Eurest’s Plant-Forward Strategy Leads the Way to a Healthier Future
By Suzanne Landry, Vice President of Wellness and Sustainability
Eurest is elevating a plant-forward menu strategy to positively impact environmental goals and meet consumer demands for wellness in the workplace. A Spring 2023 E15 insights report on return-to-office preferences found that “healthier offerings” was the second leading motivator for office and trade workers to dine at work. Dataessential’s 2023 Plant-Forward Opportunity Report also found that health is the driving factor in consumer selection of plant-forward or plant-based foods.
WHAT IS PLANT FORWARD
Plant-forward is a style of cooking and eating that emphasizes and celebrates plant-based foods: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts, seeds, plant oils, herbs and spices. Eurest’s wellness and sustainability platform, Food with Purpose, incorporates a plant-forward seasonal menu strategy that includes daily menus that target 50% plant-forward offerings.
THE STRATEGY
Eurest don’t segment plant-forward eating from the rest of our culinary programming; it’s integrated into our menus, core brands and rotating concepts, grab-and-go and retail offerings, coffee bars and catering services.
We have updated and added over 400 vegetarian, vegan and plant centric recipes to make room for taste tantalizing recipes built from the ground up – literally. An example is our Street Eats: Plant-Forward edition which celebrates popular street food styles and trends with a plants-at-center-plate twist. Eurest’s Inspired Kitchen promotions feature plant-forward, functional ingredients and low food waste recipes. We have also developed comprehensive training on plant-forward principles to make plants an exciting part of our menu.
THE RESULTS
Eurest has partnered with an electric car manufacturer client to contribute to its net zero emissions commitment and align with its company values. Part of that work includes incorporating plant-forward recipes at its corporate cafes where 59% of entrees now feature plant-forward ingredients. As a result, red meat purchases have seen a 52% reduction and positively impacting the client’s carbon footprint as a by-product.
A client team for a major financial institution increased its plant-forward menu offerings and leveraged our proprietary tool, Carbon Foodprint, to track its impact, the culinary team got creative, focusing on plant-based recipes, incorporating meat alternatives, and increasing fruits and vegetables. And guess what? In just six months, those cafes saw carbon emissions drop by 11%. That’s equivalent to planting 370 trees!
This strategy embodies the exciting blend of sustainability, creativity, and teamwork. It’s a living testament that a future enriched by plant-forward ingredients and recipes isn’t only full of delicious meals—it’s also helping us on our mission to build a better future for all.