What do sustainable restaurants come equipped with? What comes to mind when you consider sustainable technology for your restaurant?

You might think of the local pancake house sporting solar panels. It's also natural to imagine the plant-based burger chain that advertises its low carbon footprint. Another restaurant might use only recyclable or compostable packaging. Others have gone almost entirely to zero-waste. But, remember going vegan or switching to paper straws aren't the only options for improving restaurant sustainability.

As the restaurant industry becomes more digitized, a single technology for becoming more environmental shines: integrated online ordering solutions. Online ordering for restaurants exists at the intersection of eco-friendliness and revenue. Many of its features bring a long-term return on investment.

With text-to-order and digital menu ordering, many restaurants are conserving resources like food, paper, and fuel. If you're looking for a way to make your restaurant more sustainable and sales-ready, get to know sustainability in restaurants here.

Key Takeaway: Using sustainable technology helps restaurants grow by reducing food waste, cutting costs, and leveraging customer preferences.

The Importance of Sustainable Technology in Restaurants

As almost half (40%) of all food goes to waste in the US, it's no surprise that sustainability technology has emerged to help. When you factor in the 83% of inventory that turns into trashed food waste each year, even customers start to worry. The importance of sustainability in restaurants is just that interest: worrisome waste.

Unsustainable practices among restaurants cost an estimated $25 billion annually. This means that every dollar spent on cost-saving measures, reducing resource use, and improving restaurant "ecology" is a wise investment in preventing hidden expenses that erode your brand's revenue. This can be a smart restaurant KPI to mind in addition to customer retention or customer acquisition rates.

In addition to using environmentally-friendly strategies, incorporating sustainable technology designed for restaurants can help lower your carbon footprint and make your business more eco-friendly. An online ordering platform for restaurants is a simple example of how to create more sustainable sales and brand impressions.

Sustainable Technology Options for Online Ordering

Sustainable technology reduces waste while maintaining efficiency. Paper waste and food waste are just two of the many areas of restaurant operations whose volume can be managed and reduced with the help of restaurant technology solutions. 

Revolution Ordering integrates with your POS systems, CRM and loyalty programs to power performance while improving operations and optimizing profits.

Food Waste-Saving Features

Agriculture for animal feed is a major cause of our current climate crisis. By using less wasteful inventory at your restaurant, you can significantly reduce your emissions without having to pare down your menu–or complicating your menu management.

Instead, you can substitute healthier, greener ingredients that will attract customers who prioritize their health and the wellness of the planet. By adopting these sustainable practices, you can confidently make a positive impact on the environment while still providing delicious options for your customers.

In addition to being good for the environment, reducing food waste can lower your inventory costs. To do this, you can use restaurant online ordering platforms with food costing software features. Food costing can help you anticipate where your most wasteful recipes exist, helping you to optimize menus.

Efficiency-Boosting Integrations

There is more to environmental friendliness than the restaurant equipment we use. Restaurant food waste, unexpected loss, and fuel costs may all stem from a source of inefficiency. But, when you choose software that integrates POS platforms and restaurant CRM software, for example, you can make efficiency easier on your team.

When restaurant staff make fewer mistakes and produce more volume in a shorter time, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start the revolution in operational efficiency sooner. Our software will support you with app integrations, custom automations, and forthcoming business intelligence metrics.

Emission-Cutting Deliveries

Restaurant online ordering systems help chains with multiple locations assign and route orders for maximum satisfaction and minimal mileage. Use our online ordering software to channel orders to multi-location restaurants based on demand and location.

Software automates the process of assigning, order tracking, and delivering as well as scheduling prep. In that sense, you make the process of becoming an efficient, environmental brand as seamless as possible: it runs on hands-free cloud technology.

Benefits of More Sustainable Technologies to Restaurants

Online ordering is not just a buzzword anymore: it can revolutionize your restaurant. More than 70% of customers prefer to order directly from a restaurant. Beyond that, taking your own orders (rather than relying on third-party apps) can save you 10% to 30% on average.

By using sustainable technology, such as online ordering integration, you can gain a vital strategy with real benefits in the food industry. Dive in to see how this can give you an edge in our competitive market.

Improved Brand Image

Using online ordering solutions shows that you are modern, innovative, and environmentally conscious as a brand. This could take the form of reducing paper waste by transitioning from physical to digital menus. It also leads to better customer impressions of your restaurant’s operations.

Make sure your technology works well with your current systems and automates tasks to provide faster, smooth service. Restaurant automation will improve your brand's reputation and help attract tech-savvy customers who value sustainability.

Greater Market Appeal

The customer today likes technology, cares about the environment, and prefers businesses that share their values. You can grab these customers’ attention by promoting their ability to use online ordering for restaurants.

For people who embrace technology and care about the environment, imagine a restaurant that puts locally grown, seasonal food on their online menu. This shows them very quickly that they care about the environment and conscious food choices.

Use customer data to see what they want—and then, deliver on it. The data from online ordering software integrated with your systems will make your business more attractive to young, aware audiences.

Increased Restaurant Sales

Integrating an online ordering system brings convenience to your customers and can speed up the ordering process. When you serve more customers faster, this can ultimately help you make more money.

For example, if you can predict ordering in your restaurant, you can avoid wasting food and save money on restaurant inventory management. This is just one way that automation can make your business better. By also looking at patterns and trends in your data, you can make better decisions that can make your business more profitable.

In short, automated ordering systems can help you run the restaurant while working to bring insight and increase restaurant sales.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sustainable Technology

As a restaurant owner, you should know sustainability is good for the planet, and your bottom line. Sustainable technology for restaurants can help you reduce costs, increase efficiency, and attract eco-conscious customers.

We’ve answered the most common questions about sustainable technology for restaurants. Use them to make informed decisions about how to integrate sustainable technology and reap rewards for your restaurant.

What is sustainable technology for restaurants?

Sustainable technology for restaurants means using tools, applications, and devices that are eco-friendly. These tools help to reduce waste, conserve energy, decrease environmental impact, and improve restaurant operations.

What is sustainable food tech?

Sustainable food tech includes all the software and hardware tools that allow restaurants to protect the planet as they produce profits.

Serving customers with convenience as well as conscious choices, restaurants use tools like inventory costing software, menu management tools, and online ordering software to go green.

What is an example of sustainable technology?

Sustainable technology includes solar technology, clean energy, and biodegradable design, among many more. For example, solar panels can be installed on a business to generate electricity, and electric cars offer a cleaner deliveries than gas-powered vehicles.

Some restaurants also use biodegradable materials to add sustainably packaged orders to their responsible, "green" edge.

How can restaurants measure sustainability?

Restaurants can measure sustainability by monitoring water usage, energy usage, food waste, and non-food waste. Reducing all of these will help a restaurant be more sustainable. Sourcing foods locally, serving plant-based milks, and offering healthier gluten-free menus also helps to build a sustainable menu for your restaurant.