating, we have become much more than the sum of our skills."

Councillor Ty Goddard said:

“As part of this project, discussions with local businesses are vital. Hearing ideas, what really works, and then acting on them is key. Working with the hospitality sector, at events like the sustainability roundtable, gives us a model for the future. I believe that the Sustainability Toolkit will provide valuable insights for local policy development, economic growth and our city’s carbon neutral aspirations. Practical ideas are the way to go.”

If you are a hospitality business in Brighton & Hove and would like to get involved, please do get in touch by contacting Restaurants Brighton on hello@restaurantsbrighton.co.uk.