Zero Carbon Forum to launch Marketplace for hospitality and brewing operators

Zero Carbon Forum has announced the launch of Marketplace, a new services directory designed to connect supply chain businesses with brewing and hospitality operators to help them reach net zero faster.

The Zero Carbon Forum is a non-profit organisation which builds on 10 years of carbon reduction collaboration in the UK’s hospitality and Brewing sector.

Marketplace is open for applications and will provide a “one stop shop” for hospitality and brewing operators to source the essential products and services they need to help radically reduce their carbon emissions.

The new platform will feature a product and services directory to allow users to segment by the most relevant emissions area such as food, energy and packaging and accelerate the pace of reduction action.

The directory will be published in Q4 2023 following a review of applications.

Brands already on board include BioFase (biodegradable products made from avocado stones), Britvic (pioneering soft drinks dispense innovation to reduce packaging),Gentle Farming (regenerative agriculture) and Guardians of Grub (a food waste reduction initiative from WRAP)

Additionally, Keenan (decarbonisation of food waste collection services),Mitsubishi Electric (decarbonisation of buildings with efficient heat pumps and chillers), Quintex Systems (kitchen energy efficiency specialists) Wildfarmed (regenerative flour with an end-to-end, audited and traceable supply chain) and Yum Bug (protein from edible insects) have also joined the platform.

Mark Chapman, CEO at Zero Carbon Forum, said: “Up to 90% of hospitality and brewing emissions are from the supply chain. And 35% of the UK’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions come from food and drink.

“We in hospitality are the biggest industry to be affected, therefore we must act. We can’t reach net zero without engaging suppliers and Marketplace has been conceived to provide operators with innovative sustainable services and solutions that help accelerate the transformational change we need to make.”

Chapman added: “We have less than three years to radically reduce emissions to maintain a habitable planet. Customers, employees and investors expect businesses to take climate action and they will buy from the companies that do. The brands and suppliers showcased in the Marketplace directory are doing game changing work to help the hospitality sector reach net zero.

“We want to champion this great work to facilitate real and seismic change. We look forward to working with more suppliers of all shapes and sizes as we grow the Marketplace and make it the definitive resource for the hospitality and brewing industry.”