The Restaurant Group (TRG) is one of the UK’s biggest hospitality groups with a portfolio of over 400 restaurants and pubs including well-known brands in the casual dining market such as Wagamama, Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquito and Brunning & Price. The Group also operates a multi-brand concessions business which trades in over 45 outlets across 30 brands, principally in UK airports.

TRG is committed to operating responsibly. This includes sustainable and ethical sourcing of food ingredients, and reducing its energy consumption and carbon emissions, water usage and waste. TRG has been a part of the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s (SRA) Food Made Good programme since 2014. It also boasts 3-stars (the highest available) in the Food Made Good Sustainability Rating, recognised globally as the industry standard for measuring sustainability in hospitality and foodservice.

In 2020, the head of risk and compliance at The Restaurant Group, Duncan Goodwin, was looking for a cleaning solution that sanitises surfaces quickly and effectively, without damaging furniture finishes.

“Hygiene and surface care was very much the driver for our search for a new cleaning system,” explained Goodwin. “Having investigated it thoroughly and after carrying out assessments into its suitability, as well as putting Toucan Eco through our own trials, it became apparent that it has unique environmental benefits too.”

In spring 2021, TRG began the roll out of Toucan Eco Worktop 1-litre models across 210 sites, comprising 80 pubs and 130 leisure facilities.

“In 2021, as a result of using the Toucan Eco system, the Group saved 2.7 tonnes of plastic packaging and 35,000 tonnes of chemical distribution. That’s where the environmental benefits of using the system are hugely significant for our business. These figures also don’t take into account that during this period we were using up existing stock of cleaning supplies,” Duncan added.

Plastic savings are made as chemical cleaners are commonly supplied in single-use plastic bottles, with concentrate containers made from virgin plastic. Many of these can’t be recycled as they contain toxic ingredients. With approximately only 30% of all plastic being recycled in the UK, according to the British Plastics Initiative, the majority will still end up in landfill.

The feasibility for Toucan Eco included a business case comparing the capital expenditure of the models versus potential savings to work out its payback period. Goodwin explained: “For us, it had a return on investment of within six months, after which we’re saving all our chemical spend. It’s effectively free to make from that point onwards.”

Key features and benefits for The Restaurant Group

At the end of 2021, Toucan Eco had saved The Restaurant Group:

• 2.7 tonnes of plastic packaging
• Reduced 35,000 tonnes of chemicals
• Removed 12,200 cases from distribution and manual handling
• Replaces 11 different chemicals
• Used across 210 UK sites
• Contributed to the Food Made Good 3-star SRA rating
• Six month return on investment

How is Toucan Eco being used today?

Fast forward to 2023, and the Group has now replaced a total of 11 chemicals previously bought in to clean its portfolio of 210 pub and leisure sites.

The Group has also extended its use of the Toucan Eco system to replace a further two chemicals in 17 Barburrito sites across the UK, saving approximately 7000L of chemical distribution.

The system is used as part of a spray and wipe cleaning method on worktops, tables and chairs – anything that staff and customers are coming in contact with. Toucan Eco doesn’t replace heavy degreasers or descalers, although it is effective if used as part of a daily clean.

Trish Dennis, The Restaurant Group’s Risk & Compliance Manager North, added: “We continue to hold our 3-star rating with the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), which introducing the Toucan System has contributed towards and we are currently working towards our 2023 submission. We are also now an approved supplier with the SRA.”

Steve Courtney, product specialist for Toucan Eco at the UK’s distributor Robert Scott, added: “It’s fantastic to be able to continue working with a restaurant group that recognised the potential of Toucan Eco to truly transform cleaning practices early on, and one that’s had the vision to roll out the sustainable cleaning system across so many sites, delivering such significant environmental benefits and cost savings. We hope this encourages even more businesses, particularly within the hospitality industry, to switch to cleaning sustainably with Toucan Eco.”

About Toucan Eco

The Toucan Eco system electrolyses a combination of tap water and normal salt to create a powerful, food safe and eco-friendly disinfectant cleaner that kills up to 99.999% of germs, including Coronavirus. It’s a low carbon technology that replaces over 80% of synthetic cleaning chemicals, reduces plastic waste, energy, and water usage and transportation. And, once installed, the solution is virtually free to make.

By switching to Toucan Eco, for every typical one litre plastic bottle you’re saving over two litres of water, 4 million joules of energy, and a quarter of a litre of oil. And, for every ton of plastic, you’re saving about three tonnes of CO².

Toucan Eco doesn’t contain any synthetic chemicals or fragrances, 99.99% of the solution is water, and the pH of the solution is around a 7.8 to 8.5 so it’s not aggressive like bleach and, as it’s safe, you don’t need protective clothing or PPE. It’s simple to make onsite using the device and takes a matter of minutes for the electrolysis process to convert the salt water to a powerful but safe disinfectant cleaner.

About Food Made Good

As part of the Food Made Good programme, the SRA assesses businesses like TRG across 10 key areas including ingredient sourcing, energy, waste and water management, as well as how it treats staff and interacts with the community and healthy eating criteria.

Louisa Dodd, Senior Project Manager at the SRA, said: “The Restaurant Group is an excellent example of a business that’s taking a holistic approach to its commitment to operate more sustainably – which is absolutely in line with how we assess hospitality businesses. It’s only by addressing all aspects of its operation that a restaurant, pub or café can claim to be operating sustainably.

“It’s a real credit to TRG that as well as addressing frontline issues like ingredient sourcing and food waste management, it’s also identified cleaning products as an important issue to focus on. Making the switch to a product like Toucan has helped contribute to TRG’s 3-star rating.”

More information about The Restaurant Group can be found at www.trgplc.com, the Sustainable Restaurant Association at www.thesra.org, and Food Made Good at www.foodmadegood.org.