Graysons, provider of ROSL’s food and drink, takes its commitment to the environment seriously. General Manager Paul Williams explains what steps the company is taking to minimise its carbon footprint.
At Graysons Restaurants, we work hard with our suppliers to keep our food seasonal, local, and deliver good value for money. We can trace all of our products back to source and this is something of which we are truly proud. We maintain control of our own supply chain, using local suppliers where possible and through them develop strong relationships with British producers, which means we have input in to the quality of the ingredients early in the supply chain. We endeavour to source all of our produce from the UK and, wherever possible, locally to our operations.
Of course, some produce needs to come from specialist producers outside the UK and when this is the case, it must be of a consistent high quality, and ethically and sustainably sourced.
Supporting the farmers
We are an active member of LEAF, which enables us to work with growers and producers directly. The LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) mark is a guarantee to consumers that the producer operates their business and production techniques in an environmentally responsible way. Several farms that supply Graysons already demonstrate the LEAF principles and we want to encourage all Britain’s farmers to produce food in the most responsible way.
Slow food
Barry Nichols, our Group Executive Chef, is a member of Slow Food, and we annually sponsor a range of foods from the Ark of Taste, an “at risk” register of some 1,500 products from around the UK, that are in severe danger of decline. Slow Food UK campaigns for sustainable, good, clean and fair food, which means that our food should taste good, that it should be produced in a clean way that fully respects the environment, human health, and animal welfare, and that food producers are paid a fair wage. Slow Food UK aims to protect and preserve the traditional foods of the UK, defend biodiversity and promote food education.
We use fresh, seasonal, natural, and ethically sourced foods to create our menus. Our vision is to enthuse, educate, and share our passion for good quality seasonal food with members. Our ethos promotes natural, sustainable and enjoyable food that not only endorses local British suppliers, fair prices, Fairtrade, and ethical sourcing, but also supports creative food and drink that is imaginative, flavoursome, and on trend. Where possible, we produce all our menu items on site from scratch, using fresh seasonal ingredients.
Bringing waste down
We take global food wastage very seriously and implement systems and procedures to reduce food wastage as much as possible. As well as affecting profitability, food wastage has a serious impact on the environment, and we strive every day to ensure that our chefs and suppliers do all they can to reduce it. Our cooking oil is collected and recycled for repurposing as biofuel, and our packaging is now 90% plastic free, being composed of plant based, recyclable and biodegradable materials. We are currently in discussion with Planz Heroes to provide leftover foods for the homeless, thus ensuring that leftover foods from our London sites as much as possible, do not reach landfill. Our development team created technical workshops last year to focus on safe reuse of vegetable trimmings, stalks, outer leaves etc. in order to utilise food more effectively in our menus, a true “root to fruit” sensibility where foodstuffs are used to their maximum potential.
