The QSR’s 5 Step Sustainability Action Plan

If you avoided sustainability when it seemed like a fleeting trend, it’s time to rethink your policies. Customers are consistently choosing socially and environmentally responsible QSRs over their counterparts. The difficult part is knowing where to start. Below are five key elements in every successful sustainability action plan.

Set clear, quantifiable goals
Setting targets and strategies are imperative to success in the food service sustainability movement. Those who don’t set clear objectives are lagging behind. And feeling it in their pockets. As you progress through the action plan, make sure you’re keeping data and tracking milestones to ensure that all of your goals are met.

Develop a sustainable menu
No matter how small or large your QSR is, the products you use make a local and global difference. Make an effort to understand the impact your restaurant makes, and apply that understanding to support both environmental and human health. Sustainable menus aren’t marketing ploys. They are the only way the food service industry should offer food.

Take responsibility for your vendors
Customers expect you to have a full view of how your suppliers are treating sustainability. It is your responsibility to know where your food comes from and that you are happy with their assurance and ethics. Transparency and quality is key.

Round-out your nutritional offerings.
The Responsibility Deal may never pass, but making fast food healthier is still your responsibility. Some QSR’s make the mistake of oversimplifying health considerations and condemn one ingredient while boosting another. Instead, implement recipes that offer a more balanced nutritional profile. This is the only way to ensure that your food is actually healthy and keeps your clientele coming back.

Educate your staff
To maximize your impact, make sure that your staff is on board and engaged. When your workforce supports your commitment to sustainability, they will carry that commitment into their everyday lives. These behaviors will result in a highly engaged and educated workforce, as well as increase awareness of your initiative and brand as a whole.

You’re armed with all of the tools you need to create, implement, and benefit from a solid sustainable business strategy. Now it’s up to you to make sure you’re impacting your community in all the right ways! If you would like some more information about sustainable architecture or USGBC construction, contact us today.