Low carbon is on the menu at launch of Otarian restaurant

The first global restaurant chain to carbon footprint every menu item to international standards has opened its doors in London. Vegetarian restaurant Otarian opened two locations this month (August) in Shaftesbury Avenue and Wardour Street following the opening of two restaurants in New York earlier this year. The carbon footprints of each menu item were measured by carbon reduction company Sustain and they appear alongside the footprint of a comparable meat dish. Working with food sustainability consultancy Eat England, Sustain carried out comprehensive ‘cradle to grave’ carbon footprinting, which calculates greenhouse gas emissions from each stage of the products’ lifecycles. This includes sourcing the raw materials for each ingredient, manufacturing, packing, transporting, cooking and disposal of the product. The calculations were performed according to PAS 2050 – the UK Government’s widely accepted carbon footprint specification. Jean-Yves Cherruault, environmental accounting manager at Sustain, said: “It’s a privilege to be involved in such a pioneering project and, judging from the success of the New York restaurants, the footprint is really helping customers get a better understanding of the environmental impact of each dish. It will be interesting to monitor how this impacts customers’ choices in the coming months.”