Over the last few years, attention has continued to grow for catering companies that embrace sustainability. Sustainability is fast becoming one of the top priorities across all businesses. The conversation is not only happening in Australia but also in the whole world. As the sustainability expectations on catering companies increases, businesses are recognising the need to act on sustainability and are looking to order catering from catering companies that have good environmental credentials.
Here are the top 10 most sustainable companies around Australia
- ARUP
- BHP Billiton
- Disney
- IAG
- NAB
- PwC
- Sydney Water
- Telstra
- Teachers Mutual Bank
- Westpac
Choose A Green Catering Business
More and more people are now changing their habits to be more sustainable. Catering companies that have green credentials and sustainable purchasing will help reduce the environmental impact we have during our lifetime. This will ensure we provide the best possible future for the next generations. It will be our legacy! Not just catering companies, but you probably notice a lot of companies are pledging to do more in that area. For example, Coles has committed to 100% renewable electricity and set a course to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as part of their refreshed sustainability strategy built around the concept of working “Together to Zero”. This is very encouraging as we can slowly path our way in the right direction and make the world green again.
What Some Catering Companies Are Doing
As Melbourne’s leading corporate catering company, Elizabeth Andrews is constantly looking at their carbon footprint and have many projects to ensure that they contribute to helping to provide a better future. As we all know, catering is an essential service for companies, organisations and private events, but with that comes environmental and social impacts. One of the largest single sources of waste in Australia is food waste. Elizabeth Andrews has implemented necessary steps within their business to tackle this very issue and they can say proudly that it has been working well.
Here are some of the steps they have taken so far. Their commercial food composter converts food waste to soil and they use the soil in their site herb gardens and donated to the local community and school. They produce their own cleaners and sanitisers (yes it is effective against covid-19). They are also working with suppliers to reduce their raw ingredient packaging. Partnering with local suppliers and markets helps to provide catering companies with the freshest, in-season food thus lowering transport emissions in the process.
Other environmental projects that catering companies are using to reduce their carbon footprint are Solar panels on production facilities. Solar skylights as an alternative to LEDs. Using the latest technology to produce eco-friendly cleaning chemicals on-site. Capturing rainwater to be filtered and processed for use in dishwashing. Providing both reusable platters as well as disposables packaging that is plant-based and compostable.
Reducing Land Fill
Food waste is the single biggest cause of landfills, so a catering business that can tackle this problem head-on is on the right path to helping the environment. There are many different types of food composters on the market and they are not all the same. Some require chemicals, water and use a large amount of electricity, while not being large enough or quickly compost enough to adequately compost all the food waste. The catering company; Elizabeth Andrews did a large amount of research before they purchased their food composter. They said, the composter they ended putting in can take up to 150Kg of food waste per day every day, it uses no chemicals and no water, just heat and movement. “We add food waste from Monday to Friday and then don’t add any waste on the weekend. By Monday morning the 500Kg of food waste has composted down to approximately 100Kg. We take this out and then we are ready to start the cycle again.
The compost is amazing it looks and smells great, it feels nice in the hand like thick soil. We use it in our gardens to help grow more produce for the kitchen. One of the owners has 50 acres and grows a wide range of fruit and vegetables.
Catering Companies Sustainable Future
On top of that catering companies need to be at the forefront of innovation and technology for the benefit of the environment but also to remain relevant and in demand from the business that chooses to use them.
We hope this gives a little insight into what catering companies are doing and will need to do in time. When choosing a catering company for your business or private function, enquire into their environmental credentials. The sustainable choices we make today whether it’s big or small will definitely provide a positive impact on society. Together we CAN save the planet!
