Transparency within the foodservice industry is a significant differentiator in 2025. Today’s diners, particularly millennials and Gen Z, prioritize ethical sourcing and environmental responsibility when making decisions about where to eat.
Part One of our series provided details into how restaurants can begin their transparent supply chain efforts. For Part Two, we look at how restaurants with demonstrably transparent and ethical supply chains can communicate their efforts to the public and convey their commitment to maintaining responsible business practices.
Telling Your Food Story

Beyond simply disclosing sourcing information, restaurant operators must craft a compelling narrative that resonates with their target audience. Here are several avenues to reach this goal.
Humanize Your Sourcing Narrative
Dedicate a webpage to your sourcing philosophy. Include details about your suppliers, their locations, and the sustainable practices they employ.
Merely listing suppliers, origins, and practices, however, can feel impersonal. As an operator, you will make a bigger impact with restaurant-goers by weaving human narratives into your sourcing story. For instance, emphasize the relationships you’ve built. Consumers value authenticity, so share the story of how you discovered a particular supplier and the time and effort invested in cultivating that relationship.
To share your story, feature profiles of your suppliers and their sustainable practices on your website. Or show some behind-the-scenes photos or videos showcasing farm visits or collaborations with ethical food producers. Infusing the personal into your sourcing narratives will create a more resonant connection with the public.
Show How It’s All Connected
Another way to make a bigger impact is to illustrate the positive ripple effects of your business’ choices and your customers’ continued patronage. People want to belong to something bigger than themselves. Highlight to them the positive impact that simply choosing to dine at your restaurant has on a wider scale.
Get Creative With Data Visualization
Make complex information engaging and easily digestible for your audience by creating aesthetically pleasing infographics or interactive dashboards on your website. Consider data related to your sourcing networks, environmental metrics (for instance, carbon footprint or water usage), and social impact indicators (like Fair Trade certifications or support for local communities).
Communicating Transparency Across Platforms

Beyond a dedicated webpage, consider other platforms to get your message out, starting with your menus.
Menus
Clearly indicate locally sourced or sustainably raised ingredients on your menus. Then, take it a step further and utilize icons or QR codes that link to detailed information about specific ingredients or any other positive information you’d like to share with your patrons to further reinforce your narrative.
Social Media
A significant majority of diners research restaurants online before visiting, and a large portion of that demographic looks specifically at social media pages. Platforms like Instagram present endless opportunities on how you can showcase your efforts and the people behind your ingredients. Feature profiles of farmers, ranchers, vintners, and other suppliers you work with, while sharing their stories and their passion for quality production.
People love behind-the-scenes content and want to see the real-real of it all. In terms of video, one avenue is to take your followers on a virtual tour of your suppliers’ farms or production facilities. Use live videos, create short documentaries, or if you’re video-shy, 360-degree photos.
In-Store Signage
Signage is a powerful tool to highlight your restaurant’s transparent supply chain. If QR codes in your menus aren’t feasible, try small tabletop signs with a QR code that link to a webpage detailing your supply chain, the sustainable practices of your suppliers, and certifications. A mere glance at a certification is enough to instill confidence in many consumers.
If you source ingredients locally, use signage to celebrate these partnerships. Feature photos and names of local farms or producers, and emphasize the distance ingredients travel from farm to table and the effect that short distance has on your carbon footprint.
Beyond the Supply Chain

Even though the goal is to build a transparent supply chain and communicate those efforts to the public, your in-house efforts make fine companion pieces and strengthen the positive message about your ethical business. Below are topics to consider promoting, adjacent to your transparency efforts.
Food Waste Reduction Strategies
Describe the measures your operation takes to minimize food waste throughout your operation. This could include menu planning to avoid overstocking, composting food scraps, donating leftovers, offering smaller portion sizes or “split plate” options for customers, cooking with “ugly” produce, and employing root-to-stem culinary techniques. If feasible, quantify the amount of food waste you have diverted from landfills through these efforts.
Water Conservation & Energy Efficiency
Specify water-saving measures your management team has implemented, such as low-flow faucets, pre-rinse sprayers with automatic shut-off valves, and water-efficient dishwashers. Similarly, outline the energy-saving steps you have taken, including upgrading to energy-efficient appliances and LED lighting, and implementing practices like turning off equipment during off-peak hours.
Sustainable Operations
Highlight how your restaurant’s sustainable values echo throughout your establishment. This can take many forms in a variety of operational areas including:
- Recyclable and compostable disposables: If you use disposable takeout containers or utensils, specify that they are compostable or made from recycled materials.
- Eco-friendly cleaning products: State that you use eco-friendly cleaning products that are non-toxic and biodegradable, if applicable.
- Sustainable furnishings and décor: If your tables, chairs, or other décor are made from recycled materials or sustainably harvested wood, highlight this aspect of your design.
- In-house food cultivation: In-house cultivation appeals to environmentally conscious diners and educates, charms, and sparks interest among diners new to the importance of sustainability efforts. Showcase gardens, vertical farms, greenhouses, mushroom cultivation, and aquaponics.
Certification
Getting the green light from respected organizations is an easy and direct way to validate your sustainability efforts to the public. Just as certification was important in choosing your suppliers, showcase your own practices by partnering with organizations like the Green Restaurant Association (GRA) to obtain certifications.
Even the Michelin Guide has their own Green Star Sustainability Award. Currently, over 600 restaurants from around the world have earned this distinction. The Green Star is a standalone award, so any restaurant is eligible.
Other reputable certification resources include:
- The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA): Offers the “Food Made Good” standard, a global sustainability certification specifically designed for the foodservice industry.
- The Green Dining Alliance (GDA): Provides a third-party certification process that recognizes restaurants committed to environmental sustainability.
Formal Reports
While it’s not yet standard practice for restaurants to produce full-fledged sustainability reports like large corporations do, we recommend it because they add a layer of credibility and trust. A sustainability report is a valuable tool for engaging with stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers, and investors.
A detailed sustainability report, especially if it follows recognized reporting frameworks (like GRI or SASB), can also be a significant differentiator in the foodservice industry, as well as being useful to in-house operations. The process of gathering data for a sustainability report helps all businesses identify areas where they can improve efficiency, reduce waste, and save costs.
The Sustainable Advantage

Operators that strategically communicate their commitment to ethical and sustainable practices build trust with today’s discerning diners. By taking steps outlined in this article as well as adding new ideas or unique creative spins, restaurants can effectively communicate their transparency efforts and position themselves as leaders in the evolving landscape of the foodservice industry.