Bath Ales named sustainability champion

South West UK-based Bath Ales has recently been named a Sustainability Champion by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) and awarded a double-star ‘excellent’ rating.

As part of the judging process, Bath Ales was evaluated against a set criteria covering 14 areas of sustainability and received a good to excellent rating in all areas.

The organisation was highly commended by the SRA for its commitment to sourcing British produce as well as free-range meat, high-welfare milk and for changing its menu monthly to incorporate seasonally available vegetables.

The strongest performance area for the local brewer was in ‘Sourcing’, where the company performed exceptionally well in the category for Ethical Meat and Dairy (92%). Another high-scoring category for Bath Ales was Local and Seasonal, where the brewer was scored 81%.

In recognition of its impact on society, Bath Ales was also praised for setting up its own charitable foundation, The Hare Foundation, which supports local charities focusing on cancer, children and protecting the environment.

On receiving such high acclaim from the SRA, managing director Robin Couling commented: “We are delighted to have been awarded two stars in recognition of our sustainability efforts. We will be working over the next year towards adding a third star and stepping from excellent to exceptional. The two-star gold ribbon will be proudly appearing in all our venues in the very near future.

“As a company, we prioritise using local, quality produce in our seasonal menus, which are updated regularly. We’re particularly proud of our new Christmas menu, which has recently been introduced into Graze restaurants and other food pubs. It’s a good example of how we use the best ingredients to create premium dishes and a memorable dining experience.”