Customer communication

As a restaurant your choices matter! By talking about the changes you are making – and would like to make – with both your suppliers and your customers, you can help to encourage growth in both the demand for and the supply of sustainable food.

What can you do?

• Tell your suppliers about the sorts of sustainable foods you would like to buy, so that they start to offer them to you.
• Tell your customers about the good work you are doing, and explain why it is important.
• Tell your customers why your menu features particular ingredients:
  • Food businesses that feature seasonal and locally grown food do not offer the same foods all year round.
  • Make a virtue of this by using seasonal produce as an opportunity to advertise and tell stories about your interesting new menu items.
• Train your staff in the issues you are trying to tackle, get them involved in the changes you make and encourage them to promote this work to customers.
• Highlight the most sustainable foods on your menu.
• Turn sustainability into a selling point by making clear the company’s commitment to improve its environmental performance.

Resources

• Marketing and PR for sustainable restaurants - presentations from our event
• Marketing and PR resources for sustainable restaurants - including top 10 Twitter tips!