SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability in Restaurants in Philippines

The Philippines Food Service industry is slow to embrace the concept of sustainable development.   Sustainability in restaurants in the Philippines remains largely marginalized partly because restaurateurs in the Philippines are busy tackling short-term issues of slow demand and lackluster growth.

Greenhouse Café and Gardens is one restaurant in Philippines that not only embraces the notion of sustainability, but this restaurant in Pampanga places this high on its mission priorities.    Sustainability in this restaurant in Clark Pampanga starts with some critical initiatives which were identified through a sustainability materiality impact assessment.  

GREEN ENERGY

Greenhouse Café is the first and only restaurant in the Philippines that is powered in renewable energy.   The 45Kw solar farm which is one part of the Sustainability Garden of this restaurant in Clark Freeport supplies electricity not only to the restaurant but also the charging stations for electrical vehicles (EV), making Greenhouse Café another EV charging station in Clark Pampanga.

WASTE REDUCTION

Greenhouse Café hopes to beat the restaurant industry’s average food waste of 30% by implementing a multiple portion size options in its menu.    This restaurant in Clark recognizes the importance of allowing the conscious consumer to order the portion size that fits the individual.   Greenhouse Café Restaurant offers triple portion sizes for some items on it’s a la carte menu.  It is hoped that by offering multiple portion size options, food waste will be reduced, without compromising satisfaction at all.

WELL BEING

Food well being is more than eating healthy.   Three meals a day every day of our lives ranks this activity among the highest priorities in life’s enjoyment.  Greenhouse Café is one restaurant in Clark Pampanga that pays special attention to the total dining experience, one that include not only good food but also the ambiance in which we enjoy a meal.   To that end, this restaurant has a garden that is accessible from the main dining room.   Guests of this restaurant are invited to pause service for a leisure stroll in the garden.  

SUSTAINABILITY AWARENESS

It is true that sustainability is not exactly a household word in Asia but that doesn’t have to remain that way for long.   In fact, any establishment that embraces sustainability could in its own way make an effort to raise awareness of sustainable development.   The garden of this restaurant in Clark Pampanga is sometimes dubbed “Sustainability Awareness Gaden” because of the exhibits that visitors encounter while strolling along the meandering stream.  

EQUALITY

Gender equality is practiced in the human resource of this restaurant in Clark Philippines.   Gender-blind hiring policies have resulted in a balanced gender distribution among the workforce.  Management does not see gender equality as a challenge but an advantage.  

OTHER INITIATIVES

Other initiatives are being initiated with limited success for now.   The really challenging one is local sourcing.   Limiting itself entirely to local sourcing reduces the quality of the menu too substantially to meet the restaurant’s goal of quality dining   Work is underway to collaborate with local suppliers and growers to find ways to achieve this important sustainability goal.

GOVERNANCE

A bi-yearly sustainability audit is in place to measure the sustainability performance of this restaurant against its own ESG targets.  For sustainability initiatives to have any chance of succeeding, the report must be transparent even if this means admitting failures and missing targets.