Why is sustainability important in marketing?

BOOST YOUR BRAND IMAGE

Making real commitments to sustainability is the responsibility of any modern business – especially in the F&B sector, where our impact is significant and the potential for creating widescale change is huge. The good news is that, once you’re doing the work, sharing this with your customers (in the right ways) provides a valuable marketing opportunity and a means of connecting with people on issues that matter to them. This can improve your brand reputation, increase customer loyalty and lead to positive press.

ATTRACT MORE CUSTOMERS

Customers want to know that they’re spending their hard-earned money with a business that is doing good for both society and our planet. In a large-scale global study of more than 23,000 consumers around the world, 50% of respondents reported that sustainability was one of their top four purchase criteria.

SOLVE YOUR STAFFING PROBLEM

With recruitment still an ongoing issue across the industry, F&B businesses can’t afford not to be creating credible sustainability communications. In one UK study, 94% of hospitality workers said that a company’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility is a significant factor when deciding where to work, and half have accepted one job over another partly because the company was more sustainable. Retention is also affected: 84% of hospitality professionals would be more likely to stay in their job for longer if their employer has a positive environmental impact. 

LEAD THE MARKET TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE

The climate and biodiversity crises are at critical points and we need every industry to enact drastic, immediate change. Talking about your own sustainability won’t just benefit your own business, but can create a ripple effect, encouraging others to make positive changes of their own. If brands see competitors reaping the benefits we’ve mentioned above, they’re more likely to take action on sustainability themselves. For large companies and chains, there’s even bigger potential; they can leverage their influence to lead the market and provide a benchmark for sustainability.

So how can restaurants and other F&B businesses talk about their sustainability work in the right way? Read on for our best advice along with valuable insights from businesses in our network.

How to create meaningful sustainability communications 

1. TAKE A LONG-TERM APPROACH

This isn’t a short-term marketing campaign, but a long-term business strategy. Sustainability is a journey, not a destination; practices shouldn’t be abandoned once you see improvements in sales or brand reputation. 

2. BRING YOUR CUSTOMERS WITH YOU

Put the customer at the centre of your communications. Your job is to show your customers why your restaurant is the right choice for those who want to have a positive impact on the world around us, and explain what you’re doing to ensure this is the case. Where elaboration is needed – for example, if you’re talking about how you’re reducing your carbon footprint through your supply chain, you might need to include a short explanation of why Scope 3 emissions are so important for the hospitality industry – be clear and informative.

3. BE HONEST, BE OPEN

To get the most out of you sustainability communications (and to avoid accusations of greenwashing), transparency and honesty are critical. Millennial and particularly Gen Z customers are cynical when it comes to business activity – the only way to bring them on board is to be unflinchingly honest. Set measurable targets, do the work and report on your progress.

Holly Letch, Head of Sustainability at JKS, says, “There is a lot of nuance and jargon within the sustainability world, so it’s crucial that businesses are honest, transparent and concise when communicating this to guests. Gaining this transparency is the first piece of the puzzle; many businesses operate without clarity over where products come from or how they are farmed or produced. By engaging with suppliers and asking (sometimes difficult) questions, we are in a position where we can make educated decisions about what we want to shout about and what we need to work on.”

Chef-Owner of Apricity restaurant Chantelle Nicholson says, “There is no silver bullet, and no quick fix. Everything is a work in progress and it’s important to be honest about it. Sweeping statements about aspirational occurrences don’t really help anyone and can have the opposite effect by deterring others, rather than rallying support.”

Sustainability Manager at Pasture Alec Wilkinson adds, “If it’s not clear how we operate or why we do things, then there’s a broken link. Our identity is strong but our story is stronger, so inspiring others by making our journey visible and approachable is a way of giving back to the communities while pushing us to be creative and try new ideas.”

4. BE CONSISTENT

There’s no point in mentioning your sustainability work in a flurry of social posts, then going silent on the matter. While choosing the best channels and cadence for your communications will be an individual decision for each business, make sure the language and frequency of your messaging are consistent. This will help your customers to understand your core values and feel as though they can rely on your brand.

5. SET TARGETS, SHOW PROGRESS

Setting clear, measurable targets is a central part of any sustainability strategy. These needn’t live exclusively within your in-house materials – sharing these targets and updating customers on your progress is a fantastic way of providing the transparency they crave.

6. CHOOSE THE RIGHT METHODS AND MESSAGES

Give some thought into the best channel(s) for sharing your work. Your website might be best suited for deeper dives into your policies, practices and progress, while social media is great for sharing when you’ve achieved particular milestones.

You can also be selective about how detailed you get. Chantelle says, “We feel it is important to communicate some of what we do – not all of it, as it’s a bit much to take in! My approach has always been to give a little, then have more on offer if people want a deeper dive. Some of our guests and followers are happy with delicious food and warm service from the team, and that is wonderful. For those that want to know more about the how and the why, we’re there to answer those questions.”

Social media 

“Our Instagram has a lot of focus with a dedicated team roaming the sites, posting as much real and genuine content we can get our hands on,” says Alec. “It’s a fast world out there and visibility is short, so staying consistent is important.”

“Within sustainability, our targets and achievements are regularly shifting,” says Holly, “so keeping these platforms up to date is incredibly important for attracting guests and new hires, as well as delivering on transparency. We’ve recently been creating more reels for Instagram which have been going down really well, and we keep our LinkedIn up to date with news that’s relevant for potential new hires.”

In a similar vein, Chantelle notes that not all social channels should perform the same functions. “LinkedIn is good for more fact-based things, whereas Instagram is better for more ‘of the moment’ stuff.”

Website

Your website provides the space for you to get into more detail about your targets, initiatives and achievements. “This year, we’re focusing on getting our brand websites updated to feature the positive impact they’re having,” says Holly. “We recently added a dedicated ‘Impact’ page on our website to highlight our group-wide approach to sustainability, and we plan to do this for our individual brands as well. I think it’s a missed opportunity for a business to have someone working explicitly on sustainability and not to shout about it on their website. We are also keen to produce our first ever Impact Report to share all the work we’ve been doing.”

Menus

Chantelle says, “We are conscious of not overloading people – I’m not a fan of overly worded menus, so we keep it concise! However, since our menus are digital, we do have a bit more wiggle room to link to further information.”

This can include environmental labelling as well as straightforward text, driving home the message that our food decisions affect the world around us. Carolyn Lum, Sustainability Manager at Wahaca says, “We added carbon labelling to the menus in April 2022 alongside messaging and a prominent call-out box where we talk about key sustainability efforts and suppliers. We approached carbon labelling as a means to start a conversation about the impact of our food choices on the environment; the more restaurants that do this, the greater awareness there will be. We received feedback from thousands of customers in an academic study completed by Imperial College London that it was the first time many diners had seen carbon labels and, as a result, thought about the planetary impact of their food choices.”

The menus at Pasture form a central part of their messaging, says Alec. “We operate in Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham. Each has its own map, highlighting how we source sustainably in each community along with other major talking points – this is a really important way we can connect with the different cultures around us. If I were to dig out an old menu from five years ago and compare it against today’s, it would reflect how much time and effort we’ve put into being innovative.”

Get creative!

You can think outside the box, too; as Alec explains, at Pasture, “The venues themselves all have splashes of talking points, such as plant walls with information about our farm, or nasturtiums grown on the farm as a garnish for our signature croquettes, made from discarded tomahawk trimmings.”

GET THE TEAM ON BOARD

Your front-of-house staff are your greatest ambassadors, so giving them the right training is important. Make sure they’re informed and up-to-date on your sustainability work and able to talk confidently and competently to customers, explaining what you’re doing and why it matters.

At JKS, Holly takes a multi-pronged approach. “We send an internal newsletter to the entire business each month which notes any headline announcements. We run a quarterly campaign called ‘Sustainability Spotlights’ where we highlight a sustainability topic and aim to increase awareness and reduce impact. This prevents us overwhelming the team with too many objectives – and it’s an added bonus that this trickles into our social content as well. Training and posters reinforce any written communication that has gone out to teams and sense-check knowledge on the ground.”

Alec says that frequent training is of high value at Pasture. “We’ve learnt over the years that the more you give the more you get back. We have weekly sessions across all sites – internally or externally – sharing skills and knowledge, with many supplier visits always in the diary. These naturally touch upon sustainability. Our main source for direct communication is Fourth, which has a Facebook-like approach to sharing.”

GET CERTIFIED

A credible third-party certification rooted in tangible, measurable, evidence-driven action is a fantastic way to showcase your sustainability work to your customers, staff and stakeholders.

When Pasture took the Food Made Good Standard, says Alec, “the actions taken early on by Sam [the founder] evolved into a wide-ranging tangible story with which many people can feel a synergy. It’s testament to his vision that our guests can feel at home when visiting any of our ventures, taking something from the experience that they want to repeat again and again.”

Holly says certain sections of the Standard resonate particularly strongly with JKS customers. “The narrative and storytelling potential of responsible sourcing is a huge win when it comes to engaging customers. There is so much opportunity, both graphically and in writing, to evoke a sense of place, season and flavour. Highlighting charity and community support is also rewarding for guests, particularly when they have contributed to the success of a campaign in simple ways, like adding £1 to the bill.”