The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) and leading retail landlord Hammerson have developed the first ever sustainability accreditation for food destinations.
The first initiative of its kind in the world, the new sustainability rating will now be rolled out to a variety of destinations including shopping centres, airports, stadiums and stations as retailers and restaurants increasingly seek to demonstrate their approach to responsible business.
The SRA has been rating individual restaurant businesses on their sustainability credentials for the past three years and a Sustainability Champion rating of up to Three Stars is awarded following assessment across three main areas: Sourcing, Environment and Society.
First to achieve Food Destination rating
Hammerson’s WestQuay shopping centre in Southampton is the first location to achieve the new Sustainable Restaurant Association Food Destination rating, which now allows its 17 million annual shoppers to choose from a range of restaurants which are signed up to sourcing ingredients more responsibly, and managing food, water and energy and waste more efficiently.
WestQuay has achieved Three Star Sustainability Champion Status, the highest possible rating, and the SRA commended the shopping centre for its collaborative recycling initiatives with the restaurants and its ambitious targets to recycle food waste.
Hammerson demonstrated its continued commitment to sustainability at WestQuay by working with the SRA to encourage all the centre’s restaurants and cafes to participate. Two brands have already been rated at WestQuay; Tortilla and Costa, with other catering brands taking up membership of the scheme, and more lined up to complete the rating later this year.
A meaningful benchmark for consumers
Peter Cooper, Hammerson Retail Portfolio Director, said: “This is a great initiative that will have tangible benefits for us as a landlord and for our restaurateurs. Not only does it provide us and our restaurants with constant areas of improvement, it also gives our consumers a meaningful benchmark when it comes to dining, and a better understanding of the quality of the product. We believe this initiative will help drive sales over the longer term as the provenance and behaviour of brands is becoming increasingly more important for consumers.”
Recent research conducted by the SRA shows that 70% of consumers would choose a sustainable restaurant given the option with more than half (52%) are prepared to pay more for a meal in a location that invests in sustainability.