Locality in the Promoted Sustainability Practices of Michelin-Starred Restaurants

Abstract

Sustainable practices are increasingly promoted in the restaurant industry. One significant aspect of sustainability in restaurants is the use of local supply chains, especially for food, which also serve as a means for restaurants to promote freshness of produce, sourcing, and quality. Considering the prevalence of locality in menu marketing, this study aims to explore the relationships between sustainability and locality at fine-dining restaurants. Michelin-starred restaurants are significant influencers in the restaurant industry, as well as food fashions overall, and may therefore serve to promote sustainability practices. This study examines the sustainability of 135 Michelin three-star restaurants by conducting website content analysis. By identifying restaurants’ sustainable practices during the processes of procurement, preparation, and presentation and analysing the official websites of 135 Michelin three-star restaurants, this study finds that although all sustainable practices are mentioned by less than half of the reviewed websites, most practices could be interpreted as being embedded in their locality, especially local food and restaurant history. This study suggests that promoting locality could therefore help sustain sustainability in the fine-dining restaurant industry. Although this study is limited to the website content of official websites for Michelin three-star restaurants, it provides potentially valuable insights on the promotion of sustainable restaurant practices.

Destination Restaurants’ Practices and the Production of Locality: The Case of Michelin Restaurants in China

“…Previous studies have found that destination restaurants could demonstrate locality in various ways during the processes of procurement, preparation, presentation, and promotion [ 7 , 34 ]. This study further introduces four main practices related to promote locality: sourcing local foods during procurement [ 44 , 45 , 46 ], introducing local culinary culture in the menu during preparation [ 40 , 47 , 48 ], demonstrating the restaurant servicescape with locality elements during presentation [ 49 , 50 , 51 ], and establishing restaurant reputation during promotion [ 52 , 53 , 54 ].…”

“…Proximity is the key to understanding local foods, including geographical proximity; relational proximity; and social, economic, and environmental proximity [34]. Scholars reviewed two decades of research on local food systems and generalised eight benefits of LFS within the perspectives of consumers, farmers, community, and environment [57]: (1) increasing consumers' access to fresh and healthy food; (2) strengthening consumer willingness to pay more for local over non-local foods; (3) enhancing farmers' sense of social recognition; (4) economically benefiting farmers; (5) increasing local community ties; (6) benefiting the local economy; (7) fostering environmentally friendly production practices; and (8) helping mitigate climate change. Nevertheless, a number of perceived barriers to restaurant procurement of local foods have been identified, including a lack of knowledge, inconvenient ordering and delivery times, limited availability of products, variable costs, packaging and handling, and inadequate distribution systems [58,59].…”

“…Destination restaurants play a significant role in attracting tourists by offering exclusive culinary experiences. Within this perspective, some destination restaurants may be ‘ambassadors’ that promote place and locality [ 3 , 4 ], and some of them, namely ‘terroir restaurants’, have indeed gained market recognition and received many honours [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. As a result, destination restaurants could be considered as a representation of the local culture, a counter to the homogenisation of cuisine by globalising forces [ 8 ], and a source of destination marketing [ 9 ].…”

“…Locality promoted in destination restaurants is therefore potentially a significant form of local cultural capital that strengthens a sense of place, place and product differentiation, and place branding in a globalised world [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. This is also related to the restaurant’s authenticity, sustainability, and destination branding [ 5 , 7 , 13 ]. However, globalisation processes have made traditionally distant geographies less socially and culturally relevant due to the introduction of global industrialised food systems such as fast-food chains [ 12 , 14 ], which is paradoxical to the food trend of promoting locality in destination restaurants.…”

“…However, globalisation processes have made traditionally distant geographies less socially and culturally relevant due to the introduction of global industrialised food systems such as fast-food chains [ 12 , 14 ], which is paradoxical to the food trend of promoting locality in destination restaurants. The use of place and locality by restaurants to promote themselves or their menus is by no means ubiquitous [ 7 ]. Therefore, how destination restaurants can achieve global recognition while promoting locality is a topic worthy of discussion [ 15 ].…”