In our restaurants, we offer mainly vegetarian dishes on the menu. The fish we offer has the MSC/ASC-label and the meat two start 'Beter Leven' (a label for more animal-friendly produced meat). The menus are created by our top chefs. At restaurant Pleyn, for example, get surprised by the taste of a delicious celeriac shoarma, a Dutch 'bitterbal' with oyster mushroom or bread with botanical butter.
Hospitality & food waste
For our hospitality business, we make a conscious choices to offer more quality. The product range at our events is between 50-90% vegetarian and we are building on that every day. We use seasonal vegetables and work with local suppliers to reduce transport miles. We cook to order, so that we can use fresh produce as efficiently as possible and avoid waste.
A greener menu
Cooking to order
We prepare as many dishes on-the-spot as possible, and the menus for our various hospitality locations are coordinated so that we can use fresh products as efficiently as possible and prevent food waste. If there is any fresh food left over after an event or conference, it is offered via the Too Good To Go app.
International sustainability award
In 2022 Jaarbeurs wins the UFI Sustainable Development Award. We won this award for the way we created our sustainable menus and how we deal with food waste.
Jeroen van Hooff, CEO Royal Jaarbeurs: "We are continuously taking steps to be the most sustainable organiser and facilitator of exhibitions and events in Europe by 2030. I am incredibly proud that the steps we have taken so far in terms of sustainability and digitalisation have been recognised worldwide. And this will certainly not stop here, in the coming period we will announce even more great initatives."
Locally produced specialties
Food from nearby clocks up fewer food miles and is often seasonal produce. We source our fresh bread and fresh cheese and vegetables from Utrecht suppliers where possible. Our wine list features a top selection of European wines. Products that come from further away, such as coffee and oranges, at least have a sustainability label: more value for people and for the environment.
Less food waste
No matter how carefully we plan and procure, sometimes food is left over after an event. To map our food waste, we use Winnow, a smart waste bin. By using Winnow, we can measure how much leftover food and swill is thrown away. In 2022, this helped us reduce 0.7 tonnes of food waste, equivalent to 1,640 meals.
Together with Wastewatchers, we are using a new method to prevent food waste. Based on predictive algorithms, we estimate what guests will order at our restaurant Pleyn. Based on this data, we can buy less ingredients, reducing food waste.
We can compost the green waste that remains in our own composting machine. With this, we can produce up to 82,800 kg of compost. This compost can be used to grow fruit and vegetables.
Future-ready menu
Special and sustainable dining? Together with our partner Greendish, we have designed a future-ready menu. The dinner is composed according to the Greendish 2050 Guidelines. These describe the guidelines for sustainable and healthy menu composition in terms of the dishes on the menu, portion sizes and ingredients. The guidelines compiled together based on scientific literature. For example, dishes include: smoked beetroot tartare with pickled yolk and pan-roasted cauliflower with hazelnut cream and pumpkin.
Compensating CO2 emissions
Before achieving our goal of becoming carbon neutral, we offset our current CO2 emissions by planting trees in collaboration with our partner Trees for All. In 2022, we planted 3,596 trees. In a normal year, this will increase to 8,400 trees, equivalent to 588,000 kg of CO2.
Facts about our hospitality
- In our catering operations, we choose food packaging made of recyclable materials with the lowest possible carbon footprint.
- With the 'cup-for-cup system' at our dance events, visitors return their used deposit cup when ordering a new drink. In this way, 99% of the cups are now recycled.
- By means of a sustainability logo, exhibitors and organisers can easily see whether they are making a sustainable choice at Jaarbeurs.
- Our chef Peter Scholte cooks according to Dutch Cuisine.
