Suppliers offer a market view of green initiative products.

"More and more, restaurants are asking distributors about environmentally friendly products. People want to go green and do their part, but haven't had a good avenue to do it and there haven't been many solutions on the market..."
Greg Wilcox

At the moment, it's fashionable for a restaurant to "go green." Some do so responding to customer requests and others are just doing their part to help save the environment. Last month we spoke to restaurants where "green" practices run the gamut from recycling grease for biodiesel fuel, to composting, to utilizing more energy efficient power sources. This month we set our sights on suppliers that offer products used in the restaurant industry and where they see the market demand - and at what cost.

Hoffmaster, a converter of paper tabletop disposables, has recently launched the Earth Wise line of paper napkins made of 100% recycled paper products, with no less than 65% post consumer waste - typically, the higher percentage of post-consumer recycled product, the better. "It costs more to procure, manufacture and convert these environmentally friendly products," said Mike O'Neil, vice president of sales. "Thus far we've seen a willingness by our customer base to pay a little bit more for them." The plain white napkins are made with a non-chlorinated process and have the 100% recycled paper product seal printed on the back of the napkin.

The four products in the line include 2-ply beverage napkins, 2-ply dinner napkins, 2-ply guest towels and a dispenser grade napkin that you'd see in a fast food environment. One challenge O'Neil described is educating distributor sales people and their customers on selecting the proper quality, ply and size of napkin for their needs, explaining that operators could significantly reduce their usage, waste and cost to serve if they purchased the right product on the front end instead of opting for the "low" price napkins.

"I think this is just the beginning of the green initiative. Every product that goes into the foodservice arena will be scrutinized. It's going to be a big factor in how operators and distributors select what they use for their restaurants," he added.

"More and more, restaurants are asking distributors about environmentally friendly products. People want to go green and do their part, but haven't had a good avenue to do it and there haven't been many solutions on the market," said Greg Wilcox, executive vice president of sales and marketing of General Distribution Imports. The company's BridgeGate line of sugarcane-based products are 100% biodegradable and will degrade in 45 to 60 days. The line of plates, to-go hinged containers and cup carriers are microwavable, freezer safe and grease and water resistant.

When sugarcane stalks are crushed, what comes out is the bagasse, which is then used for these products. Wilcox explained that sugarcane is a highly renewable resource. Once the fields are harvested, they're replanted and grow back in less than a year. Though these will cost a little bit more than typical foam, he noted that customers are willing to pay for it and do their part.

"Biodegradable products have been out there for many years, but either the material had some limitations or it was cost prohibitive," he said. "We expect that we'll have significant business growth over the next few years as the word gets out."

Many restaurants are swapping out their incandescent lightbulbs for energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs that provide similar light output, save 75% of electricity and last four times as long. "They've come down in price where they're no longer exorbitant to replace incandescent bulbs," said Paul Greenberg, director of specialty markets for lighting manufacturer Havells SLI. It may cost a restaurant more upfront to change over, but they won't be replacing bulbs nearly as often. Compact fluorescents also burn very cool which won't drive up air conditioning costs. He noted that while they're already available in various shapes like globes, helixes, reflectors for high hats and even dimmers, more options will become available as time goes on.

Properly recycling the used compact fluorescent bulbs is extremely important, as they contain mercury inside the tubes, and can't be thrown in the trash. Greenberg explained that there are now companies throughout the country that will recycle these bulbs by taking off the metal end caps and sending a vortex of air through the tube to clean it out, then recycling the metal and glass components and appropriately disposing of the mercury.

The prices of green products can be an issue for some restaurants. Jim Chisholm, president and partner of Benchmark Sales, a sales and marketing agency for the foodservice industry, said, "What's happening now is that everyone would love to do it, but in some instances it's not possible to do and in other instances it's not cost effective to do." He noted that it's not just an environmental question, but an economical question as well. "Each individual restaurant has to weigh the economical options before they can go green. They're running a business, and most of them are not big businesses, so if they increase disposable costs by 20% to 30%, they need to take that into consideration." He also agreed that increasing demand in the future will bring more import options and better prices.

Though price can be an issue, the clientele at many restaurants are willing to pay for items they know are organic or raised in environmentally friendly programs. Jeffrey Savage, executive chef at On the March in Kennebunk, Maine, recently had a couple planning their wedding reception there that wanted shrimp cocktail. He explained that he doesn't buy frozen shrimp since the flavor and texture isn't desirable and the shrimp are harvested in Thailand where it destroys miles of coastline each year. Fresh Florida shrimp could be overnighted to Maine at a premium, but the flavor and texture are worth it, he said. At almost $5 per shrimp, the couple decided they wanted the fresh shrimp and spent nearly $1,200 for 275 of them. Savage spends a good deal of time training the servers, who impart that knowledge on the clientele, which in turn makes them willing to try new things and pay a little bit more for a superior product. "You can't just throw out a big figure and tell people to ‘trust me because I said so.' You have to educate them to why it's good and what the difference is. Then they'll keep coming back for that product."

"There are obviously some limitations on what you can do to go green and you have to pick and choose your battles." While it would be ideal to launder their tablecloths themselves and not employ a linen company that uses bleach in the cleaning process, the volume of the restaurant doesn't allow for that. Instead, they're starting a garden at the restaurant and will continue to pickle and preserve local fruits and vegetables when they're abundant for use throughout the year.

Going green in any capacity isn't out the realm for most restaurants, and each month brings more products to the foodservice market. "In order to go green, it takes a lot of energy," said Benchmark's Chisholm. "It's getting less expensive to do it, but you have to find products that really work in the application that it needs to."