The food and beverage industry is a major consumer of energy and water and produces significant quantities of waste. Managing energy, waste and water is key for operational efficiency, not to mention cost savings. The goal of this assignment is to improve your understanding of an organizations’ environmental footprint and to generate recommendations for change as supported by the business case for sustainability. You may complete the case study in groups of two – three people.
Grand River restaurant, located in Cambridge, ON is a medium sized, family owned and operated restaurant. Established in 1987, Grand River aims to provide a family friendly atmosphere and quality food at a reasonable price.
Over the past few years, Grand River has been experiencing declining sales as a number of newer establishments have opened their doors. In order to remain operational, Grand River is looking to lower operational expenses. To get started, they are interested in targeting the “big three metrics”: waste, water and energy.
In preparation, the owners begin by collecting relevant data for each metric. The restaurant has a contract with a local waste hauler for their waste and recyclables, a contract that can’t be broken; however, the owners note that staff is not very good at separating waste. In fact, a recent audit showed that only 40 percent of waste was diverted from the landfill.
The owners compiled their energy (natural gas and electricity) bills along with their water bills; however, they are unsure what to make of the data. Below, please find a summary of the utility bills from 2017.
| Grand River Restaurant | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | Natural Gas ($) | | Electricity ($) | | Water ($) |
| January (2017) | 1557.13 | | 2256.89 | | 803.52 |
| February | | 1504.87 | | 1956.08 | | 909.78 |
| March | | 1877.13 | | 1789.32 | | 879.78 |
| April | | 1170.36 | | 2987.15 | | 1194.33 |
| May | | 757.12 | | 2680.98 | | 1115.1 |
| June | | 735.4 | | 3140.67 | | 1131.34 |
| July | | 831.99 | | 3450.56 | | 631.17 |
| August | | 564.53 | | 3265.76 | | 785.18 |
| September | 547.2 | | 2470.76 | | 745.78 |
| October | | 890.5 | | 2356.8 | | 689.82 |
| November | 1156.67 | | 2560.52 | | 718.45 |
| December (2017) | 1387.9 | | 2156.89 | | 714.6 |
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| 1.0 Introduction | · Provide a brief overview of the food and beverage industry and how it contributes to unsustainability
· Identify current and potential social, environmental and economic impacts that may impact “business-as-usual” operations within the organization (be thorough!) and how further deepening a sustainable approach to business may mitigate risks and capitalize on opportunities (organize as a SWOT analysis) |
| 2.0 Baseline | - Convert raw data into baseline assessments for each metric: water and energy
- Provide meaningful analysis for each metric – simply discuss what the data shows (this is not where recommendations go!)
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| 3.0 Benchmark | - To build on and strengthen your analysis, examine other restaurants’ sustainability efforts (each group member will be responsible for benchmarking one restaurant) – this will provide a (process) benchmark of industry-relevant sustainability efforts. Be sure that each organization is unique but similar to the organization that you have selected. Each group member should produce a one page report (~400 words) that clearly and concisely summarizes current sustainability efforts at the selected organization. This report should be attached within the appendices section of your report and should be incorporated within your discussion of the business case for action, below.
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| 4.0 Business case for action | - Based on your findings, provide three distinct recommendations for each of waste, water and energy
- Each recommendations must be clearly supported by thorough analysis, including (where relevant) LCA, ROI, CBA, etc. (you must use each at least once within your analysis)
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| 5.0 Summary of key findings | - Based on your report, create a final summary based on key findings and acknowledge any areas for further study
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| Executive Summary | - Create an infographic (commonly used in sustainability reporting) in place of an executive summary that outlines key components of your report – get creative (you may wish to use a program such as Piktochart)
- Include the executive summary at the beginning of your report
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Your efforts should be communicated in a report totaling approximately 2500 words. Marks for style and overall presentation will be reflected within each section. You should draw from numerous reputable sources and provide proper citations/references in accordance with the APA style guide.
