A climate of change that can be good for business

It might be tempting to dismiss the environmental campaigners who brought parts of London to a standstill over Easter as just a bunch of adolescent snowflakes and ancient hippies. But the views of Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage activist, and her Extinction Rebellion supporters are gaining traction – and moving minds.

The Daily Mail remained steadfast in its criticism, of course, branding the demonstrators “sanctimonious eco-zealots” with their “muddle-headed” activism instilling anger among commuters as bridges and bus lanes were blocked.

Pub and restaurant owners did have some cause to be miffed by the disruption, as Easter sales in the capital took a dip – although how much of that was down to the campaigners, or Euston station being closed, or Londoners heading for the coast to make the most of the sun is hard to gauge.

Shift in customer thinking

But, it doesn’t really matter what your personal views or political opinions might be, what actually matters is what your customers think, and how they are acting. There is a distinct shift in public attitudes, and not just about the environment and species extinction, but around health, provenance, sustainability, food waste and social justice.

All these issues are bundled together in a sense that life and the world ought to be better. OK, your customers may not think that way now, but the next generation probably will. There is a climate of change among Britain’s consumers.

Even looking parochially at the eating and drinking out market, all the data points in the same direction, no matter what source you look at. Two-thirds of the public say they now try to lead a healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Although less than 10% of adults self-identify as vegetarian or vegan, a much larger proportion (29%) say that it is important (or very important) that the meals they choose do not contain much meat, as they are trying to reduce meat consumption.

Just about half of adults will these days describe themselves as ‘foodies’, meaning they care about what they eat, with quality a major driver of choice. Now that’s not saying that eating habits are switching overnight, as half of those who say they try to live healthily and in an environmentally sound way are still nipping out to one of the big five fast food chains at least once a month.

People are balancing their eating habits between health and indulgence, although the scales are tipping more towards health – and to give it credit McDonald’s has been a leader in moving the health and environment dial, even if some of its customers are not happy that its new paper straws seem to dissolve in milkshakes.

Changing priorities

Over a third of adults say they are influenced by nutritional information on menus, an increase on last year, and with that figure rising to just under half of under 35s.

Sourcing and sustainability are also climbing up the public’s priorities, with 57%, up 17 percentage points on three years ago, considering the sourcing of ingredients to be important and 54%, up 19 percentage points on three years ago, considering sustainability of ingredients to be important. There are similar concerns around packaging, but you get the picture – and when you know your mainly young teams are probably feeling the same, the arguments for taking all this seriously are hard to resist.

Sustainability focus

Of course, operators are changing too, and if you are not, your competitors certainly are, with 77% of business leaders saying sustainability is a priority in their organisations and half saying their businesses dedicated more time to sustainability last year.

Of the top 10 food trends pub and restaurant bosses identified as being key this year, eight were linked to health and sustainability, with vegan topping the poll. It’s a similar story in the drinks world, with the industry’s top two trends this year being low sugar and sugar-free drinks and no or low alcohol drinks, pushing craft beer down the league table for the first time in about five years. The value of sales of low calorie soft drinks rose 26% in the on-trade last year.

The market is changing, and on these issues perhaps as fast as it has ever done.

But, what more can done, and not just inside businesses, but influencing policy? The likes of Greta Thunberg are being heard by governments (and this is a global issue in every sense), including by our own environment secretary Michael Gove.

On the case

Gove is seen as one of the more radical, intelligent and effective ministers in this administration, and with food supply and security rising up the political agenda, not least because of Brexit, the out-of- home food and wider hospitality sector must get involved.

UKHospitality is at the table, and is working more closely with the likes of the British Retail Consortium, the Food & Drink Federation and an increasingly environment-focused National Farmers Union, but it cannot just be left to the industry’s trade association, individual businesses and leaders need to engage too. Hospitality too often gets a bad rap when it comes to food matters, where the retail sector likes to take the lead.

Gove has recently appointed Henry Dimbleby, school food campaigner, co-founder of the Sustainable Restaurant Association and most pertinently a co-founder of the Leon chain and London Union, to head up work on a new national food strategy, which will almost certainly have an emphasis on increasing domestic production. So, a friendly ear in high places – and no excuse for not getting involved.

The vociferous climate campaigners may not be quite so muddle-headed as the Daily Mail portrays them, but there are inconsistencies, contradictions and positions to be challenged constructively.

Technology and artificial intelligence are set to play an increasingly important role in finding solutions. A procedure that uses DNA identification to trace an individual cut of meat back to a single animal is already being developed, so funding projects like this is going to be vital.

Using technology to address challenges like species extinction will also mean that issues like genetic modification will have to be revisited. Entrenched positions on both sides of the argument need to be challenged.

This is all crucial stuff, and hospitality companies should be to the fore in developing the future. It should also be good for business – just listen to what the public is saying.