How restaurants can join Locavore movement

Previously, we explored what Locavore movement was and why it has become such an impactful trend. It’s a growing movement supporting sustainability as it consists of eating food produced within a distance of less than 150 kilometres and, therefore, reducing pollution and promoting organic natural resources. This trend is more and more important for consumers. Therefore, restaurants joining this movement gain a differential trait positioning in the mind of their diners as a sustainable place to eat. Do you want to know more about how your restaurant can become more Locavore? Just follow the guide.

How to become a Locavore restaurant?

🔎 Examine how your restaurant works and which suppliers you are working with

First of all, it is very important to analyse your restaurant regarding the ingredients and furniture you use and ask yourself the following questions: Where do they come from? What are the ingredients that are listed on the label? Did I buy them in a supermarket or a local organic store? Could I buy them from another local supplier? After this, you will be able to have an overview of how many changes you will need to make in order to embrace locavorism in your restaurant.  

🗺️ Use local products from a radius of 150km

As mentioned above, locavore trend means buying, cooking and eating food and products of proximity. After analysing the ingredients & furniture of your restaurant, you will need to categorise them according to the possibility of buying them closer than you normally would. The next step will involve a market research on potential local food suppliers of these products. Local and nearby farmer markets are one of the easiest and most accessible points where you can start looking for products such as eggs, milk, cheese or vegetables. Of course, there will be some ingredients that will be difficult to replace at first time but, don’t worry. Remember that getting started is already a huge step.

🍅Seasonal and organic 

Seasonal fruits and vegetables will be your best allies to create the perfect locavore menu.  Sustainability is one of the main traits of locavore cuisine and you will achieve that by shortening food circuits. Cucumbers and tomatoes in summer, asparagus in spring, brussels sprouts in winter or butternut squash in autumn are some of the ingredients that you can incorporate into your menu according to its season. Apart from increasing sustainability, your dinners will also benefit from best quality ingredients and flavours on your dishes. 

🤝Establish a network

During the process of investigating which are the different main local producers around your area, you will start the creation of a network. It is very important to plan ahead and consider that it will take time until you can implement the changes in your restaurant. Therefore, you will have enough time to do a deep research around the process of production of the different markets and choose the best and most organic ones. After that, it is important to nurture the communication with these providers to build a solid and fluent relationship that can bring you multiple benefits over time.  

📃 Shorten your menu 

Shortening your menu is one of the changes you should consider while joining the locavore movement and which will bring you two many advantages. Think about it: the larger the menu, the more ingredients you will need to create the dishes which means a higher risk of food waste in case of not eating them. On the other hand, it will lead to a reduction of costs from which it will benefit. Nowadays, people want simplified things and be able to customise their dishes. Moreover, the shorter the menu, the easier it will be for your dinners to remember why they like your restaurant and why is the main point of difference from the others. 

💬 Inform your clients 

Now that your restaurant is a Locavore dining place, it’s time to tell your dinners about it. Information will be very important to keep a fluent and updated communication with them. Let them know the change of characteristics of your menu through different channels: use your social media, email marketing and the staff of the restaurant itself. Social media will allow you as well to create regular content with different updates on your menu and the change of ingredients and dishes. Moreover, it will give your restaurant a sustainable reputation that will transform into more popularity within your dinners and the industry.

After all these tips, you should be ready to join with your restaurant the locavore movement and dining. Bear in mind that it is something that will require time but don’t worry, you have all the tools to make it happen and be part of a trend which will be good both for the environment, your restaurant and your diners.