One word, many possible associations: sustainability. According to RATIONAL, more and more consumers are thinking about their impact on the planet, not only in terms of mobility, but also nutrition. This means that not only the origin of the food, but also preparation technology, is coming under more scrutiny.
For some, climate protection is about producing less CO2 from driving cars or less food waste; for others, it’s about not using plastic packaging anymore, or checking their heating plant.
There’s a myriad of ways to be sustainable, and these don’t stop at large and commercial kitchens. An increasing number of guests want both a healthy meal and more sustainable production. This makes things in the kitchen more complex: menus need to have more vegetarian dishes and regional food, and at the same time, these need to be made using less electricity.
Consumers are asking more and more questions about the sustainability aspects of a restaurant, which restaurateurs need to be able to answer.
However, it’s not only large and commercial kitchens that are thinking about how the hospitality industry can contribute to climate protection. RATIONAL, one of the market leaders in the field of hot food preparation, is also constantly working on developing its products to be more resource-saving.
According to its sustainability report, the company would like to contribute to ensuring that future generations use environmentally-friendly products and health-promoting cooking methods.
Above all, however, the cooking appliance manufacturer supports restaurateurs: RATIONAL units require up to 40% less electricity and up to 10% less raw materials in comparison to conventional kitchen technology.
The reason for this is intelligent technology, which both the SelfCookingCenter and VarioCookingCenter have. Probes recognise when and which quantity of energy is required and the unit supplies this to the food uniformly and in a targeted way.
Cooking processes are adjusted individually, which reduces the weight and cutting losses, ensuring that nothing burns or boils over. “We estimate that a little more than 600,000 RATIONAL combi-steamers and around 30,000 VarioCookingCenter units are currently in use around the world, which according to our estimate, produce up to 130 million meals a day,” says Simon Parke-Davis, managing director at RATIONAL Kitchen & Catering Equipment Trading FZCO.
With resource-efficient units, we can therefore make a significant contribution to protecting the environment,” he adds.
Sustainable kitchen concepts as a visitor magnet
Because sustainability is currently a hot topic, that very topic can be used to market your own business. Hence, the menu should include products that have already created a marketing hype, such as plant-based burgers.
Service staff can also emphasise the origin and preparation method of the food, giving diners a look behind the scenes of a sustainable restaurant kitchen, which would complete the experience and answer all questions about sustainability.
