Hi Ryan,
I wanted to thank you for your comments and questions regarding Rubio’s efforts toward social and environmental responsibilities and assure you that Rubio’s has launched a major initiative this year to work toward green and conscious practices that are important to our guests, our business and contribute positively to the environment. We prioritize these initiatives based on importance to our guests so it is extremely helpful to us to receive comments such as yours.
As you are probably aware, it is not always clear what the best sustainable course of action is for the environment, our guests and our business. Opinions and legislation vary widely on the subject. That is why we have formed a cross-functional team here at our Restaurant Support Center dedicated to researching and implementing sustainable best practices. Nonetheless, given the complexity, these changes won’t happen over night. Here is some of our progress:
Recycling
Our first priority is to implement recycling everywhere where the recycling infrastructure and service exists. This involves negotiating with commercial landlords and municipalities to provide the services and space in their trash corrals. We are well on our way toward this goal.
Packaging
Our second priority is to replace our Styrofoam packaging with eco-friendly packaging. In several of our stores, we are currently testing compostable takeout packaging and we are researching a replacement for our Styrofoam plate with the hope of testing something in a few stores by July of this year. The goal of this plan is to determine our preferred solution so that we can be Styrofoam free system-wide in 2011. The operational impact on each store is not insignificant as eco-friendly packaging is still significantly more expensive than Styrofoam so we want to make sure we make a thoughtful and well tested choice with minimal impact on the environment, compliance with all of the varied local ordinances and minimal financial impact to our guests. We have approved a compostable plastic beer cup and a 100% recycled and recyclable PET Salad Box (made from recycled water bottles) that you should see in market this summer so we are making progress on all packaging fronts. With regard to the plastic bag, as a restaurant, we are stymied by the fact that the current health code limits our ability to accept reusable bags. Although we have implemented a reusable bag for our catering program, guests reuse it for shopping not to refill with takeout catering food. We are researching takeout bags made from compostable plastic as well as paper but, as you are probably aware, legislation varies as to what is preferred since paper has a bigger carbon footprint. In the mean time, it is our hope that our guests will act responsibly and recycle the plastic bags rather than disposing of them in the trash.
Food
Concurrently we are working with our food vendors to supply all natural and sustainable ingredients. We hope to have all natural chicken and beef before the end of the year after we have completed consumer testing on taste preferences, etc... We reference the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program to ensure we make sustainable fish choices and will be changing some sourcing accordingly. We currently have hormone free sour cream and milk, and hormone free cheese is on its way this summer. We continue to research and stay current on the evolving sustainable best practices in these areas but are sometimes dependent on “bigger fish” than us to drive the change and make more sustainable choices available.
Other initiatives include new stores designs with smart construction and green elements, marketing materials made with Forest Stewardship Council certified paper or recycled paper, energy and water saving practices, etc….We are working on all fronts but have limited resources so your patience is appreciated. We plan to launch a Web page on Earth Day (April 22) that discusses all of these initiatives and our progress for our guests to reference. We are also sponsoring and volunteering for the Creek to Bay Cleanup the following weekend on April 24 and hope you will join us and the other volunteers that day atwww.creektobay.org .
Thanks for your inquiry and support.
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