Sustainable Catering: Serving Slices and Saving the Planet
Pizzerias must be competitive, and one way to differentiate your business is by being sustainable. You’ll attract individual and business clients who want to emphasize their commitment to environmental values when they host an event.
However, eco-conscious catering has its challenges. For example, “you’re more dependent upon the venue,” says Michael Oshman, founder and CEO of the Green Restaurant Association. “Maybe their recycling isn’t great, or their composting isn’t great, so it takes a little more effort. In a restaurant, you think about it once and create a nice solution, whereas with catering it might be a bit different each time.”
Why Cater Sustainably?
Some operators choose to cater sustainably for the marketing advantage it confers by attracting eco-conscious customers. Being green can drive positive publicity and brand recognition while earning customer loyalty. Some pizza caterers benefit from lower operating costs when they embrace measures to save energy and reduce food waste. And many operators do it because they consider it the right way to do business, like Julia Sweet, owner of Gilded Tomato Company, a farm-to-table (from their own farm) wood-fired pizza catering operation in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. “We have an obligation,” says Sweet. “We only have so much in this world, and you want to think about the generations to come. I’m a grandmother now, and it’s just a pleasure to feel like I’m taking care of the Earth.”
Here are ways you can improve your green factor when catering.
Dinnerware, Serviceware and Packaging
First, think critically about what you truly need for the job. Sweet advises you to ask yourself “what items are handheld and what needs a little separate plate?” When the facilities and budget allow, use reusable, washable dinnerware and serving ware. If you can’t bring them from your restaurant, investigate renting. Options are broadening.
For example, Oshman recalls a large event at which they hired a service that delivered reusable plastic cups and large marked boxes to collect them. The company picked up the cups to be cleaned, sanitized, and re-used. Search online for “reusable plastic cup service.”
If you must substitute disposables for some or all these categories, choose them carefully. Avoiding single-use plastic is a top priority. Choose paper or compostable over plastic for cups and plates and choose bamboo or compostable flatware over plastic.
Think about your serving ware as well. It’s better to buy low-end metal platters that you can reuse and easily recycle than to buy plastic platters with a short life span and poor recycling options. Sweet buys second-hand trays at vintage stores to use for service and relies on cloth tablecloths instead of paper or plastic.
Evaluate the packaging you use to transport perishables and equipment to the job site. When can you rely on reusable plastic bags instead of single-use plastic film? Sweet uses plastic food covers “that look like shower caps and can be re-used.” Always choose biodegradable and compostable packaging over plastic.
Beverages
Gilded Tomato Company serves bulk beverages in dispensers rather than single-serving bottles and cans. If you must serve single-serving drinks, choose glass bottles, aluminum cans and paper cartons instead of plastic. Tell customers about recycling options when you serve them these containers.
Reducing Food Waste
Make a long-term, big-picture effort to reduce food waste. Communicate well with clients to better estimate quantities. Knowing the age and lifestyle of diners, along with other food options supplied by other entities, will help you trim your margins on quantities. File away notes from each job to help you hone your skills at estimating food quantity.
Speak with your client in advance about how they’d like to address leftovers. They may wish to send excess consumables to a food bank or other non-profit, or home with guests. If you brought pizza in boxes, save them to package leftovers. Bring biodegradable takeout containers for sending food home with guests or clients, and food storage containers for perishables you’ll be bringing back to your commissary.
Waste Management
At events, Sweet always sets up an area for trash, recycling and compost. These receptacles must be well labeled, especially if they are guest-facing. She advises considering “what is filling your dumpster?” and letting the answer inform your sustainability steps, both at the catering site and in your kitchen.
Transportation
Using eco-friendly transportation is a critical way to reflect your sustainable brand. In some areas, you can rely on bicycle delivery for certain jobs, such as B-Line Urban Delivery in Portland, Oregon. At Gilded Tomato Company, “we have an EV (electric vehicle), and we have an EV charger,” says Sweet. Minimizing use of fossil fuels will help build your credibility as a green brand while also saving money and reducing your carbon footprint.
Menu and Offerings
You should further establish your green credentials with “a really strong menu of sustainable options,” advises Oshman. “Don’t have it be an afterthought where the vegan bride has to ask you 500 questions to make sure that she can go with you. Because by that time, there’s some competitor out there that’s making it much easier for her than you are. As the caterer you want to lead with your green options when you’re selling. Be ready to say ‘we have a very strong set of transparent verifiable eco-conscious steps that we can do for you. And if that’s of interest to you, we’ll show you that section of our menu.’”
Costs
No doubt you are wondering about the costs associated with going green. Our sources have diverging opinions. Sweet says “we would make more money if we weren’t sustainable. I do use all the eco-friendly stuff that I can purchase, but that’s where the expense comes in.” She’s in favor of tax credits to support green businesses.
In Oshman’s opinion, “the operator can’t afford not to be sustainable.” He asserts that your sustainable competitor has figured out how to save money and energy and resources in every possible way and they are “tightening their belt with the expertise of the Green Restaurant Association.” He also asserts that green restaurants attract more passionate and committed employees and experience less turnover.
Progress Not Perfection
“Don’t worry about being perfect, it matters that you just do what you can,” urges Sweet. “Do a 10-percent, then a 20-percent, then a 30-percent improvement. Here’s my advice: think through every aspect of what you do each day. Break it down in terms of purchases. Do I really need to buy this? Do I really need to buy so much of this? Am I really going to use it? What would be an alternative? What can I buy locally?”
Annelise Kelly is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance writer.