Part 1 of our blog series with our certification, accreditations and memberships partners to help demystify their world and help both ethical businesses and consumers understand their value.

Our goal is to empower businesses to understand how these organisations can help evidence and communicate their commitments, practices and impact and to increase consumer understanding in how these organisations can help them trust business claims. Peeling back the curtain, we're striving for a new level of transparency in the certification, awards and memberships space. 

Who are we hearing from today? 

Jocelyn Doyle, Marketing & Communications Lead, The Sustainable Restaurant Association.

What is The Sustainable Restaurant Association’s mission?

Since 2010, The Sustainable Restaurant Association (The SRA) has set the Standard for sustainable food and drink businesses around the world. Our mission is to accelerate change towards a hospitality industry that is environmentally restorative and socially progressive. We do this through connecting likeminded businesses across the globe; through strategic partnerships (with organisations like The World’s 50 Best, the UK’s National Restaurant Awards, Beans is How, LIFE Climate Smart Chefs, San Pellegrino Young Chef and Flor de Caña, amongst many others); and through the only global sustainability certification tailored for the sector, Food Made Good.

The Food Made Good Standard is awarded to restaurants and other F&B businesses around the world that meet a set of rigorous, measurable criteria across three main focus areas: Sourcing, Society and Environment. The accreditation aims to encourage, support and recognise sustainability practices across the industry. Restaurants anywhere in the world can sign up. 

The Food Made Good Standard takes a big-picture, holistic view of what sustainability should mean for the hospitality industry. Undertaking this work means a restaurant is not only minimising food waste, carbon emissions or water use, but also implementing sustainable sourcing policies, designing menus that are good for both people and planet, treating staff with compassion and dignity, and getting involved in the local community. The Standard changes what it means to be a sustainable restaurant in the 21st century.

How does accreditation with The SRA help the success of a business? What support do you offer them?

The Food Made Good Standard is rooted in practical actions that foodservice businesses can take, providing clear direction, support and – ultimately – a respected, recognised third party certification that customers, staff and stakeholders can trust. We’ve been doing this since 2010 and can attest to the fact that doing the hard work of sustainability also brings very real business benefits, including reduced costs, wider profit margins, easier attraction, recruitment and retention processes, improved brand image and even more creativity in the kitchen.

There are lots of solutions out there, but the Food Made Good Standard is the only one specifically tailored to fit the needs of the F&B sector. Accreditations that can be applied to any industry and focus on big-stroke ESG goals often miss the nuances of hospitality. Restaurants are incredibly busy and operating within an intensely pressurised business environment; what they need is for those big, seemingly insurmountable missions to be broken down into tangible actions that they can fit into their day-to-day work. 

Every restaurant receives an individualised report upon completing the Standard. This report celebrates what the business is already doing well, highlights areas for improvement and – crucially – outlines practical next steps. Because the Standard is only valid for two years, this system is designed to guide food businesses in a process of continuous improvement.

For businesses interested in additional support, we also offer supported and facilitated packages, designed to streamline the process as much as possible, with our expert consultants guiding you every step of the way. We have an ever-expanding library of practical resources for businesses who have joined our network and we run regular, free-of-charge webinars where we talk restaurant operators through the process of undergoing the evaluation and answer any questions they may have. My Comms team is always eager to support in getting the word out, too – we love supporting our accredited businesses in shouting about their hard work.

How can a business become accredited with The SRA?  

First step is to sign up here! Our certification fees are calculated based on your company’s total revenue, and you can find pricing information here.You can then complete the assessment at your own pace, delegate questions to your team and manage your evidence, all within the online tool. The Standard is around 200 questions in length and is tailored to your business size and type. After you submit your assessment, our evaluators will get to work, checking your evidence and flagging any queries or additional information that we need. Once you’ve fed back on our comments, answering our questions and providing further evidence where needed, we’ll do a final check and then issue your final score and a personalised report containing suggested actions to help you go further. If you've scored 50% or higher. you'll also be awarded a logo with the number of stars you have achieved.

Why do you think ethical/sustainable business is important right now? 

It’s just no longer acceptable for any business to be operating in a bubble – the climate crisis is beyond urgent, and if we’re to stand a chance of turning things around, we need every industry on board. The hospitality industry is in a particularly powerful position, forming a critical link between the food system – which is responsible for a vast proportion of the climate and biodiversity crises – and the consumer. Restaurants hold huge influence over consumer diets, while also wielding enormous power to change the food system through their procurement decisions. We believe this industry can play a critical role in saving the planet.

Why did you want to work at The SRA? 

My career background and education are a (very fitting!) combination of hospitality, food and sustainability, including a degree in Hospitality Management and a Master’s in Food Culture & Communications; on-the-ground F&B experience; a decade of food writing, editing and publishing; and content creation for some of Ireland’s biggest food brands. Previously the Content Manager for a menu management and carbon tracking software company, I had been an unfortunate victim of the wave of tech layoffs in early 2023, and I was quite disillusioned and unsure of what to do next. I know myself, and I’m at my most motivated when I feel like I’m doing some good in the world, so I was determined for my next move to be something meaningful. 

One afternoon, I sat down and made a list of places where I would truly love to work – real dream jobs. The Sustainable Restaurant Association was at the top of that list. I screwed up my courage and emailed the Managing Director, Juliane Caillouette Noble, out of the blue, describing my skill set and asking her to keep me in mind for any relevant positions that might arise. She was literally in the middle of drawing up a job description to advertise for my role the very next day – a role that needed my exact combination of experience and skills. I don’t believe in fate, but it certainly felt ‘meant to be’.

Why did The SRA decide to partner with In Good Company? 

We love that In Good Company provides an easy way to connect customers with sustainable businesses. Hospitality businesses, in particular, are having am extremely tough time right now, so we’re big fans of any extra support for those who are making a conscious effort to do business the ‘right’ way, making sure that they’re doing good for both people and planet. Credible, evidence-based certification is also really important in an age of greenwashing, so it's reassuring to know that IGC’s listings are supported by accreditations like ours.

Do you have a favourite ‘good’ business? How did you find out about them? 

I live and work from Ireland, but one that I love here is Wicklow Wolf – a local brewery within walking distance of my house. Not only do they make exceptional beers, but they are dedicated to sustainability and transparency, and are consistently working to reduce their footprint. 

When I was last in London visting the rest of The SRA team, I was very impressed by The Buxton Hotel and Ozone Coffee – both Food Made Good accredited businesses that have an incredible food offering.

If you want to get the latest news, updates and good business recommendations straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.