SUSTAINABLE RESTAURANTS POLICY

INTRO

Sustainability is complex! Unlike other professions like architects with established Green Building Codes, the Australian restaurant industry lacks easy guides or policies.

Pipit supports more shared collaborative learning. We openly share our actions and policy to diners and peers, not as definitive answers, but to open conversations and highlight the complexities and gaps.

Beyond the typical focus of environmental topics ( food waste, plastics etc), we also seeks to acknowledge broader systemic issues (social and economic) as a more comprehensive approach.

POLICY CONTACT:
Yen Trinh, Business Manager - admin@pipitrestaurant.com

Pipit's Sustainability Media

TALKS

  1. Full Circle Restaurants - Talk at Kita Food Festival Malaysia 2024

  2. Designing Valuing in Restaurants - Talk at Marketing Science Ideas Exchange 2024

  3. Design Thinking & Restaurants - Talk at Design Conference 2024

    AWARDS

  4. Destination North Coast Tourism Awards - Business Leadership Award 2024

  5. Tweed Council Sustainability Awards 2023

  6. Sustainability and Innovation Finalist in 2019 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards

    MEDIA

  7. ”Watch your Waste Line” 2021 - The Australian

  8. ”How to Embrace Sustainability” 2022 - Concrete Playground

  9. Selected in Well Traveller (network focussed on well-being and sustainable travel ) with Tweed Tourism Company

  10. Australia’s Most Sustainable Restaurants - 2023 - Urban List

RESOURCES

Case studies and restaurant leaders

VENUE CASE STUDIES

Other venues who are sharing information that we admire and look at:

  1. Agrarian Kitchen TAS- Sustainability Practices

  2. Brae VIC - Sustainability Statement

  3. Bar Midland VIC- sourcing only within Victoria

  4. RE: Bar NSW - “never wasted” menus, circular economy

  5. Future Food Systems VIC - demonstration project

READING/ RESEARCH

  1. BOOK: Silo: The Zero Waste Blueprint by Douglas McMaster (2019) . UK-based info, but very good in showing clear action by ingredient and kitchen systems.

  2. BOOK/ GUIDE: No Mise En Plastic (UK) -practical guide for chefs on kitchen systems

  3. LISTEN: Melbourne Food and Wine Industry Forum (2022) - Why Design Matters. Jeremy McLeod/ Breath Architects talks about carbon footprints and design fitout

  4. RESEARCH: Cameron Matthews (2016) - Churchill Fellowship tour & report - Sustainability in high end restaurants.

  5. AUST FOOD WASTE POLICY & RESEARCH

  6. MENU 2034: Future of Food : Synthesis (Singapore)

    POLICY GUIDES

  7. LOCAL POLICY: 2009 Sustainability Guide for Hospitality (by NSW Business Chamber). It’s old, but we archive it here for good handy basics.

  8. LOCAL POLICY: Restaurant and Catering Assoc (2022) - 10 Ways to Make Your Restaurant More Sustainable

  9. INTERNATIONAL POLICY: Michelin Green Star (2020). It doesn’t give practical hints, but helps give some policy criteria (the provenance of the ingredients; the use of seasonal produce; the restaurant’s environmental footprint; food waste systems; general waste disposal and recycling; resource management; and the communication between the team and the guests about the restaurant’s sustainable approach)

  10. INTERNATIONAL POLICY (UK): Sustainable Restaurant Association and Food Made Good Standards (accreditation)

PART 1) MINDSETS

Business Choices

ALWAYS LEARNING

  1. “No matter how efficient or innovative your organisation becomes, there will always be (ways).… to further the sustainability of your business. (It) should be viewed as a continuous process rather than a destination”(NSW Business Chamber, 2009,p31)

  2. Inspired by designer Bruce Mau’s Incomplete Manifesto for Growth - our sustainability policy is also “Incomplete”. It doesn’t have all the answers, we aren’t experts - but we want to have open industry conversations about actions and gaps

  3. From Bar Midland (2022) “its really great to see restaurants and operators across Australia actively working towards sustainability in an industry that has for a long time been the unintended antithesis of such ideas. It’s the best to see places working together and sharing these ideas openly”-

PURCHASING POWER / SOURCING

Media Question: What do you think the role of the hospitality industry is, when it comes to the sustainability movement? For example, many people believe the hospitality industry is uniquely placed to shape and influence food trends more generally.

Restaurants are hopefully influencing and shaping food trends  but our best and immediate influence is "purchasing power".  As a small business, Pipit tracks and spend approx  $60K annually on sustainable seafood (as ambassadors of Good Fish Project). That is a tiny food cost compared to other bigger businesses but let's consider that $60K is a salary in someone else's business.  Which people do we want to our dollars on?  Local ones, sustainable ones, local producers we have built a connection with. Collectively the hospitality industry would be millions of dollars of purchasing influence!

  • We source as locally as possible for food and all wine is Australian. See suppliers map > HERE

  • We buy from 40+ local business (within 30-45min drive)

  • We source our meats sustainably considering the AMCS Seafood Guide (Good Fish Project), free-range farms, pest eradication of game meats. See info >HERE

Make it delicious!

We prioritise flavour first and often wider sustainability is just a happy externality of that.

Media Question : How do you get people to care about sustainability in cooking and eating?

Pipit focuses on taste and creativity, first and foremost.  Better sustainable produce just taste better. "Better" can be organic, local, picked closer to ripeness, uniquely native, delivered fresher etc.   We use farmed QLD Grouper fish (Rocky Point Aquaculture) that is a species protected in the wild, and yes it is supports a sustainable aquaculture approach but it is also just a tasty, delicious fish and that still is the highest criteria in why things land in our kitchen.  In our dining room, we also strongly share the stories of our produce and farmers. Every Pipit diner gets a map of our local producers at the end of the meal and we encourage locals and visitors to buy direct or visit them.  Fostering that direct connection is how we hope more people start to care 

Sense of place/landscape

“….a meal at Pipit is one of newness, creativity and thoughtfulness. The food at Pipit actually tastes like the landscape around it — that is to say: beautiful, subtropical, with a saline hint of the ocean and dunes” New York Times review (2021)

  • Our place, landscape, seasons. climate and environment fundamentally shapes our menu and restaurant.

  • Being connected to seasonal changes makes us more mindful to care, value and consider our environment more. eg, observing changes in late fruit seasons are related to environmental change.

  • We documented our place seasons and landscapes in the PIpit Book - Info> HERE

PART 2) MAX PRODUCE / MIN WASTE

Intro

  • Food waste is a key area that restaurants can innovate and inspire diners on.

  • Traditional practices may leave up to 50% of an animal or fish unused when focusing only on primary cuts. Our "use everything" principles aim for over 90% recovery, though creative cooking techniques

  • Our mindset is more about "maximising ingredients" than "minimising waste".

  • We aim to add value and elevate all our produce (and it’s “waste”)

  • Costs and economic sustainability is part of this. Seafood/meats are accepted as “expensive” or “luxury” on plates, but some vegetables can be similar price per kilo. Throwing away offcuts is throwing away dollars (and potential flavour)

  • Ben’s lessons from Noma, Copenhagen (2009-2011). “It first came from a creativity and flavour stance, but "sustainability" happened to cover much the same mindset. Noma taught me to look at suppliers, products and their by-products differently. It was always about "how do you use the whole thing?" Whether it's whole fish or whole tomato, the principle is the same. This time taught me to find or create luxury in everyday ingredients, and a mindset to treat all ingredients (and resources) as precious and valuable.”

Use Everything! PipitPPP Framework

We look at various opportunities to maximise whole ingredients:

  • Produce (sourcing)

  • Plated (primary cuts, secondary cuts)

  • Preserves (leftovers into ferments, preserves )

  • Prints (art)

  • Prolong (plates, ceramics)

MENUS

Sustainable Restaurant

Recipe examples by ingredient

RECIPES - 8 x core preserve recipes are shared in the Pipit Book. Info > HERE

BREAD

  • Leftover bread made into miso, and fermented into “soy sauce” type dressings. Recipe Info > HERE

  • Bread scraps are made into a porridge to go batch into new bread. Recipe Info > HERE

MEAT

  • Duck and fish offcuts are cured into charcuterie and hams. Recipe info > HERE

  • Online duck salumi class and Recipe info > HERE

  • Set menu offcuts used in staff meals, pop-up events and bistro menus

SEAFOOD

SEAFOOD BONES

  • Fish bone waste into ceramics in collaboration with Grit Ceramic. Info > HERE. This is small scale but we think there is potential to scale the waste in wider seafood wholesale supply chains

  • Grouper bone is roasted and made into a flour (for biscuit canape). Recipe info > HERE

  • Bones and frames are smoked/dried and used in stocks, sauces etc

VEG & FRUITS

DAIRY

DRINKS

  • Wine leftovers converted to fortified digestifs, vinegars or used as cooking alcohol

  • Coravin preservation systems used to minimises wine wastage

Examples with supplier's waste

FOOD WASTE

We seek out symbiotic relationships for using waste from our suppliers in other food processes.

Examples:

  1. Spent grain from beer production (used in dessert) - Stone & Wood Brewery. Recipe info > HERE

  2. Spent botanics from gin distilling (used in dessert) - Husk Distillery

  3. Waste bay lobster shells (used in stock) - Australia Bay Lobster

  4. Fruit waste from farm pruning practices. Example young green mangos from Picone Farm. Pickle Recipe Info > HERE

  5. Fruit waste from coffee farm for ferments = Zentveld Coffee

  6. We hope to further expand using the seafood waste from wholesale suppliers (for garums etc)

MINIMISING PACKAGING

  • We ask all suppliers to ship in reusable and returnable containers to reduce polystyrene & cardboard boxes as much as possible

  • We reuse glass bottles from alcohol for storage

  • We don’t use wine in kegs or bags, but note them as really interesting to minimise waste and maintain quality (reduce oxidisation)

Community Trees

  • Connecting with local residents, farms, schools who have surplus or small batch things (eg guava, lemon aspen, curry leaf etc). People will often reach out with things and ask if we can use it

  • Maximisiing native and edible plants found in backyards, public spaces and streets. Often these are planted for decorative reasons and not understood as edible (llly pily, seaweed, wattle flowers, native tamarind, beach greens). Foraging maximises food that would be otherwise unused and helps our menus share unique local flavours

  • Using surplus via “Community Trees” is both an environmental and social response. Example with Pottsville Preschool > HERE

PART 3) MATERIAL & BUILDING WASTE

Examples by type

Bin collections and cleaning services is $10K of our annual business cost so minimising waste is both economic and environmental

PLASTICS

  • No cling film used since opening

  • Invested in more sturdy plastic containers that can be washed and re-used more (ie can last 2 years)

  • We don’t use vacuum bags and use different methods if we use waterbath (eg coating in bees wax for low temp or packing in jars or containers for higher temps)

  • Use biodegradable or reusable piping bags

CLEANING CHEMICALS

  • Where possible we switched to organic and lower chemical products

  • We have not resolved some proprietary options (eg Winterhalter detergents)

OFFICE/ PAPER

  • Reusable bags for staff tips and banking to reduce plastic/envelopes. See more > HERE (idea from Agrarian Kitchen)

  • When buying pens, we use brands with recycled plastics

  • We still have paper waste from printing frequently changing menus. We note the move towards QR/ paperless menus in other venues

BAR & GLASS

  • Filtered water and sparkling water taps. No bottled water is served to reduce cost and waste

  • Recycle glass bottles and plastics as per normal Council bin services

  • Cans and wine bottles collected as ‘Earn & Return’ via a local charity partner

  • We have not resolved broken/chipped glassware that can’t be recycled by Councils. Silo UK book notes crushing and reusing their glass

CHARCOAL/ HEAT WASTE

  • Wood fired cooking is based on using all different heat to maximise the energy. This includes grilling, smoking, drying.

  • Maximise all heat to reduce charcoal waste. Example of low heat smoking > HERE

  • More on passive cooking and heat used in wood-fired cooking > HERE

  • We don’t use gas. Wood-fire was a flavour/ cooking choice but the 2022 Melbourne Food and Wine Forum (*see links below) says one of the best ways to lower carbon footprints is to not use gas in cooking. We note ACT’s policy changes (2023) to phase out gas in new buildings as a key change we will likely see more of.

ELECTRICITY/ ENERGY

  • Retrofitted glass louvres and screens to passively vent overnight and equipment heat in summer and closed days

  • Installed blinds and window tinting to reduce sun and indirect heating in summer

  • We have been unsuccessful in adding solar power due to cost and approvals, but note our whole building roof (800m2) would be needed to bring power bills down close to nil

  • Air-conditioning is one of our highest electricity challenges. Flies, humidity, wind, and open kitchens means our external windows are closed in summer to improve guest experiences

  • We have LED lights and do not turn on sone lights outside of service times

WATER

  • Ice and water in prep (cleaning vegetables) is collected and used on our pot plants

  • Removed our ice machine and make ice by trays (read about ice machines in Silo UK’s book).

  • We have not resolved commercial dishwashers as high water users

  • We do not use “e-water” solutions but note their positive use by other venues

PART 4) ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Cost models and supporting future industry

BUSINESS MODELS

  • We adhere to the Fair Work but note hospitality wages are still lower than other sectors. Workers saving for home-ownership or to own restaurants is an issue of economic/social sustainability. READ: Wage surcharging by Pasture (Auckland)

FUTURE INDUSTRY PLANNING

ADVOCATING REGIONAL DINING

BANKING/ CLEAN MONEY

  • “Clean money” is an interesting area that small businesses can look at. Example - Bank Australia, Summerland Credit Union as BCorp banks and ethical super funds etc.

OFFSETS

  • We do not currently pay for offset (mostly due to costs and audit measures) but note it as valid area

  • CARBON OFFSET. Carbon neutral targets and measures are possible with environmental consultants who do this work

  • SEAFOOD OFFSET. We see innovation in Seafood Positive/ One Fish Two Fish. $1 per kg of seafood is paid to be invested into marine habitat projects. It would cost us approx $1K / year as a small venue

PART 5) SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Team and community

ELEVATING TEAMS / INCLUSIVE WORKPLACES

We have zero tolerance on drug use, harrassment, bullying and misconduct

We focus on positive culture, training pathways and well-being in team, with initiatives like:

  • Staffie Sunday - monthly team sharing, training and input into business development

  • Team tours to connect and learn with local producers (quarterly)

  • Supporting personal projects, pop-ups and sabbaticals

  • Training support and inter-generational industry planning (see Part 4)

Staff is our greatest asset and greatest cost, yet hospo workers are generally undervalued. READ: Valuing Teams (MSIX)
We aim to show and add value by:

  • Open plan design where all roles are seen - therefore hopefully more understood> respected > valued (by team and guests)

  • Team advocacy on social media - sharing about people /roles, especially junior roles

  • Team advocacy on website and print menus -  all names listed

  • Elevating FOH and Young Chefs (see Part 4)

COMMUNITY

Other ways we support and connect with our wider community

MENTAL HEALTH - Small business owners

  • We support and advocate for the wider respect of hospitality professionals

  • Negative guest behaviours impacts team well-being and ultimately impacts economic sustainability to retain staff and owners

  • We use New Access for Small Business (free mental health coaching with Beyond Blue)

  • We are part of the Pottsville Business Group supporting local owners

POLICY ADVOCACY

  • Pop-ups and event can explore producers and wider land management issues. 2021 agroecology example > HERE

  • “Restaurants and Place-Making” (policy advocacy) > HERE. Restaurants can engage, inform, and advocate many policy conversations such as:

  • Mixed use buildings and street activation policy 

  • Streetscape policy (edible plants, community gardens)

  • Transport planning (*most of our diners have to drive)  

  • Rural lands and urban sprawl (leasing threats to our farm suppliers) 

  • Housing affordability (housing in jobs offers and lower wage workers) 

  • Green building design (there is no clear guide for restaurant fit outs)