How to Source Ingredients for Your Restaurant to Improve Sustainability

Making your restaurant more sustainable may seem like a daunting task at first; in actuality, implementing sustainable practices can easily be done through thoughtful planning and execution. This is especially the case when you want to begin responsibly sourcing ingredients for a more sustainable commercial kitchen. However, there are thankfully many routes to take on the path to sustainably sourcing ingredients, so you can begin to implement these practices. Take a look at four options to source your restaurant’s ingredients the eco-friendly way. 

Use Locally-Grown Produce

Opting to use locally-grown produce has a multitude of benefits for your restaurant, the planet and your wallet. For starters, local produce requires less traveling to arrive at your commercial kitchen, which means less energy is used. Additionally, local produce will be fresher and can be cheaper than produce that’s sourced from a different state.

That’s not all, though. According to a 2022 survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association, they found that 38% of adult consumers polled were “more likely to choose a restaurant that offers locally-sourced foods over one that doesn’t.” Using—and advertising—locally-sourced ingredients can mean a boost in your customer base, which could generate additional revenue.

Source Seasonal Ingredients

While it’s nice to enjoy fresh peaches in the dead of winter, it comes at a cost. That peach would have likely traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to arrive at your restaurant to be served. This means that it might not only be less fresh, but it may not be as ripe or flavorful as it would be if it were sourced while in-season. 

Choosing produce and other fresh ingredients like herbs and spices that grow in-season can cut down on costs and your carbon footprint. Not only that, but your ingredients will taste the best when they’ve been harvested while in-season. You can even design your menu around in-season ingredients.

But if you can’t wait for certain ingredients to come, here are a bunch that can be sustainably harvested year-round as outlined by Health Coach Institute:

• Beans/legumes


• Kale


• Bison


• Broccoli


• Potatoes


• Seaweed


• Buckwheat


• Wild rice


• Moringa

Choose Responsibly-Sourced Seafood

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 70% of fishery stocks have a known overfishing status. Overfishing is defined as a depletion of the stock of fish in a body of water that’s caused by too much fishing. As outlined by the World Wildlife Fund, overfishing can have many devastating consequences including the erosion of entire aquatic ecosystems, an increased risk of extinction of certain species and a decrease in food and economic security.

With so much at stake, choosing to use responsibly-sourced seafood is an important sustainable practice. But what is it exactly? Responsibly-sourced seafood is farmed or wild-caught seafood that’s harvested through best-practice methods to avoid negatively impacting the aquatic ecosystem. Because of this, the benefits of sustainable seafood are numerous, including:

• Prevention of overfishing


• A decrease in harmful interactions with other sea life and protected species


• The rebuilding of depleted stocks


• Conservation of important fish habitats

Choosing to use responsibly-sourced seafood means that you’ll still receive quality seafood, but without the costly ecological price tag. Additionally, utilizing sustainable seafood is a great fact to market about your restaurant as it can not only educate your customers to the dangers of overfishing, but also put a spotlight on your business as a responsible and eco-friendly establishment.

Grow Your Own Produce

What’s more sustainable than sourcing ingredients from your own garden? Utilizing this method means that you can control what you produce, what type of fruits and veggies you grow and when to harvest the ingredients. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about shipping costs as you can simply go to your plot and pick what you need.

The only caveat to this is that it’ll require some space to cultivate a produce garden, so keep that in mind if you’re in a major city or don’t have much land to utilize.