Hawksmoor to become carbon neutral in 2022
The high-end steak group, which currently has eight UK sites, has signed up to the United Nation’s 'Race to Zero' initiative, with a goal to become a net zero company by 2030.
In a statement, Hawksmoor founders Will Beckett and Huw Gott said: "“Ever since we first started Hawksmoor we wanted to do things the right way.
"As our ambitions have grown, we’ve focused on building a restaurant company with real integrity, to show that you can be successful while prioritising the things you care about most.
"For us, that has always included championing regenerative agriculture and proper management of pastureland that offsets and removes carbon from the atmosphere, sustainable fishing practices and local, seasonal sourcing."
Hawksmoor was recently awarded a maximum 3* rating from the Sustainable Restaurant Association for the 12th consecutive year. In the last, it says it switched the entire company over to green energy, reducing its footprint 'by the equivalent of taking 103 cars off the road, planting 8000 trees or switching 18000 lightbulbs to LED'.
Beckett and Gott add: "This year Hawksmoor has put 100 of its managers through carbon literacy training and is setting up green teams in the restaurants so all staff can get even more involved in cutting emissions, waste and food waste and constantly making improvements - big and small - across the company and the supply chain."
Hawksmoor's announcement comes amid the UN's climate change conference, COP26, in Glasgow, billed by Prince Charles as 'the last chance saloon for the planet'.
Earlier this week, rival steakhouse chain Gaucho announced plans to open what it says will be Scotland’s 'most sustainable steak restaurant'.
Gaucho CEO Martin Williams has also called on steak restaurateurs to join his Sustainable Steak Movement, which encourages restaurants to sign up to a manifesto and pledge that in 2022 they will offer a ‘carbon neutral’ beef option on their menus, promote a ‘carbon neutral’ wine offering, commit to minimise food waste, and the use of green energy in their restaurants.
