Efficient use of waste and energy

Back in the 1990s, the SV Group drew up its first life cycle assessment of energy consumption in its restaurants and used the data to define effective measures. This was the starting signal for our ISO 14001-certified environmental management system, which we have implemented in all SV restaurants since 2006.

Dörte Bachmann

Head of Sustainability

Reducing food waste

In Switzerland, around a third of food ends up as waste. Of this food waste, 45 percent is generated in households, 30 percent in processing, 13 percent in agriculture and 5 percent in the food service industry. Despite the already efficient reduction of food waste in the catering industry, we want to go even further in our restaurants and have been able to reduce food waste from 60 grams to 36 grams per main meal since 2006 (in comparison: in Swiss private households it is 320 grams per day and person).

Food waste measurement

To understand whether the measures taken are having an effect, SV regularly measures the food waste produced. Find out more about where SV stands today here: Measurement 2023

Our facts about food waste

We currently achieve a food waste rate of just 4 percent
We offer food such as sandwiches, baked goods or muesli that are left over at the end of the restaurant and are of perfect quality at a reduced price in the afternoon
All food that we cannot use any further is processed into biogas
At events, our guests can take leftover food home with them

Packaging

The demand for take-away is constantly increasing - also in our restaurants. This is often accompanied by the use of conventional disposable packaging, which in turn leads to increased waste and resource consumption. In our establishments, we do everything we can to reduce the use of disposable packaging without compromising on hygiene and quality.

Our measures

We therefore use a mix of reusable reCIRCLE and glass for our take-away and delivery offers. Where this is not possible, we have designed our packaging so that it is made from renewable raw materials or recycled materials wherever possible.

Our facts about packaging

160 company restaurants are already working with the reCIRCLE reusable tableware solution
Around 90 restaurants offer ANDIAMO products in reusable glass jars

Logistics

Thanks to our main logistics partner Pistor, we can organize the supply of our restaurants in a highly efficient manner. Central purchasing via Pistor has the advantage that we can make optimum use of truck capacity and thus save many journeys - this not only reduces traffic on the roads, but also protects the climate. Pistor is one of the most sustainable logistics companies in Europe and has one of the most modern truck fleets.

Our facts about logistics

Thanks to a sophisticated logistics system with our main supplier Pistor, a large number of different producers arrive at SV Restaurants on one truck. This saves a large number of deliveries with different trucks every year and reduces the CO2 footprint of logistics by 30%

Energy and water

The responsible use of resources is firmly anchored in our sustainability strategy. In addition to our ISO-certified environmental management system, we also work closely with the energy supply company ewz. ewz carries out energy consultations in our restaurants throughout Switzerland and assesses the areas of lighting, cooling, ventilation, cooking and cleaning. An individually compiled catalog of measures then addresses the specific needs of an establishment.