Sustainable Menu Design for Restaurants

5. Use Organic Ingredients 

When you source from organic growers, you’re investing in farms that take care of the land. Organic farms tend to have more fertile soil and use less energy. Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers harm the environment. This means organic farming is both more productive and better for the environment. 

When farmers practice organic farming, their land sequesters more carbon. This keeps carbon out of the atmosphere and keeps it available for healthy vegetation growth. 

6. Control Portion Sizes 

Restaurants that pile it high are crowd pleasers, but excess food gets thrown away. A sustainable menu will include thoughtful portions that will fill up your guests and minimize food waste. Finding correct portion sizes will take effort and time. However, finding the right size will increase your bottom end and help the world. 

Extend Sustainability Outside of Your Menu 

Sustainability doesn’t have to end at your menu. Extend your sustainability efforts by following these tips. 

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle 

It’s easier to be sustainable when you offer sit-down-only service and your portions are correct. However, the changing landscape of food service indicates that a great way to feed customers is to let them eat at home. This creates a problem for restaurants that want to be more sustainable. However, it doesn’t have to be difficult.  

Ditch single-use plastics for intentional take-home boxes that are produced from recycled materials. You can also get creative and recycle your cooking oil bottles. All recycling efforts are viable — so get creative! 

Used cooking oil is easily recycled and can be used in several ways, including the production of sustainable fuel. When you partner with Darling Ingredient’s Canada you not only help sustainability efforts, but you receive a partner who will pick up your used cooking oil for you. 

Creative Natural Preserves 

Finding ways to preserve ingredients will keep you from having to throw them away and let you buy products in bulk. 

Nuts, pasta, and spices can all be bought in bulk but might require a unique way to store them long-term. Freezing, canning, drying, and even fermenting are all ways you can store long-term ingredients. 

Don’t Over-Buy 

We’ve already given you some tips on how to minimize wasted food, but this one is just as important. Don’t over-buy. 

Once your menu is optimized for portion size you’ll be able to streamline your buying process. Only buy what you need and nothing more. This will take time, but it will help your operations in the long run. 

Make Your Own Ingredients 

This next tip might be strange for some people, but making your own ingredients is a fun way to make your restaurant more sustainable. 

Making ingredients from scratch takes out the middleman and lets you create exactly what you need to make your dishes shine. Here are some ingredients you could start making yourself: 

• Brine your own pickles 
• Make in-house salad dressings  
• Create your own preserves 

These options let you create custom ingredients that highlight the delicious offers from your local producers.  

Grow Your Own Ingredients 

If you want to push your sustainability efforts to the next level, consider starting a garden. Sustainably-grown ingredients are delicious and it’s a great experience for customers to see the growing process right in front of them. Plus, it doubles as restaurant decor.  

A garden won’t work for every restaurant, but if it could work even in a small capacity, why not try? 

Boost Your Efforts with Sustainable Waste Management 

To create a sustainable restaurant you need to consider how you manage your staff, your ingredients, and especially your waste. That includes to-go boxes and utensils, food, and used cooking oil. Darling Ingredients Canada can provide used cooking oil collection and recycling systems for free to qualifying customers. 

Our systems are industry-leading, easy to use, and best of all, they come with a pickup schedule that matches the volume needs of your kitchen. Contact Darling Ingredient’s Canada to start contributing to a better future.