Over 30% of all produced food in the world ends up in the trash. The most food waste is generated on a household level with food services coming in second place. In Finland, the restaurant industry produces 75-85 million kilograms of food waste per year, of which the majority is the result of buffets and simply too much food being prepared. Depending on the type of restaurant, typically 4-8 percent of the food on a customer’s plate ends up as food waste. Finland is committed to UN’s sustainable development goals which include the halving of food waste by the year 2030. We have accepted this challenge!
The environment, sustainable development and being eco-friendly and ethical are matters of heart for us at Sushibar+Wine. We are the first sushi restaurant in Finland and in Norway that has been granted the highly respected ASC/MSC Chain of Custody and in Finland the EcoCompass -sustainability certificates. We are also the very first carbon-neutral sushi restaurant in Nordic countries. We are also proud of our cooperation with WWF. We want to do our part in reducing the strain on our environment and help our customers do the same by providing better, more environmentally friendly alternatives. That is why we have made environmental issues an integral part of our company culture. Our green values are visible in our everyday work and we strive to continuously develop and become even more environmentally positive.
Responsible fish choices and cooperation with WWF Finland
We are the first sushi restaurant in Finland and in Norway that has been granted the highly respected ASC/MSC Chain of Custody. Our main ingredients have been mostly chosen according to WWF’s fish guide of fish and seafood that have been marked as green to signal sustainability. We use, for example, ASC certified crabs and MSC certified tuna. Also, as the first sushi restaurant in Finland, we offer the ASC certified salmon from WWF’s green list! Because the availability of the ASC salmon remains limited, it is delivered to us on four days during the week. We are working actively with our local fish suppliers to ensure that we will be able to offer the green-listed salmon during the remainder of the week! We have also created our own fish guide to make green decisions easier for our customers. You can find our fish guide at the following address: www.sushibarwine.com/kalaopas www.sushibarwine.com/fish-guide
In cooperation with WWF Finland and Norway, we have planned the New Nordic -set, from which a portion of the sales revenue is directed to WWF and the protection of the Baltic Sea and sea life.
The very first carbon-neutral sushi restaurant in the Nordic countries
Not many know that sushi and sustainability seldom fit in the same sentence. We are proudly the first carbon-neutral sushi restaurant in the Nordic countries! We compensate our emission through South Pole. South Pole is a leading global climate solutions provider who enables corporations, capital markets and the public sector to mitigate risks and create value for their sustainability journey. More about South Pole here.
“It’s tricky for restaurants to achieve a carbon-neutral value chain because of the limited power they have over their suppliers. We need change across the entire food and agriculture sector. Sushibar+Wine is showing how restaurants can take climate action, right now. First, they became the first sushi restaurant in Finland and Norway to be granted the highly respected ASC/MSC Chain of Custody certificate. Now they went one step further, becoming 100% carbon-neutral. We hope many more will follow this shining initiative of climate action,” says Anna Lemström, Business Dev. Manager at South Pole, a leading global sustainability solutions provider.
Our emissions for the year 2020 are compensated via participation in a forest conservation project in Isangi, Congo, protecting one of the Earth’s most biodiverse rainforest from deforestation.
Food Waste
We produce every dish and plate of food with our own hands and made to order, which is why the amount of food waste, especially from our customers’ plates, is very small. Only the waste that is the result of food preparation ends up in biodegradable waste. We strive to continuously improve and come up with dishes in order to reduce the amount of food waste even further. Our super popular Shake supreme -nigiri, for example, was born through this principle. In our nigiri, we use the fatty part of salmon, which in the past was left unused and was discarded during food preparation. Raw ingredients are delivered to us daily to ensure that we can use everything as accurately as possible instead of having ingredients wasted due to larger, more inaccurate orders.
Reducing plate waste, meaning food that is left over from the customer, is both the customer’s and the staff’s responsibility. Our staff aids the customer in choosing the correct size or portion. However, if you overestimate your hunger or the amount of food you eat, you can take the remainder of your food with you free of charge.
Domestic partners
We work together with Nordic interior designers. The furniture we have used since opening is Artek’s timeless Aalto-series. We repair and refurbish our furniture regularly, making them last from year to year. Our tableware is mostly from Marimekko and woodworker and designer Tebian.
We want to support local entrepreneurs and artists, which is why each of our restaurants showcases unique art from up and coming artists. For example, at Sushibar + Wine City, we have worked with photography students from Aalto-University since opening. For our Sushibar + Wine in Kallio, we have received artworks from two amazing artists, Linda Linko and Tuukka Tammisaari.
Organic and environmentally friendly choices
For our wine selection we have chosen organic wines from small producers. We work in continuous cooperation with our importer Viinitie when planning our selection. The wines we offer have been produced organically, although not all our producers have the organic certificate. In addition to wines, most of our drink selection is organic. For years we have provided customer’s the option of replacing cow’s milk with plant-based oat milk without additional cost. It has been a great delight to notice that the consumption of oat milk has now surpassed cow’s milk in our restaurants.
In addition, in our take-away deliveries we use FSC certified cardboard, which has a coating and window that are biodegradable. The take-away box is recycled as cardboard.
We are also gradually transitioning to the use of energy-saving led lights. In addition, in all our restaurants in which we manage the electricity contracts, we use environmentally friendly electricity generated through wind power. When possible, we also strive to use environmentally friendly cleaning agents. For example, we use the Bioflow drain cleaner, which is entirely eco-friendly. We avoid any use of toxic chemicals while keeping a very high standard of hygiene.
EcoCompass -certificate
“Sushibar + Wine considers environmental issues comprehensively in its operations and the staff are highly trained. Their environmental goals are concrete and their motivation for continuous improvement is evident.” – Visia Cooperative, auditor of the EcoCompass.
Sushibar + Wine restaurants have been rewarded the EcoCompass certificate on 29.10.2019! We pledge to continuously improve our work for the environment and operate according the criteria of the EcoCompass. Read more about the EcoCompass here: https://ekokompassi.fi/en/
