The winner of the Operator of the Year for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability award is Greene King.
This accolade, sponsored by Ramco Food Services, recognises that with pressure on businesses to act as responsibly as possible when it comes to sustainability, not to mention the rising cost of energy bills, the focus on energy efficiency in commercial kitchens has never been greater.
Greene King diverted 12,488 tonnes of food waste to anaerobic digestion – saving enough electricity to power 11,239 homes for a month – as part of its goal to send zero waste to landfill.
The introduction of compostable PLA straws across its estate is set to remove 30 million plastic straws from use every year, while it has become the first ever pub company to join forces with the Too Good To Go app, which offers surplus carveries to customers at a discounted price at the end of service.
The initiative is being rolled out to all Greene King Pub and Carveries and Farmhouse Inns after a successful trial in 19 pubs prevented more than 1,000 carveries being wasted.
The award, presented by Paul Fieldhouse, business development at Ramco Food Services, was collected by Barry Acton, head of group commercial strategy at The Airedale Group. Greene King nominated Mr Acton to collect the award on its behalf, describing Airedale as “very much a part of the great things we do in our kitchens and the journey we are embarking on”.
Mr Acton added: “I worked for Greene King for 10 years, so I know how much they focus on sustainability. Airedale is proud to assist them as one of their key suppliers.”
Finalists
- Byron Burger
- Gather & Gather
- Greene King
- Hollywood Bowl Group
- Leon