United we stand – partner with us to help hospitality build back better in 2021

Wrap up warm. This winter, the industry hospitality we know and love is in survival mode.

Huge stress and strain are being felt at all levels, from kitchen to boardroom in high street pubs and fine dining restaurants.

The harsh but undeniable truth is that many businesses will go to the wall, and thousands of people will lose their livelihoods. While we maybe one step removed, all of us involved in the supply chain and as service providers will be directly affected..

Many long-valued relationships will disappear overnight while others will be re-set and we face tough questions over how we can sustain and support our customers through the winter.

When restaurants were locked down last time, we stopped charging our members over the spring and summer, but we’ve been heartened by the volumes of businesses resuming their membership payments and re-joining us in September and October. The hospitality industry has demonstrated extraordinary resilience, agility, creativity and bouncebackability, as well as an undimmed commitment to have a positive impact on its customers, staff, communities and the wider environment. The extraordinary effort this week to feed children during half-term exemplifies this brilliantly.

It’s clear to us that many owners and managers are now more convinced than ever that there needs to be a greater purpose to their business, and that the food they serve can be part of the restorative process we need as individuals, communities and an ecosystem.

Over the last few years we’ve been proud to work with progressive partners on projects to support the industry to be a part of that process, using a combination of education and inspiration. 

We’ve worked with the UK’s largest landlord, Crown Estate to cut food waste for their tenants. We helped their restaurant tenants achieved close to a 25% reduction.

With Kingspan Water and Energy we’ve helped show restaurants how they can stop their Fats Oil and Grease (FOG) contributing to sewer-clogging fatbergs and start making revenue from recycling them.

Street food fans can now use the power of their appetites wisely following our work with street food incubator Kerb, to develop and implement sustainability standards for all their traders.

With ethical water company BELU we cut through the noise on single-use, providing bars and restaurants with a tool to help them transition to more sustainable water service, ensuring they reduce their impact on the environment, avoid greenwash and maintain revenue.

Ten thousand bar tenders across the world are now accessing a sustainability e-learn platform, thanks to our expertise and Pernod Ricard’s commitment to build a better future.

JustEat have, with our support, made it easier for their 30,000+ restaurant partners to buy green energy, make zero emissions deliveries and use home compostable packaging. We’ve also supported them to educate and inspire their restaurants and customers to waste less food.

This winter, those partners that can, must step up and support the sector to make food good. We simply cannot and must not sit on the side-lines as the industry suffers, and not park our principles and values because things got tougher.

Here at the SRA we are convinced that now is the time to be even more ambitious in terms of the way we collaborate on new ways to support and guide not just our 12,000 member kitchens, but extend that influence to the kitchens of the wider industry both here in the UK and indeed globally in 2021.

If, like us, you’re planning how to support your customers through the winter, and to flourish in 2021, we’d like to discuss how best we can join forces, potentially linking with other sector initiatives to make that happen. Our CEO Andrew is available for 45-minute planning sessions this November.

The aims of this session are to ensure your efforts connect to other initiatives in the sector, and to advise on how you can aim your budget at issues that matter most to the sector and to the planet in 2021. Book a call now