STUDY: Most Consumers Want Transparency about Sustainable Business Practices

Sustainability matters to today's consumer.  Two out of three (66%) feel it’s important that restaurants are open about their practices to limit food waste. That's according to a survey of 7,000 global consumers about eco-friendly takeaway and delivery options commissioned by Deliverect and conducted by Censuswide.

This new research finds 43% of consumers are willing to pay more to support sustainable restaurant practices while 65% of survey respondents said they find healthy, sustainable eating to be more expensive. Another 47% would even consider changing what they order from the menu to be more sustainable. Some restaurants are already catching on: in fact, 50% of survey respondents already think there are ample sustainable and affordable options in food delivery/takeaways. 

Transparency Matters

Over half (56%) of respondents would like restaurants to better share how they are working to make takeaways/deliveries more sustainable. 56% also don’t think restaurants are very transparent about their sustainability practices. 66% feel it’s important that restaurants are open about their practices to limit food waste.

Reducing Food Waste 

The UN Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index reports more than 900 million tons of food is thrown away each year - and it’s on consumer radars. The survey revealed that while 67% of consumers usually keep larger than necessary food portions for another meal (leftover), over half (51%) say seeing large amounts of food waste frustrates them and puts them off from ordering from that restaurant again. 

Even more so, 73% said that having accurate portion sizes to avoid food waste is important to them, and 68% feel takeaway restaurants should have precautions in place to avoid unnecessary food waste. Not surprisingly, 82% of respondents said it was important restaurants get the right delivery or takeaway food order to avoid food waste. 

Sustainable Packaging 

With so many packaging options out there, one thing is certain: consumers are on the lookout for restaurants using sustainable materials. It even impacts where they choose to order from, with the study finding: 

• 54% of consumers would prefer to order from restaurants that remove excess packaging from the food delivery 
• Over half (56%) would also show preference to a restaurant that uses eco-friendly packaging and doesn’t use single-use plastic 
• 63% of consumers believe having sustainable packaging (plant-based/non-plastic/compostable) is important to them

Outback Steakhouse's Operating Director, Mike Palmer, adds: "Deliverect has helped us to focus on what is important to us and our customers, how we cook our food and how we sustainably package it.  We are receiving the order tickets faster and therefore not making any order mistakes which results in less food wastage. By allowing us to group delivery platforms, we can be much more efficient with deliveries and have seen a 20% time savings and we’re able to get the food out probably two to three times quicker than we were previously.”