Pauline Rosenberg about sustainability.
Do you know what you eat?
At the beginning of 2023, we launched the Vermaat Food Vision 2027 with ambitious goals in three pillars: People, Product en Planet. For the Planet pillar, we interview Pauline Rosenberg, sustainability specialist at Vermaat.
The largest environmental impact of Vermaat is on the plate. By making conscious choices, we reduce the impact. It is easier than you might think. Sustainability specialist Pauline Rosenberg measures and reduces Vermaat's environmental impact and ensures that we give back more to the earth than we take from it.
When Pauline joined Vermaat six years ago, sustainability was still something we had to work on. That has changed: Sustainability has taken a central place in the company and that makes her incredibly proud. “It is my mission to show people that sustainability is necessary. Sustainability not only makes a positive impact on the climate, it also keeps the company financially sound.”
Enjoy in a responsible way
It is Pauline’s goal to minimize environmental impact for all of Vermaat. For example, by serving less meat and offering more plant-based alternatives. And by buying more local products. This is a topic that she discusses daily with clients. “We are cooking plant-based more often and it is necessary to communicate this to our guests. Together with our clients we figure out the best way to do that. In the end, it is all about making sure our guests still enjoy food and beverages, but in a responsible way.
Data is everything
Sustainable food and beverage is more than the carbon footprint of the food on your plate. It is also the food that is thrown away. “We strive to reduce our food waste by 50% by 2027 compared to this year,” Pauline explains. “We are already measuring how much is thrown away at 80 different locations. We do this together with Orbisk, which has designed special bins that track what and how much waste we produce. Everything is recorded in a dashboard. This helps us to find out what must be done to achieve our goals.”
Conscious choices
Whether it is reducing our carbon footprint, reducing food waste or plastic-free restaurants: by making conscious choices in what we eat, we lower our impact on the environment. And it is easier than you might think. “I hope we will go back to basics more often and be more in touch with the food on our plates,” Pauline concludes. “Meals with more local and seasonal ingredients, as reflected in our Food Vision.”