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November saw Carbon Free Dining, hold their inaugural awards ceremony at the Houses of Parliament. The awards were hosted by none other than our supporter and Carbon Free Dining partner, Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL.
The last twelve months have seen Carbon Free Dining and their restaurant partners plant ¼ million life transforming fruit trees (along with tools, education and infrastructure) for the aid-reliant, communities of the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. With a commitment to plant a further ½ million trees in the next twelve months, our partners should all be very proud of what they and their diners have helped achieve.
There were ten award categories presented by Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL, and the winners are below:
Best use of social media
V-Rev Vegan Diner in Manchester was Carbon Free Dining’s first Vegan partner. V-Rev and their diners love the initiative and have planted close to 30,000 trees. Dom, the owner at V-Rev thinks every restaurant should be a Carbon Free Dining partner. V-Rev and their diners are very active on social media, and their quirky and colourful social media posts have a huge following.
Most generous diners
Little Viet Kitchen and their chef-owner Thuy Pham Kelly are no strangers to the limelight, with an award-winning cookbook and some amazing coverage in the national press. Thuy is very active promoting her brand and on the back of this, her Islington restaurant have gone from strength to strength, they and their awesome diners have been planting trees and changing the lives of communities in poverty since 2017.
Most consistent performer
Six restaurant in Brighton was Carbon Free Dining's first restaurant partner in the city, and since launching, the diners at Six have consistently donated trees to help change the world. Every day without fail, the diners at Six plant hundreds of trees to counterbalance the CO2 impact and food waste of the food which they eat and help end poverty. Six owner Fabio Lauro has a number of restaurants in Brighton, Carbon Free Dining already work with Zafferelli and hopefully soon will be working with Fabio's new acquisition, Food for Friends
Best promotional video
Greg Marchand at Frenchie Covent Garden loved the idea of giving back to the planet by empowering his diners to plant trees. He believes, quite rightly, that trees are the lungs of the Earth and without them, we would all struggle to exist. The promotional video for Frenchie has fantastic interviews with the Front of House team and unique insights into Greg’s drives, beliefs and views on hospitality. Greg travelled especially from France to help with the filming and we hope soon that we can work with Greg in his locations in Paris.
Hospitality Thought Leader of the year
Joining Carbon Free Dining through the Hospitality Thought Leader Programme, Paul Newman has a wealth of experience in the hospitality industry and consistently produces fantastic articles on a whole host of industry related topics to help provide support for Carbon Free Dining partners and the Hospitality Thought Leader readership. Paul is also a staunch champion of what we do and has already brought a new and unique partner to our story that will be revealed in 2019.
Most Trees at a Single location in 2018
Since March 2018, Zouk and their diners have consistently planted the most trees each month for a single location of any Carbon Free Dining Certified partner restaurants and their current total for trees planted stands over 31,000 trees! Tayub Amjad the owner at Zouk loved Carbon Free Dining and saw the benefits to his business and to the planet after a meal at fellow Carbon Free Dining award winner, V-Rev Vegan Diner.
Most trees by an international partner
Cofoco Restaurant Group were Carbon Free Dining’s first Danish restaurant partners. Cofoco has already planted 20,000 trees in their first two months and has committed to planting 30,000 trees through their Julefrokost Christmas meal delivery service.They will also empowering diners to plant trees within their Cofoco restaurant group in Copenhagen, with the aim to plant another 100,000 trees a year.
Most Trees Planted in 2018
Rossopomodoro and their UK diners have planted close to 70,000 life-changing fruit trees in Tanzania, having a significant impact on the ¼ of a million trees Carbon Free Dining have recently planted. Their CEO Daniele Di Martino was a man of action when it came to launching Carbon Free Dining in the UK and only a couple of weeks after hearing about it, all nine UK locations started changing the world on the same day! Now launched in Denmark, Rossopomodoro is steadily increasing their positive impact on the planet and helping create a sustainable future for aid-reliant communities now and for future generations.
Special Recognition Award
Carbon Free Dining’s final award was a ‘Special Recognition Award’ which went to Lightspeed Restaurant Point of Sale. The industry-first partnership between Carbon Free Dining and Lightspeed has and will continue to change the face of hospitality as people realise there truly is a better way to dine! By providing their award-winning restaurant software at no cost to the restaurant for any qualifying Carbon Free Dining partner, Lightspeed is doing something special to help the environment and some of the world’s poorest communities.
