Which? reveals Wahaca is the most sustainable restaurant chain
Following its first ever analysis of the UK’s biggest restaurant chains’ sustainable practices, the consumer champion has awarded six restaurants with its Eco Provider endorsement, an accolade awarded to companies that are ahead of their competitors on sustainability.
Separate Which? research found that four in 10 (44%) people want restaurants to be proactive about sustainability and a quarter (27%) would like restaurants to provide sustainability information on menus.To assess the restaurants, Which? asked them a series of questions about key sustainability issues including resources and emissions, sourcing policies, waste and plastics, transparency and customer choice as well as targets.
It then assessed their answers with a points-based scoring system. Wahaca - the Mexican chain co-founded by Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers in 2007 - came top, scoring highly for its sourcing policies, transparency and customer choices. It scored highly for using free-range chicken, pork and eggs, reducing its beef offering to one menu option and championing plant-based eating - with six in 10 (60%) of the dishes on its menu being vegetarian.
Wahaca - which has 13 branches in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Brighton - also has sustainable sourcing policies for palm oil, soya, tea, coffee and sugar and is the only chain in Which?’s analysis that lists carbon emissions for its meals.Which? also awarded Eco Provider endorsements to Frankie and Benny’s, Nando’s, Pret a Manger, wagamama and Young’s Pubs.Nando’s received full marks for its waste and plastics policies. It creates a low level of food waste for a business of its size, with none being sent to landfill.
Meanwhile, over a quarter (28%) of Frankie & Benny’s menu is vegan or vegetarian, its restaurants use sustainable cleaning products and it has a sustainable policy for restaurant fit-outs. At the opposite end of the table were Greggs and KFC. Their scores were heavily impacted by the omission of key data - although Which? recognises that both companies have ambitious reduction targets for the future.
Scores for Greggs were average across the board, but it did not share information on its water usage, food waste or non-food waste to landfill figures. KFC scored well for emissions data but omitted information on electricity or water consumption, renewable energy, food waste and landfill.
Most of the chains approached by Which? made an effort to provide the requested information, but disappointingly Five Guys, Hungry Horse, Pizza Express, Subway, TGI Fridays and Yo! Sushi ignored the requests or declined to participate in the analysis.
If restaurants are not transparent about their green policies it can be difficult for consumers to choose more sustainable options. Which?’s research and open reporting by companies helps to increase customer awareness. All restaurants can still do more to reduce their environmental impact.
Consumers looking to make more environmentally-friendly decisions might want to vote with their feet, supporting restaurants they see doing more and which help them make more informed choices about meal options.
When dining out, there are actions customers can take to reduce emissions – such as eating less of the foods that create the most carbon emissions, for example meat and dairy, minimising food waste where possible and taking home leftovers.
Shefalee Loth, Which? Nutritionist, said:
“Many people want to play their part in preventing climate change by making more sustainable choices, and they expect restaurants to support them by being transparent about their emissions and where they source their food from.
“Our research shows that some restaurant chains are doing much more than others to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and food waste.
“By visiting one of the restaurants named a Which? Eco Provider, diners can be confident they are at a chain that has impressive green credentials.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- In December 2023, Which? surveyed 1,168 of its members about their attitudes to eating sustainably when at home and eating out.
- In July 2023 Which? Surveyed 28 restaurant chains. Data was collected between August and November 2023 and analysed in December 2023. Results are based on each company’s last full reporting year, usually 2022.
Restaurant responses:
A Greggs spokesperson told Which?: "The Greggs Pledge is our commitment to making the world a better place by 2025 focused around three key areas: building stronger, healthier communities, making the planet safer and becoming a better business. We continue to make good progress against our ambitious Pledge targets which has not been reflected in this report as we do not yet publish all the specific data requested."
A KFC spokesperson said: “KFC has pledged to be a Net Zero business by 2040 or sooner, ten years ahead of government targets. We are passionate about embedding sustainability across all areas of our business and are working with a range of experts to ensure we get this journey right. We believe this report does not fully reflect our position and our ongoing commitment to operating responsibly."
About Which?
Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, here to make life simpler, fairer and safer for everyone. Our research gets to the heart of consumer issues, our advice is impartial, and our rigorous product tests lead to expert recommendations. We’re the independent consumer voice that influences politicians and lawmakers, investigates, holds businesses to account and makes change happen. As an organisation we’re not for profit and all for making consumers more powerful.
The information in this press release is for editorial use by journalists and media outlets only. Any business seeking to reproduce information in this release should contact the Which? Endorsement Scheme team at endorsementscheme@which.co.uk.