Why don't restaurants want to promote their sustainability? Insights from New Zealand
Restaurants, cafés and food service businesses are major producers of food waste as well as consumers of water and energy. Given growing concerns over improving restaurant sustainability there is often emphasis in the academic literature about the significance of consumer interest in sustainability and the need for hospitality businesses to promote their sustainable practices. This seminar therefore presents the results of research from New Zealand regarding what sustainable practices restaurants promote and engage in.
The first part of the research presents the results of a content analysis of restaurant online promotion of three different groups of restaurants and cafés: Cuisine magazine hatted restaurants, restaurant association award nominated restaurants, and the top Trip Advisor restaurants. It is found that the main sustainability attributes that are promoted are local and seasonal foods, while vegetarian and vegan menus and meals are often available. However, there is little or no promotion of Fair Trade, ethically produced meats, or sustainably harvested fish. The second part of the research consists of a series of interviews with chefs and restaurant owners. What is clear from the interviews is that restuarants are often engaged in far greater a range of sustainability practices than what they promote. Reasons for non-promotion include concerns over transparency, the importance of regarding sustainability as 'normal', and the feeling that they are not doing enough to describe themselves as sustainable. The results are novel in a sustainable hospitality and tourism context and highlight a number of issues with respect to encouraging and promoting sustainability in the restaurant sector. Implications for research and policy are discussed.
The seminar is organised by the Knowledge Environment Sustainable Tourism (KEST).
Short Bio
Sara Naderi Koupaei is a doctoral student at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She was formally at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Cyprus where she also worked as a restaurant manager. Her research interests include sustainable hospitality and restaurants, sustainable tourism, resilience, and renewable energy.