Welcome to Green Month, Caterer and Hotelkeeper's annual focus on the environmental agenda and its impact on hospitality. Over the next four weeks, we'll be tracking the twists and turns of the green debate exploring the best ways to communicate green messages to employees and customers and illustrating how operators who adopt sustainable practices can expect to realise sustainable profits.
Environmental sustainability has become one of the biggest issues facing the industry. You'll find proof of this, as if proof were needed, in this week's news that the British Hospitality Association has set up a new industry-wide sustainability committee that's brought together leading players such as Compass, Mitchells & Butlers, Travelodge and Best Western to assess hospitality's response to forthcoming legislation.
Already, the BHA is defending the industry's corner as Whitehall prepares to ratchet up its pressure on businesses to cut greenhouse gas emissions. With such pressure on the horizon, and with new waste management laws imminent, there has never been a better time to give consideration to all things green.
This week, we kick off our Green October with exclusive Caterer research, conducted in conjunction with 3663 and First Choice Coffee, to gauge how high sustainability has risen up the corporate agenda in the past 12 months. We meet some of the people tasked with championing green policy and changing team cultures across UK hospitality. And we assess the benefits you can gain by introducing a robust corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme across your business.
Subsequent issues this month will highlight the technologies and training methods available to restaurateurs to help them slash kitchen fuel bills the ways in which operators can create a truly sustainable food chain and the steps the UK's most eco-conscious hotels are taking to lessen their impact upon the environment.
Keep up to date with Green Month at www.caterersearch.com/green
Mark Lewis
Editor
Caterer and Hotelkeeper