A restaurant’s responsibility begins long before the first guest sits down and takes shape in the relationship with a grower, the quantities ordered and the energy used to prepare dinner. New data released on October 8 by The 50 and independently assessed by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) brings those decisions into focus. Among applicants to its sustainability awards, 73% source directly from small producers and 16% operate entirely electric kitchens. Every participating restaurant reports measures to prevent food waste at source. These figures concern the applicants, rather than the hospitality sector as a whole, but they reveal how committed establishments are reconsidering the foundations of their work.
Waste prevention is becoming part of the way a kitchen is organised. More than 70% of applicant establishments reuse ingredients, while 60% compost organic waste. The same attention extends to ceramics, glassware and uniforms, with recycled and regenerative materials entering the spaces guests encounter. Direct purchasing also brings restaurants closer to the people and agricultural practices behind their menus. Together, these choices give sustainability a tangible presence throughout an establishment, including in details a diner may never notice.
The 50 is extending independent sustainability assessment across its restaurant, bar and hotel rankings. Applicants complete around 90 questions based on the SRA’s Food Made Good Framework and submit evidence ranging from supplier invoices to energy policies and employment guidelines. The assessment examines sourcing, social responsibility and environmental impact. Each participant receives a free, confidential report identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement, with comparisons against other applicants within its ranking.
For Faye Huggett, community director of The 50, the quality of an establishment increasingly includes how it supports its staff and surrounding communities, alongside what it offers its guests.
Billy Wagner, owner and sommelier of Berlin’s Nobelhart & Schmutzig, recipient of the Sustainable Restaurant Award in 2024, describes a gastronomy founded on values that encompasses fair working conditions, transparency and environmental responsibility. That breadth is central to the findings: the future of a restaurant is shaped by decisions that connect the kitchen to the lives and resources around it.
Celele, in Cartagena, received the global Sustainable Restaurant Award in 2025 for an approach rooted in the ingredients and communities of the Colombian Caribbean. Direct purchasing from farmers and fishers supports fair, stable incomes, while flowers and vegetables come from Granitos de Paz, an initiative creating urban gardens in vulnerable neighbourhoods. The kitchen uses more than 90% of its agricultural inputs in their entirety, extending its attention to native ingredients into the way they are handled. That responsibility also reaches the team through an interest-free loan fund for employees seeking to improve their housing. Celele gives the award a concrete expression: protecting the resources that sustain its cuisine includes supporting the people whose lives are connected to it.
The award has also recognised restaurants across Latin America, with Boragó receiving the regional distinction in 2018, followed by Central in 2019, Pujol in 2020, Corrutela in 2021, Diacá in 2022, Manu in 2023 and Lunario in 2024. Their place in its history gives sustainability a geography, connecting the award to the producers, communities and working practices surrounding each restaurant.
The 2026 award will be announced in Lima on November 4 during The 50 Best Restaurants ceremony.
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