Sustainable Restaurant Association

Welcome back and a Happy New Year for 2010! We hope you had a great Christmas full of festive cheer and delicious, sustainable food.

NEW YEAR, NEW SUSTAINABLE RESTAURANTS

Our New Year is off to a galloping start with a host of fantastic new members. Our founder members now include, Embassy London, Sanctum Soho Hotel, Geales, Quo Vadis, Barrafina, Fino and Norman's Coach and Horses.

We're relishing the fact that so many different types of restaurants are excited to be on board. Chains, fine dining independents, Italian, fish and chips, modern British, Spanish tapas and pubs - they're all committed to finding ways of making it more sustainable.

We also threw a dinner in early January for some key industry figures. Thanks to Quo Vadis for kindly hosting the event. There was lots of robust discussion about the difficulties of change, how to prioritise action and the makeup of the audit questions. But ultimately there was also consensus that all of the issues are important, that the customer is demanding action and that it makes sound business sense for restaurants.

HAITI APPEAL
Sadly, the New Year also kicked off with news of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. We've had a few calls from restaurants asking how best to raise vital funds for the emergency appeal. We urge restaurants to get in touch with Restaurants Against Hunger. For more, email Restaurants Against Hunger or call them on 0208 293 6190.

Thanks to the commitment of their supporters, parent group Action Against Hunger was able to respond immediately to the news, providing emergency relief to thousands of people who have been left homeless. The American Institute of Philanthropy gave them an A-rating in their top-rated list of charities involved in Haitian earthquake relief efforts. Plus they're one of the few relief campaigns getting through on the ground. We encourage all our supporters to make a donation. Call Action Against Hunger on 08456 003618 or donate online now.

MAKING THE NEWS
Membership enquiries are on the increase and publicity is growing. It's great to know we're already making waves before our launch at the end of February. Thanks to Restaurant magazine who penned a great cover feature on the Sustainable Restaurant Association for the January issue. Look out for more stories on the Sustainable Restaurant Association, regional hubs and audits in both trade and mainstream press in the weeks ahead.

A FRESH START FOR THE DOGGY BAG?
We think doggy bags are a great way to help reduce food waste. After all, leftovers aren't just for Christmas! We like them so much we've let our creative team loose on designing a special Sustainable Restaurant Association doggy box just for our members. Doggy bags also have the backing of sustainable food luminaries such asHugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. He urges more people to take home unfinished food when eating out and makes no bones about asking for one. What do you think about doggy bags? Write in and let us know.

A CHAIN REACTION
Prompted by our chain CEO dinner, the Sustainable Restaurant Association team has also been talking about the tricky subject of local food options for chains. As a recent article in Chain Leader highlights, restaurant chains in the US are overcoming challenges and doing more to explore local sourcing options. We know that lots of UK chains are doing the same - but we'd like to encourage and help them to do more.

It's agreed that the benefits are valuable in terms of flavour, quality and community - but chains have the added challenge of trying to do this consistently, safely and affordably at restaurants all over the country. Some operators are featuring local produce in regional, time-limited offers. Others source local products at peak seasons only or find local sources for core year-round items such as dairy and meat. We don't deny that this is a tough nut to crack, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. If you're a chain, supplier or customer we'd love to hear your thoughts.

COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH
We're now on the countdown to our big launch on 1 March and putting the final touches to the package our members will receive; advice, offers, supplier discounts, invitations to events, news, forums, an account manager, action stickers, membership badges...what's not to like?!
We'll be at Hotelympia from 28 February to 4 March, so come and see us for a glass of Fairhills Fairtrade wine (thanks to Origin Wines), some delicious Divine Chocolate and a chat about all things sustainable.

Sign up to our newsletter or stop by for a chat on the SRA twitter page or, if you're ready to become a founder member, give us a call on 0207 479 4224.

Thanks for your continued support.

Simon Heppner