Sustainability is Surviability

by Tim Center

Most every business model promotes reducing your expenses and increasing your profits. And it’s even better if you can increase your market share by distinguishing yourself amongst your competitors.

But, what if I told you that you can do this while at the same time becoming an environmental steward and creating a better quality of life for your employees, customers and neighbors?
At this point, you begin talking about having a triple bottom line that will help sustain your business for years to come.

Whether you have been here for generations or are new to the Sunshine State, you realize – probably more than most – that our economy and environment are inextricably linked. Just look at the impact to the entire state’s hospitality industry when the Deepwater Horizon incident impacted our Panhandle beaches.

That’s why Sustainable Florida has worked for nearly twenty years to build awareness of and promote best practices to help companies, organizations and government agencies balance economic, environmnental and social elements to create a more sustainable Florida.

Sustainability is really surviability. Think about it. If the ocean runs out of lobster, what happens to Red Lobster? If sea levels are rising, what happens to beachfront hotel lobbies? While these might be drastic examples, they make the point.

Closer to home, we realize that energy costs will most likely continue to climb as the rest of the world wants seeks a higher standard of living. We know that food costs will continue to climb as transportation costs continue to rise. We worry about waste and cost to dispose of it knowing that the highest mountains in Florida are actually landfills.

Your hotel or restaurant is probably doing many things that go to your triple bottom line. And there are many great Florida-based companies and organizations who are adopting a triple bottom line. Let me introduce you to a few of the Sustainable Florida Best Practice winners.

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Tips to Conserve Energy

by Chris DeFilippo

According to statistics provided by Conserve, an environmental initiative of the National Restaurant Association: Restaurants use five times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings and five times more energy in the kitchen than in the rest of the building. [And those] energy costs represent 30% of a typical building’s annual budget. Spending on utilities consumes approximately 2.5 to 3.4% of total restaurant sales.

Furthermore, as much as 80% of the $10 billion annual energy bill for the commercial food service sector does no useful work, according to Mass Save and the Food Service Technology Center (FSTC). With that in mind, here are a few tried and true tips every restaurateur and general manager should know to help conserve propane use and lower their bill.

First, maintain your equipment properly and perform regular service checks. A certified technician trained to perform routine maintenance on appliances can help ensure they are operating efficiently. Once you’ve done that it may be worth looking into buying more efficient appliances and adjusting the way you operate them. Using the FSTC’s tool for measuring energy efficiency cost savings, it is possible for restaurants to save significantly. Energy and cost saving estimates use the following assumptions:

• Propane energy cost = $2.908 per Therm
    (based on EIA 2011 U.S. winter (Oct-Mar) average price per gallon of $2.675)
• Equipment use per day = 16 hours
• Equipment use per year = 365 days

Tactic	Energy Savings	Cost Savings
Purchase an Energy Star® gas steamer	Up to 2,090 Therms per year	$ 6,077.72
Purchase an Energy Star® gas fryer	Up to 450 Therms per year	$ 1,308.60
Purchase a high-efficiency gas combination oven	Up to 400 Therms per year	$ 1,163.20
Turn off the broiler when not needed	Up to 360 Therms per year by turning it off for one hour every day	$ 1,046.88
Purchase a high-efficiency gas convection oven	Up to 320 Therms per year	$ 930.56
Purchase a high efficiency gas griddle	Up to 80 Therms per year	$ 232.64
Total	Up to 3700 Therms per year	$ 10,759.60

Chris DeFilippo is a Product Manager with AmeriGas.

Just How 'Green' Can a Barbecue Restaurant Be? Part III

Is Local Sourcing Possible?

By Scott Joseph

As we discussed in previous issues, Brian Hill of Brian’s Bar-B-Q in Deland is in the process of transforming his restaurant into a more ecologically friendly business. With federal funds dedicated to promoting energy efficiency, funneled through a city program, Hill is making myriad improvements to his barbecue joint’s physical plant, including upgrading the insulation, putting on a new roof, installing a more efficient air-conditioning system, and switching to LED lighting with solar cells. He is also changing the landscaping to a Florida xeriscape layout and is planning to capture rainwater for use in flushing toilets and mopping floors. And hopes to convert the engines of his delivery trucks to run on spent fryer oil.

But he’d like to do more. So he consulted with Green Restaurants Association and learned that one of the main factors the organization analyzes for certification as a “green,” or environmentally friendly, restaurant is its use of local, sustainable food. Food is considered to be local if it is sourced from within a 100-mile radius; food from within a 300-mile radius is called regional. From an environmental standpoint, locally-sourced food matters because it takes less fuel to transport the products from farm to market. Shipping over longer distances adds to pollution and requires more fossil fuels (assuming the jets and semi-tractor trailers aren’t powered by spent frying oil).

In its simplest definition, sustainable means using resources at their rate of recovery. The sustainable part isn’t so difficult; it’s basically a choice of what not to buy or serve.

But trying to buy locally sourced ingredients is another matter. Hill is finding that Kermit the Frog was years ahead of his time when he sang, “It’s not easy being green.”

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GrillSmith Restaurants Announces Brand Re-Launch with New Creative Campaign, Website and Menu

GrillSmith, a refined-casual, chef-inspired restaurant concept that specializes in innovative and creative interpretations of classic American dishes has launched a rebranding campaign complete with a new creative look and feel, an innovative website and an overhauled menu to define the Tampa-based six-unit restaurant company’s identity for the first time since the concept originally opened in 2004.

“To lay the foundation for this rebrand, we conducted research and gathered feedback on what GrillSmith meant to our target customers,” said Cindy Haynes, senior vice president of marketing for Front Burner Brands, restaurant management company for GrillSmith. “Using that research, we worked with advertising agency of record Red Tettemer + Partners to develop the first-ever integrated creative campaign that truly conveys the GrillSmith brand and defines the concept – eliminating any past guest confusion.”

GrillSmith’s new creative campaign centers around the GrillSmith, a man who perfected the artistry of the grill. Delicious, exciting food is the GrillSmith’s cornerstone and it must be served well, with a smile, in an atmosphere where patrons can relax and feel special. That’s how a great meal should be enjoyed. GrillSmith's orders.

As a natural part of this creative campaign, GrillSmith launched a revamped website, grillsmith.com, to provide a better user experience that is more visually appealing, utilizes intuitive navigation and offers relevant content about the GrillSmith dining experience.

GrillSmith also introduced a new menu featuring the addition of small plates and new starters like Voodoo Cheese Fries and Spicy Thai Chicken, a spin-off of GrillSmith’s signature Spicy Thai Shrimp.

Leading GrillSmith into this new era is president Billy Grimm, who was named president of the restaurant concept in May 2011. As president, Grimm presides over GrillSmith’s overall operations including culinary development, training, purchasing and distribution and finance and accounting. He also oversees the company’s strategic growth. Previously, Grimm was vice president of emerging brands for Front Burner Brands.

In addition, GrillSmith promoted Joe Guli, former executive chef at GrillSmith in New Tampa, to GrillSmith corporate chef. In this position, Guli supervises culinary operations for all six GrillSmith locations and serves as the head GrillSmith, leading a team of six GrillSmiths marked by their red chef coats in each kitchen.

As the concept repositions itself, GrillSmith is considering possible expansion into other markets in Florida.

For more information about GrillSmith, please visit www.grillsmith.com.

Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek Opens

Photo from the ribbon-cutting at the opening of the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek on October 1, 2011.

(Left to Right) Jurgen Schafers, General Manager, Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek; John Green Brand, Senior Vice President, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts; James Moss, Director of Sales and Marketing, Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek.