OUR MISSION IS TO BE THE GREENEST CAFÉ OPERATOR
Sustainability is in our DNA. We want to educate people about how eating with us they contribute towards lower CO2 and help us safeguard our lovely Devon coastline. The company’s philosophy is best summed up by our logo lovingthebeach®, and we are keen to help develop sustainability in the regional economy through enterprise and innovation and in everything we do. We banned plastic straws over two decades ago in a bid to reduce plastics on the beach and in the oceans. Our latest innovations include the introduction of fully-home compostable hot cups and wooden cutlery in all three beach cafes.
We aim 'to be the greenest cafe’, ensuring constant improvement in our environmental performance. Currently, we are completing a switch over to home compostable palm plates saving an enormous amount of CO2, water, electric and chemical use.
ENVIRONMENTAL FOCUS
Taking care of the environment is an integral part of our business philosophy. We return cooking oil, all cardboard, food waste, empty cans and glass for recycling and use energy efficient equipment and monitor CO2, emissions.
As a result of our strong environmental awareness and commitment to the welfare of our environment, we were not only the first café company to be awarded The Queen’s Award for Sustainability 2005; we also received it second-time round in 2010.
HOME COMPOSTABLE PACKAGING
Looking after our immediate environment is critical including all wildlife around us.
We focus on home compostable to ensure that any items which aren't put in the bins and ends up in the sea or on the beach aren't left to pollute for years to come and don't harm any living thing.
Home compostable means that the product will decompose naturally on a home compost heap leaving no residue or toxins.
SINGLE USE PLASTIC FREE
This is a very major issue for the planet and even more so for beaches and oceans.
We gave up plastic straws in 2000 and straws altogether in 2002. Since then we have made great strides in eliminating all plastic packaging particularly PET & PLA.
All of our cold and hot drinks are served in cans or home compostable cups. The first in the UK to introduce home compostable cups and lids. We were amongst the first to be serving water in cans.
LOCAL SUPPLIERS
We are blessed in Devon with fabulous local suppliers producing an amazing array of foods grown and harvested from our rich waters and fields.
Local sourcing has always been a key platform for Venus. Not only does it reduce food miles, it provides the customer with the authentic Devon experience.
It also has a hugely beneficial impact on the local economy.
REDUCING FOOD MILES
We source our produce from many local suppliers thereby reducing food miles which means a faster journey from ‘field to plate’. All meat is free-range and from grass-fed animals. We pay our farmers a fair price for a high-quality product.
Devon is one of the largest of the British counties in area, and third-largest in England. Our beach cafes tend to be off the beaten track which can take a lot of time and fuel to get to. We have, therefore, centralised most of our distribution by creating a central warehouse and production kitchen at Halwell in Totnes.
ECO CLEANING MATERIALS
Thankfully, the chemical market has now started producing environmentally friendly cleaning products.
One of the biggest issues is phosphates and bleaches. We will only use safe cleaning materials and have discovered that you don't need 20 different products to keep a café clean.
TO THE FUTURE
OUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE INCLUDE:
- More PV Units
- Ground source heat pumps where appropriate
- Electric vehicles
- An expansion of the home compostable range
