How pizzerias can keep sustainability momentum rolling well into the future.

Even when leadership’s intentions are pure and their commitment firm, a pizzeria’s momentum with sustainability can nevertheless stall.

Employee turnover might overrun even the most well-designed efforts, as a revolving door of employees weaken an operation’s ability to consistently execute sustainable practices.

Costs might derail thoughtful local purchasing objectives, especially amid inflationary pressures in an already low-margin industry loathe to raise menu prices.

A lack of resources or know-how might hamper management’s ability to troubleshoot and subsequently drive a return to more familiar – and less environmentally kind – patterns.

And the need to extinguish daily operational fires, from missing cash to a no-show employee to a plumbing issue, might nudge sustainability into the background over time. After all, amid mounting orders, pizzas to cook and bills to pay, tackling climate change might seem more luxury than necessity.

To be certain, it’s not easy being green – and even harder staying green.

Josh Prigge of Sustridge, a Minnesota-based sustainability consulting firm, and Michael Oshman, CEO and founder of the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), offer pizzerias battle-tested thoughts on building a productive and lasting sustainability strategy.

First, take a wider view of sustainability’s value.

So often, business leaders mistakenly view sustainability in terms of dollars and cents alone. While they might launch sustainable initiatives for the “right reasons” – namely, to contribute to a healthier planet – they then evaluate such efforts exclusively through the bottom line.

In some instances, sustainable practices will deliver clear financial positives. Decreasing energy use, for example, will spur lower operating costs and reducing waste will prompt fewer trash pickups. Both will generate an obvious bottom-line impact.

Some of sustainability’s other benefits, however, are less evident and instantaneous. Prigge says restaurant leadership must understand sustainability’s wider value and use that as fuel to maintain momentum.

“With some sustainable efforts, there might not be an immediate payback, but rather some intangibles that lead to the long-term health and success of the business,” Prigge says.

To Prigge’s point, restaurants incorporating and promoting their sustainability efforts can attract new customers. According to an October 2022 report from Datassential, nine of out 10 consumers say sustainability matters to them, while more than half say restaurant sustainability practices “somewhat influence” their out-of-home dining choices.

“Folks are looking for businesses who share their beliefs,” Prigge says, adding that sustainable initiatives can also spur PR opportunities and “free advertising” for the restaurant.

Oshman, meanwhile, notes that sustainability can also help businesses attract and retain quality employees. In IBM’s Institute for Business Value (IBV) report released in 2022, 67 percent of the survey’s 16,000 respondents said they were more willing to apply for positions with environmentally sustainable companies. Given the high cost of employee turnover, the ability to attract and retain talent can spark significant benefits.

“Employees want to be working at a place that matches their values,” Oshman says.

Second, bake sustainability into the business strategy.

For many restaurants, sustainability frequently becomes a disjointed collection of scattered decisions. Buy more local ingredients here. Reduce energy there. While such one-off practices are noble and positive, a more cohesive strategy positioning sustainability as a core value and central business strategy increases the likelihood of long-term success.

Prigge urges restaurant operations to create a formal sustainable strategy featuring defined targets and attainable short and long-term goals.

If a restaurant wants to increase its local buying, for example, it must first understand what percentage of goods are currently purchased locally. Thereafter, it can create a realistic target to push that figure up in the short and long-term with specific action steps – convert to purchasing all local cheese by the close of 2024, for instance – to hit those marks.

Yet more, everyone at the restaurant should know the goals. Leadership should incorporate sustainable practices into staff members’ formal job duties – maybe it’s recording food waste or separating trash into compost or recycling bins – and provide clear communication on why specific efforts matter. Leadership should also communicate progress and celebrate notable wins with staff.

A formal strategy including designated tasks and targets will help engrain sustainability into an operation’s culture and its daily activities. Employees and management alike will know the expectations and goals, which makes it easier to maintain momentum even amid staff turnover.

“Sustainability isn’t a one-month thing,” Oshman reminds. “It’s commitment and support and ongoing effort.”

Finally, be vigilant in looking for ways to improve.

Any restaurant will encounter challenges as it pursues more sustainable operations. A manager passionate about sustainability will move on or a local vendor offering a great line of sustainable disposables will cease operations. Those temporary hiccups cannot stall progress.

“Keep in mind there are more physical solutions than ever before, so there’s not just one good napkin anymore,” Oshman says.

Specifically, Oshman urges restaurants to utilize resources designed to help drive their sustainability efforts. Two summers ago, for instance, the GRA launched six badges, each one outlining “understandable and relatable” environmental steps a restaurant could take to increase sustainability. The Near-Zero Waste badge, for example, features instructions on recycling, waste reduction, food waste, training, reusables and disposables.

Many local utilities or state restaurant associations, meanwhile, offer resource pages to help commercial operations pursue more sustainable practices or adhere to environmentally minded legislation. Such resources promise to elevate restaurant leadership’s awareness, highlight winning strategies and propel sustainable efforts.

In addition, Prigge urges restaurants to shift their calculus. As one example, energy efficient investments like a smart thermostat or shutting down idle equipment might offer a more immediate and noticeable financial payment, particularly in older buildings. In contrast, water savings might not appear as robust off the bat. Rather than looking at each utility individually, he suggests “bundling projects together” to see the bigger ROI picture.

Then, he recommends using savings in one area to fuel additional investments, thereby allowing today’s sustainability to feed tomorrow’s gains.

“Create a revolving loan fund,” Prigge says. “Put the savings from one sustainable project with immediate payback in there and then reinvest it elsewhere down the line, so your sustainability continues to grow.”

DANIEL P. SMITH Chicago-based writer has covered business issues and best practices for a variety of trade publications, newspapers, and magazines.