Corporate Social Responsibility, also known by the acronym CSR, has become a major issue in many industries, and institutional food service is no exception.
This approach embodies a genuine commitment to making a positive impact on people, the planet, and our entire ecosystem. It translates into concrete commitments, which we will detail throughout this article. And to provide even more concrete examples of CSR in institutional food service, we will highlight three companies that have distinguished themselves in this area.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) aims to integrate ethical, social, environmental, and economic principles into all of a company’s operations and its interactions with stakeholders. This approach is playing an increasingly crucial role in the institutional food service sector.
Beyond the tangible benefits for society, restaurants can also reap internal benefits. Integrating social, environmental, and economic concerns into their operations has a direct impact on their financial health, customer loyalty, and ability to attract new customers.
We are witnessing a real shift in eating habits . According to the survey on consumption and perceptions of organic products in France (Agence Bio), 50% of French people say they have changed their eating habits over the past three years, mainly to avoid waste and to prioritize fresh, seasonal, local, and locally sourced products. Consumers, who are increasingly aware of the social and environmental impact of their food choices, are placing greater importance on the efforts made by the establishments they frequent.
👉 To find out more: Customer loyalty: 6 ideas for your restaurant
After this reminder of Corporate Social Responsibility, let's take a look at how it applies to the foodservice sector.
In the world of institutional food service, sourcing is a central component of a serious CSR approach. Responsible sourcing refers to prioritizing local, organic, seasonal, and locally sourced products. Restaurants thus commit to supporting local farmers and local expertise, reducing the carbon footprint associated with transporting goods, and serving their customers fresh, nutritionally rich food. Beyond that, incorporating fair-trade supply chains into this approach reinforces the commitment to ethical business practices, ensuring fair conditions for producers.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), livestock farming accounts for 14.5% of total climate change-related emissions—nearly seven times more than global air travel. To move toward a more sustainable food system, it is important to promote meals based on plant-based proteins.
By sourcing ingredients responsibly and offering sustainable food options, food service professionals have great power in their hands—the power to positively impact not only local communities but also the environment and consumers’ health.
Waste management is also a major challenge. As part of their CSR policy, many institutional dining facilities are raising awareness among both employees and customers about the importance of reducing and sorting organic and non-food waste. In this way, they are contributing to a sustainable approach to food consumption. Both in the kitchen and in the dining room, waste sorting is gradually becoming part of everyone’s routine, contributing to an optimized and efficient recycling process.
If you haven't already done so at your restaurant, you need to give serious thought to the use of plastic packaging. Your goal? To minimize your restaurant’s environmental footprint by prioritizing more sustainable alternatives, from sourcing to post-consumption. Examples include biodegradable, recyclable, or even edible packaging. A practical tool to take this effort further is the national food waste reduction certification, which recognizes restaurants committed to this initiative.
For greener and more socially responsible waste management, consider reaching out to local organizations that run food distribution programs. By partnering with these organizations, you’ll be actively helping to combat food insecurity.
👉 To find out more: What are the alternatives to plastic packaging in the catering industry?
In CSR, particular emphasis is placed on energy conservation with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving resources. To achieve this, two main approaches stand out: adopting eco-friendly behaviors and integrating energy-efficient technologies. And if you can combine the two, even better!
One of the first steps is to equip your kitchen with energy-efficient appliances. These appliances are designed to optimize energy use. They help minimize energy loss while ensuring maximum efficiency. There are also smart energy management systems that help regulate and optimize electricity consumption. Technologies such as motion-sensor LED lighting, programmable thermostats, and energy sensors make it easier to monitor and control energy use, thereby significantly reducing energy waste.
These initiatives go hand in hand with the implementation of awareness programs; otherwise, they may not have the desired effect. It is important that your teams understand the impact of their daily actions, that responsible habits are encouraged, and that they remain mindful of their use of energy resources. This is how you will foster an eco-friendly culture within your institutional dining facility.
In summary, by incorporating these practices, CSR in institutional food service becomes a powerful tool forbalancing economic prosperity with social and environmental responsibility.
What could be more telling than three concrete examples to illustrate the adoption of a CSR approach in institutional food service?
Sodexo has distinguished itself in the institutional food service sector thanks to its proactive approach to reducing food waste through its WasteWatch program. Since its launch, this program has led to a significant 55% reduction in food waste at participating facilities, thereby preventing the equivalent of 9 million meals from ending up in the trash.
Thanks to smart waste measurement technology, Sodexo teams collect daily data on waste, enabling an in-depth analysis of the causes and the implementation of operational and behavioral changes. And to say the least, it’s paying off. Operating at more than 1,000 sites in 26 countries, the WasteWatch program has prevented 36 metric tons of carbon emissions and saved a total of approximately 5,000 metric tons of food.
Sodexo goes even further, as the company facilitates the promotional sale of surplus food and food donations through partnerships, such as the one it has established with the Phenix France app. This app allows 220,000 retailers affiliated with the Sodexo Pass Restaurant card to put together and sell take-home food baskets using their unsold items.
Another example of a successful CSR initiative comes from Elior UK. In partnership with the biofuel producer bio-bean, the company prevented 36 metric tons of coffee waste from being landfilled.
The waste was actually repurposed and turned into coffee logs that burn 20% longer and hotter than dried wood. This initiative resulted in the production of more than 11,500 logs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to sending the waste to a landfill.
Another example of CSR success in institutional food service: the René Billière school complex. The Ecocert “En Cuisine” certification is one of the initiatives implemented by the government to meet the goal set by the EGAlim law—namely, that 20% of the purchase value of food in institutional food service come from organic products. This certification applies to all institutional food service providers, from school cafeterias to childcare facilities, as well as government agencies and businesses.
The label is divided into 4 main categories:
For each of them, there are three certification levels.
After earning the Ecocert Level 1 certification in September 2021, the René Billière School Complex has taken its quality initiative even further. Its efforts have been rewarded: following an audit conducted last November, the team has just achieved Level 2 certification.
CSR initiatives in the institutional food service sector are of paramount importance for meeting consumers’ increasingly high expectations regarding sustainability and social responsibility. The examples provided in this article demonstrate that this approach goes hand in hand with success.
👉 Further information: Collective catering: understanding the impact of the Egalim 3 law
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