The sector of food service provision generates substantial environmental and societal impacts. Environmental impacts are particularly pronounced in terms of carbon footprint build-up while societal impacts are reflected in often unhealthy food choice. These impacts should be minimised to facilitate progress of the sector towards sustainability. A significant share of the negative impacts from food service provision is attributed to irresponsible consumer choice which needs to be architected and made more society-and climatebenign. Customer 'nudging' is an effective tool of consumer choice architecture and yet little research has examined its application within the context of private food service provision.This study set to better understand the determinants of consumer choice when dining out and how consumer choice could be reinforced to make it more benefitial from the sustainability viewpoint. To this end, the study reported on the outcome of a consumer survey conducted among visitors to a UK casual dining restaurant where menu design was employed as a customer 'nudging' tool. The survey demonstrated that, next to price, food provenance and nutritional value determined consumer choice when dining out. This information should therefore be displayed on restaurant menus to enable educated, and more environment-and society-benign, food choice. While presenting the food carbon values on a menu was well perceived, some skepticism attached to their prospective use as a determinant of consumer choice was recorded. Recommendations were made on the design of the industry and policy-making interventions required to enhance the public appeal of this menu item.

Food service provision imposes significant environmental and societal impacts. The contemporary customer is getting increasingly conscious about these impacts, which is often reflected in restaurant food choice. The catering industry should foresee this trend in consumer choice and architect it so that it becomes more responsible. This study employs a qualitative method for primary data collection and analysis to explore how various environmental (provenance and carbon footprint) and health (nutritional and calorific) characteristics of food displayed on restaurant menus affect customer choice in the UK. It finds that while presenting the carbon footprint information is generally viewed positively by consumers, managerial and policy reinforcement is necessary for it to become a determinant of consumer choice. Displaying food provenance, nutritional and calorific values is considered paramount and these food attributes should become conventional menu items.2

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to help readers understand the nature of the food supply chain and the way that environmental “costs” are accumulated along its length, with a view to developing more sustainable supply chains from political, social, economic technological and environmental perspectives.Design/methodology/approachIn order to do this, the authors have examined elements of the supply chain starting off by looking at consumer expectations and moving on to the environmental impact of different food types, different production systems, food transport and food waste. A series of calculations looking at the costings for different types of meals, with different environmental credentials, that might be served at different events is included to put some of the more abstract ideas of and environmental cost/benefit into context.FindingsPerforming a thorough life cycle analysis of a meal is a very complex and far from certain procedure. It is essential for us to develop our techniques in order to make informed decisions, but in a commercial world probably the best approach is to adopt a broad set of criteria that are likely to give environmental benefits both to the business, the consumer and broader society. In some cases, this may be best achieved by adopting or developing some sort of accreditation scheme or brand.Practical implicationsThis paper gives event managers and others involved in the food supply chain context within which to start thinking about more environmentally sound peculiar and of foodstuffs.Originality/valueThis paper represents a broad overview pulling together many sets of original findings from a very diverse interdisciplinary literature base.