CSR and Sustainability

📍 Restaurant365's survey of 3,700 QSR and dining locations in 2024 found 80% experiencing increased labor costs, with 64% seeing a 1-5% rise. Food costs increased for 80%, with 51% noting 1-5% and 40% at 6-14%. Sales top the list of concerns for 38%, while 49% reported sales growth and 34% a drop. Investment priorities include sales and marketing technologies (39%), staff enhancements (37%), and expansion of catering operations (37%). Additionally, 68% are implementing sustainability practices, such as food waste tracking (39%).

🍴 Restaurant365's industry survey, representing nearly 3,700 dining locations, reveals 2024's top challenges: labor (80% reported cost increases, 64% at 1-5%) and food costs (80% saw increases, 51% at 1-5%, 40% at 6-14%). Sales are a major concern (38%), yet 49% of leaders reported increased sales. Investments focus on back-of-house tech, sales/marketing tech (39%), and staff enhancements (37%). Sustainability practices are adopted by 68%, with 39% on food waste tracking.

🍹 Turtle Bay, a Caribbean-inspired restaurant group, reported 90% of staff feeling their well-being had improved or stayed the same with its ‘4 days at the Bay’ initiative. The scheme led to a recommendation rate of 83%, a refreshed feeling in 77% of employees, and a team turnover decrease from 131.5% to 84.1%. Record turnover reached £93.7m by 31 March 2024, with a slight EBITDA decrease to £9m. Profit before tax was £1.9m, down from £9.9m the previous year. The group invested £8.4m in new and existing sites, including openings in Glasgow, Camden, Blackpool, and Lincoln.

🏕 Rio Perdido, an eco-luxury hotel in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, has added eight West Bungalows designed by Studio Saxe and Dania Saragovia. These forest hideaways feature a 170-square-foot terrace, double outdoor shower, oversized tub with hot spring water, and interiors with 90% locally sourced materials. The new bungalows join 30 existing ones, surrounded by 20 miles of trails, a thermal river, and pools.

💸 Starbucks, under CEO Laxman Narasimhan, announces multiple sustainability efforts, with a focus on combatting climate change by the end of 2023. They've launched a returnable beverage cup program with NextGen and partnered with Mercedes-Benz to install 400 electric vehicle chargers at 100 stores. Recently, Starbucks revealed a partnership with Nexamp, initiating six solar energy projects in Illinois, aimed to provide electricity savings for over 1,100 residents and power 170 local stores. These initiatives build on 340 Illinois stores already wind-powered, and by 2025, the solar projects will contribute more than 40 megawatts of solar energy. Starbucks also formed an environmental board committee to oversee green investments.

💾 Generation Z, with considerable buying power, is entering the full-time workforce and seeking travel experiences aligned with their values: healthy living, sustainability, and advocacy. Around 36% of Gen Z exercise regularly; 30% use hotel fitness facilities; 56% prefer eco-friendly accommodations; hotels can attract them with well-equipped fitness centers and sustainable practices, like cardio equipment converting human energy to electricity. Brown University student Elina Pipa influenced her university to adopt sustainable cardio fitness equipment. Ruben Mejia of SportsArt emphasizes the influence of Gen Z on the hospitality industry.

🍻 BrewDog, the first carbon negative beer company since 2020, decided to let its carbon negative claim lapse due to high carbon credit costs. CEO James Arrow cited the need to focus on reducing emissions within their operations. The market for carbon credits has become unsustainable with low-quality schemes. BrewDog plans to invest instead in its Lost Forest tree planting project. In December 2023, the ASA criticized BrewDog for not substantiating its beers' carbon negative credentials. Earlier, poor weather caused the loss of saplings in their Lost Forest project, despite a £1.2m grant from Scottish Forestry.

🌏 HBX Group, with 3,700+ employees in 170+ countries, presents its ESG strategy in its Sustainability Report. Plan includes over 75 actions, alignment with United Nations Global Compact, and a 3-year goal to comply with the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) through 4,000+ KPIs. Sustainable Hotels Programme features 40,000+ certified properties, with a 10-fold increase to 5,000 hotels banning single-use plastics in a year. Employee-led initiatives, like the Think Big programme, have planted 12,000+ trees and contributed to 6 years of Carbon Neutral certification.

🌍 HBX Group, active in over 170 countries with 3,700+ employees, reveals its Sustainability Report and ESG strategy, unveiling a 3-year plan with 75+ ESG actions and joining the UN Global Compact. The firm's Sustainable Hotels Programme now includes 40,000+ certified properties, with a 900% increase in hotels adopting a no-single-use plastics policy, reaching 5,000 in just one year. The Think Big initiative in Quintana Roo, Mexico, assisted Mayan cooperatives in sustainability, contributing to over 12,000 trees planted globally and earning HBX Group Carbon Neutral certification for six consecutive years.

🛡 HBX Group, with over 3,700 employees in 170 countries, details its ESG plan with 75+ initiatives after a double materiality analysis and stakeholder consultation. They've joined the UN Global Compact and are aligning with the new European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), analyzing 4,000+ KPIs. Their Sustainable Hotels Programme includes 40,000+ certified properties and increased hotels with a no-single-use plastics policy from 500 to 5,000 in a year. The group's employees contributed to over 12,000 trees planted, and the company is Carbon Neutral certified for six years in Scopes 1 and 2 by Carbon Footprint LTD. Their Think Big volunteer program launched a pilot in Quintana Roo, Mexico, in early 2024, helping Mayan cooperatives with tourism and sustainability.