The first ever national sustainability awards for restaurants will be announced on 23 January 2012 with seven awards to be given out.
Five of the winners will be decided on the basis of restaurants' scores in the SRA's rating process while two special awards will be presented to restaurants showing 'genuine innovation or outstanding achievement' in a specific field chosen by judges. The first will be 'sustainable fish'.
Mark Linehan, managing director of the SRA said: “We are really excited that so many restaurants have put their sustainability credentials to the test over the past year. These awards are an opportunity to give restaurants maximum credit for the incredible efforts they are making to be sustainable."
The award categories are:
- Most sustainable restaurant
- Most sustainable restaurant group
- SRA sourcing award
- SRA environment award
- SRA society award
- SRA innovation award
- SRA special judges’ award
More than 400 restaurants have either completed, or are in the process of completing the SRA's rating system. To get rated, restaurants are examined in 14 key focus areas and provide detailed evidence to support their answers across three main sustainability categories – Sourcing, Environmental and Society.
Restaurants that would like to be rated before the end of the year to be eligible for the awards should contact Ed Franklin on 020 7479 4221 or via email Ed@thesra.org
For tips on how to run a restaurant sustainably and to find out how small steps can make a big difference, see our video on 30 November.