We like green things at Peach and thankfully there are many other businesses out there who do too.
Here’s our top three mantras to making the planet’s life a little peachier:
- Say no to food waste
The number 1 culprit in the hospitality industry. A total of 3,415,000 tonnes of waste is disposed of in the food sector every year and a whopping 41 per cent of the waste from pubs, restaurants and hotels is food waste.
So, what can we do?
Our team of talented chefs endeavour to use as much of each ingredient as possible to avoid food waste. Not only is it about respect for an ingredient but it pushes creativity in our kitchens. Any leftovers are reused if possible into delicious soups, stocks, sauces, puds and breadcrumbs.
We recycle unavoidable food waste – this year 295.68 tonnes – and it is disposed of within Anaerobic Digestion which processes food waste into methane to create energy for the national grid.
- Go local and seasonal
We put a lot of time and energy into finding like-minded farmers and suppliers who work exceptionally hard to produce something delicious to eat. We start as local as possible to keep our food miles and therefore carbon emissions as low as possible. In Thame, we use Bucksum for our salad produce who live just down the road from two of our pubs and in Oxford, we use local Worton Organics veg box scheme. We choose our suppliers based on their produce but also on their ethics which means we know they are always looking to do their best by the planet too.
At Peach, we like to eat with our four glorious seasons. Take asparagus – a celebration of Spring and is best eaten only during its relatively short season. Peruvian asparagus is available in the supermarket all year-round but where’s the fun in that? Waiting for the seasons will reward your taste-buds. And with Brexit looming in the background threatening to drive up food prices, it is certainly time to embrace everything British – wonky-shaped stuff included.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle
By reducing waste, reusing containers, and recycling materials, we can make huge strides when it comes to sustainability. Here are just a few of things we do at Peach for the 3Rs:
- Recycle wood boxes, glass bottles and cardboard
- Exchange plastic and styrofoam materials for reusable cups and recyclable containers
- Eliminate single-use plastic from our bars
In 2018 we saved 847 tonnes of carbon through recycling – equivalent to driving from London to Edinburgh 9516 times!
Together, we can and are making a difference.