This week we speak to Stephen Nolan, CEO of Foodprint from Nutritics, about how restaurants, cafes, bars and caterers can get ahead of the curve by embracing carbon and water-usage labelling on their products and menus.
“We’re at a time of flux in the food and drink industry. Sustainability is on the radar of most businesses now and the hospitality sector is under pressure from investors, consumers and staff to have a clear, executable and reportable strategy for achieving Net Zero and reducing water usage. Our latest research from the Nutritics Sustainability Sentiment Index showed that making environmentally conscious food choices when eating or drinking out is genuinely important to nearly half of the population (44%). However, a substantial number of consumers feel they are ill-equipped to make those decisions, with over a third (35%) of those surveyed saying they do not have the right information to make sustainable food choices when eating or drinking out.
“This is why we created Foodprint – so that the hospitality and foodservice sectors could accurately report their carbon footprints, which in turn empowers consumers to make informed choices about the food they eat.
“We feel that the upcoming non-financial reporting requirements, coupled with the introduction of sustainability labelling as part of the European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy in 2023, will have a similar impact on carbon and water usage in the food system that sugar legislation did. We’re therefore working with businesses to help them prepare for more rigorous environmental reporting for today and the future. Foodprint automatically streamlines environmental impact reporting for companies in a reliable, accurate, consistent, and transparent way.
“We recently partnered with coffee shop Benugo to introduce carbon labelling for food items across its four cafés and restaurants at the Natural History Museum, while our software recently won the Gold Award in the 2022 Casual Dining Show Innovation Challenge, highlighting the best new innovations across food, drink, technology and equipment products.
“Foodprint has been created by Nutritics – we’re the market leader in foodservice technology with a track record of creating best-in-class solutions. The software is based on robust data you can trust, with our team of industry and sustainability experts creating a solution which uses impeccable, peer-reviewed data. So, whether you’re already on a journey to Net Zero, or just looking at your carbon footprint for the first time, we can help you along the way.
About Stephen
Stephen is the Managing Director of Nutritics and CEO of Foodprint from Nutritics - he joined the business in 2013. After a number of years in corporate finance, he moved to Nutritics when it was established to develop and deliver the company’s international foodservice growth strategy. Stephen has led the Nutritics Group to become a trusted partner of foodservice operators large and small, including WSH, Brakes, TRG, Boparan and Fullers. He holds a First Class Master of Finance degree from University College Dublin.