The New Scene of Hong Kong Dining Green
Hong Kong dining value taste, quality and sustainability
Today’s diners want to know where their food comes from as well as how it tastes
Hong Kong dining on offer in eco-friendly eateries
Over the past several years, a new type of restaurant-goer has begun to transform Hong Kong dining landscape: foodies who value not only taste, quality, and ambience, but sustainability.
Sustainable produce, Photo courtesy of TREEHOUSE
The change has begun to affect restaurants from the luxury sector to fast food, but it began with a small number of higher-end trendsetters who were at the forefront.
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Peggy Chan, a plant-based chef who now operates Zero Foodprint Asia, was an early adopter. “I brought my own passion for sustainable consumption to my restaurant in Hong Kong, and it ran for eight years,” says Chan. “Now, as a consultant, I am starting to see more restaurants pick up on the ideas of sustainability and creating initiatives around it.”
Reviewing crops, Sustainable farms require attention to detail. Photo courtesy of Zero Foodprint Asia
Others saw it as part of a broader transition in consumer preferences. For Tony Higginbotham, Executive Chef at Le Meridien Hong Kong, Cyberport, the realisation came during an executive chef workshop focused on sustainability. “An external company analysed the trends, and showed that for guests throughout Greater China, where the fish comes from is now more important than how it’s cooked.”
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At the same time, corporates provide impetus for transparency about these topics at a large scale. Companies which have signed on to the internationally-recognised Science Based Targets Initiative – to establish Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions goals – know if a significant portion of their business derives from forest land and agriculture, they must report on this factor.
Sustainable restaurant kitchen, Preparation of vegan dishes to delight customers. Photo courtesy Zero Foodprint Asia
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, thirty-one per cent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions originate from the world’s agri-food systems, with food animals and livestock feed accounting for more than half of this.
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Advocates look to restaurants to bring awareness to consumers about this connection. Dr Loby Hau Cheuk Yu, Assistant Manager of Oceans Sustainability at WWF Hong Kong, says, “Food is a sustainable item people can really get into their personal lives, and restaurants are a main place where people eat in Hong Kong. Restaurants help to shape people’s consumption habits.”
Checking crop health, 80% of food emissions happen at the farm. Photo courtesy of Zero Foodprint Asia
The journey begins with menu design, particularly with reducing the proportion of meat dishes. Chan comments, “I’m not saying it has to be all plant-based food. You can shift your menu away from eighty per cent meat to a forty per cent composition, and you will already see major changes.”
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Chef Christian Mongrendre, founder of TREEHOUSE restaurant, agrees. “Our food is all plant-based and achieves a low carbon footprint.”
High-end meal has been transformed
Even the concept of what makes a high-end meal has already been transformed. According to Higginbotham, “Now we include vegetarian, vegan, and sustainable choices: it’s a big contrast with before, when a big, hearty piece of beef is what customers wanted from a luxury menu.”
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Under the Ocean Friendly Menu program, WWF Hong Kong works with restaurants like Le Meridien to design menus that include sustainable seafood.
Hong Kong seafood restaurants increasingly turn to WWF Hong Kong for sustainability guidance, Photo courtesy of WWFHK
In addition, a close examination of the supply chain forms the core of any restaurant’s sustainability program. Chan says, “Most of the emissions are derived before the farm gate: land use, fertilisation, and machinery, and the energy they use.”
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Lucia Loposova, Executive Director of Green Hospitality, is optimistic: “There is a big opportunity for restaurants to reduce their carbon footprint by doing responsible procurement.
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They can even contribute to regenerative solutions by supporting regenerative agriculture practices.” To do this, many restaurants have committed to donating one per cent of their bill to Zero Foodprint Asia, which supports 100 regenerative farms shifting away from fossil-based farming.
Sustainable farming practices avoid monoculture of a single crop, Photo courtesy of Zero Foodprint Asia
Other options include installing a mini–Smart Farm like those designed by Farmacy (a local Hong Kong start-up), where restaurants can grow microgreens and herbs onsite, such as rosemary, basil, and oxalis.
Eco-friendly eateries and restaurants want to offer options to diners
Availability of the right suppliers is crucial for restaurants who want to offer more options to diners. Mongendre points out, “When we first started, we found it incredibly difficult to source certain ingredients, spices, and plants to create our dishes. As a result, we had to import them ourselves.
TREEHOUSE serves fair trade and sustainable coffee, Photo courtesy of TREEHOUSE
Now, this situation is improving.” Today, according to Future Green, a consultancy, vendors supply restaurants in Hong Kong with more products like fair trade coffee, tea, and sugar, cheese, organic cacao from Taiwanese farms, and even sustainable wine.
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At the recent Hong Kong Restaurant & Bar exhibition, products such as oat milk, organic vegetables, and compostable food packaging and utensils were on prominent display.
Vendors now offer compostable packaging to restaurants
In the area of seafood, WWF Hong Kong works throughout the chain of custody. Hau continues, “Restaurants can work downwards, with their customers, to promote the concept, but also upwards, forming a demand. Restaurants are an important medium to push the suppliers and the fisheries to be more sustainable.” And in those instances where eggs, poultry, and meat remain on the menu, chefs specify free-range chickens and hormone-free beef.
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Much of the hard work of sustainability goes on behind the scenes – either in the offices or in the ‘back of house’, where diners rarely venture. Owners and operators calculate carbon emissions, set targets, and report on their results. In the kitchen, TREEHOUSE line cooks use the entire vegetable, including the root and peel, and any leftovers are turned into high-quality compost and replanted.
Compostable packaging
Le Meridien donates more than 1,000 of its leftover oyster and mussel shells to The Nature Conservancy each month to help with reef building, while the remainder of its food waste goes to O·PARK1, a government food waste facility; its waste cooking oil goes to a biofuel producer.
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Consumers also take direct action when choosing delivery options such as reusable or plant-based packaging. According to Ronald Ho, Head of Public Affairs and Sustainability at foodpanda Hong Kong, since 2021, foodpanda has sold 223,400 units of sustainable, plant-based bagasse packaging to vendors to meet this demand.
TREEHOUSE line cooks use the entire vegetable including the root and peel, Photo courtesy of TREEHOUSE
This year, the delivery company’s focus is on the ‘Choose to Reuse’ pilot programme: foodpanda users pay a ten Hong Kong dollar deposit per container when they order food from the Reusable Box Menu and then return their empty containers to a container machine collection point to collect their deposit, along with foodpanda vouchers for their next order and Carbon Wallet points. More than 7,000 individuals have selected this option since the programme launched.
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Many restaurants have chosen programmes that extend beyond food. In its restaurant, designed by Stefano Tordiglione Design studio, TREEHOUSE chose eco-cement, bamboo, and vegan leather, as well as recyclable aluminium, renewable wood, and upcycled appliances. The restaurant also donates trees to offset its carbon footprint.
Plant based options are increasingly available from restaurant suppliers
Heidi Spurrell of Future Green says, “Restaurants can even consider taking away their tablecloths; if you have beautiful tables, you can save on the emissions and costs from dry cleaning.”
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People are also a key factor. Le Meridien works with Dignity Kitchens, which employs people with learning disabilities and donates edible leftovers to the Foodlink Foundation. foodpanda also collaborates with Foodlink as well as Feeding Hong Kong and ImpactHK.
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One significant aspect still ripe for disruption is traditional Chinese cuisine. Sonalie Figueiras, Founder of Green Queen Media, points out, “While traditional Buddhist food is vegetarian or vegan, in Cantonese cuisine there is a big difference between traditional and vegetarian restaurants.” Even though Buddhist vegetarian ingredients and dishes are widespread in Hong Kong, they mostly remain separate from the mainstream.
Microgreen farm
However, the trend may be starting to take hold through a surprising back door: quick-service restaurants, better known as fast food. 7-11 has trialled ready-made vegan dumplings, while Cafe de Coral has launched dishes such as Omnipork Claypot Rice, made of plant-based pork by Hong Kong-based food innovation company OmniFoods. Cafe de Coral is also a founding member of WWF’s sustainable seafood program, as is Tam Jai Yunnan, a popular noodle shop chain.
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Meanwhile, some vendors are reviving older approaches. Along with modern biodegradable packaging, Lam Kie Yuen Tea also offers cakes of Chinese tea wrapped in paper and packed in dried bamboo, as has been done for centuries.
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Dr Hau comments, “We are still struggling with the choices the chef can choose from, for Chinese cuisine, but hopefully we can mitigate the difficulties. Maybe the sources they are currently using are not sustainable, but if they look for a supplier from another part of the world, there are sustainable sources.”
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As the purchasing power of today’s environmentally conscious Millennials and Gen Z grows, restaurants are watching closely. These younger consumers are already influencing menu options among mainstream establishments due to the ‘vegan veto’ phenomenon, whereby a single diner can influence a group’s choice.
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Figueiras comments, “I gave advice to a restaurant: if you have one vegan teenager and the family is looking to order dinner, then you have to have something on the menu for everyone.”
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Plastic packaging, in particular, remains an issue. While Hong Kong’s Municipal Waste Charging Scheme is expected to have some impact when it comes into effect in 2024, less stringent regulation currently impacts cost. For example, sending food waste to landfills is still cheaper than upcycling. Therefore, experts encourage restaurants trying to balance sustainability with narrow margins and an unstable customer population to find holistic options.
Edible leftover food from TREEHOUSE is boxed for charity, Photo courtesy of TREEHOUSE
For instance, reducing food waste at the source can positively impact the bottom line and the cost of purchasing, as extracting more from one ingredient can create economic value. Vendors have also begun to offer a much wider range of biodegradable or compostable packaging.
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Fundamentally, however, Hong Kong’s chefs increasingly believe sustainability is an inextricable part of an attractive restaurant experience. ‘Individuals do not necessarily visit TREEHOUSE because of our approach to sustainability,’ says Mongendre.
Sustainable farm employees, Photo courtesy Zero Foodprint Asia
“Rather, they come to us for our high-quality, plant-based and locally sourced ingredients. Having said that, when clients do understand more about our brand values and proposition when being at the physical location, it is a happy surprise and an added bonus.”
Text & Photos Genevieve Hilton / Photos credit as indicated
