Webinar report: preparing a sustainable takeover and promoting it online

The current uncertain situation and the announcement of the extension of the lockdown until May 11 are jeopardizing the survival of many establishments. To prepare for the upturn, players in the on-trade are being forced to adapt and reinvent themselves. Offering new services and modifying their offer, while taking into account social and ecological issues, both for themselves and their customers, are just some of the challenges facing players in the ecosystem. To provide some answers and give some initial pointers for preparing a sustainable recovery, and promoting it online, we have organized a webinar with Ecotable a label, association and community dedicated to sustainable catering. We'd like to thank the 400 people who registered for the webinar, and hope they found it instructive. For those who weren't able to attend, here are the main takeaways from the webinar.

See the replay with slides.

The various points raised:

Some key figures

1) Why move towards more eco-friendly catering?

2) The 8 key areas for action

3) How can you add value to your online commitment?

4) How do you generate new brand awareness?

Some key figures

• 1 third of our greenhouse gas emissions come from food.
• 1 meal in 7 is eaten away from home in France.
• 91% of French people would like to see more local, organic and homemade products in restaurants.
• 60% of restaurateurs are convinced that they have a responsibility in sustainable development.

1) Why move towards more eco-friendly catering?

Legal obligations :

• Recycling oil and bio-waste is already compulsory.
• Doggy bags will be compulsory from July 1, 2021.
• Biowaste recovery and recycling will be required by 2023.
• The sale of single-use plastic tableware has been banned by 2020.

A post-crisis challenge due to heightened consumer expectations in certain areas:

• Security
• Transparency
• Quality
• Commitment and sincerity
• "Made in France

2) The 8 key areas for action

To understand all the dimensions of a sustainable restaurant, you need to focus on eight key areas:

3) How can you add value to your online commitment?

First of all, you need to list your restaurant online on :

• Direct acquisition platforms : Google my Business, Tripadvisor, possibly La Fourchette (2€)
• Secondary platforms for acquisition: Apple Maps, Yelp, Foursquare,
• Directories for indirect acquisition: Les Pages Jaunes, Le Petit Futé, L'Internaute
• Specific directories : HappyCow, Handiplan, PagesHalal
• Platforms for reaching tourists: Dianping, Yandex, Kekanto, MangoPlate...

And choose your keywords :

• "vegetarian restaurant" is searched 100k times a month.
• "organic restaurant", "organic restaurant" and"vegan restaurant" are searched 10k times a month.
• "local restaurant" is searched 1,000 times a month.
• "committed restaurant ", "responsible restaurant ", "sustainable restaurant" are searched 100 times a month.
• "eco-responsible restaurant" is searched 10 times a month.

Then insert them in your descriptions, your responses to customer reviews and your photo names.In a second step, you can communicate on your social media (Instagram,Facebook, Twitter).

• Reassurance about health and safety.
• Educate your audience about respecting the seasons and food waste.
• Show your commitment via backstage photos of your recycling, posts about your labels and awards or stories of customers leaving with doggy bags...
• Present your suppliers and the quality of their products.

4) How do you generate new brand awareness?

Work on your storytelling, both form and content:

• Structure your information.
• Value your work and commitment.
• Don't neglect the quality of your photos.

Generate awareness and showcase your commitment through press and influencer relations. To collaborate with influencers you need to :

• Identify the most relevant ones, those that are closest to your restaurant's values.
• Check the nature of the influencer's publications: does he or she focus on exceptional places? A specific type of food: healthy food or foodporn?
• Choose your approach beforehand: one-off relays or long-term collaboration?

To contact journalists in the best possible way, we recommend :

• Identify relevant media for your restaurant: guidebooks, women's magazines, daily newspapers, cultural magazines, specialized media, specific radio programs...
• Target journalists according to their preferred topics and reconstruct their email addresses.
• Approach journalists effectively by explaining your approach in a concise and personalized way.

In a nutshell,

Whatever type of restaurant you run, open or closed, communicating with your customers and your community to maintain a link remains essential. We're organizing a free webinar in collaboration with Pascal Perriot, CEO of Umameet and an expert who deciphers all the trends for France Snacking on setting up a delivery and click-and-collect service. You can register here. If you have any questions, you can ask us in comments on this blog, by e-mail at contact@malou.io or by phone on our direct line 01 70 62 93 83. Solidarity helps us to emerge stronger from these crises, so don't hesitate to ask us.