Stem & Glory becomes Hero of Net Zero at COP26
Stem & Glory was celebrated as a ‘Hero of Net Zero’ at a COP26 awards ceremony.
The plant-based restaurant business was a finalist in the competition hosted by Intuit at the international climate change summit in Glasgow.
More than 160 businesses had entered the competition after making a commitment at the UK Business Climate Hub to achieve net zero by 2050, matching the government’s climate commitment.
Stem & Glory, which has restaurants at 50-60 Station Road in Cambridge and in the City of London, was shortlisted in the small business category for measures including sourcing local ingredients, refurbishing restaurants with recycled and reclaimed materials and working with partners to offset menu emissions.
Judges appreciated Stem & Glory’s green mindset in how it sources, uses and cooks its ingredients, along with its efforts to share what it has learned with others.
The restaurant uses 100 per cent renewable energy and operates at less than 20 per cent lower emissions than the average restaurant and less than 23 per cent of the average SME.
CEO and founder Louise Palmer-Masterton said: “Since we started on our net zero mission, we have become extremely motivated for our own journey to serve as an example to help other businesses start and progress their own net zero journeys.
“We are both humbled and delighted to be acknowledged as a Hero of Net Zero, and this will hopefully give even more strength to our own mission as well as positively impacting other businesses.”
The vegan eatery also became in September the first Cambridge restaurant to commit to being carbon negative by the end of the year.
It has taken part in the London Mayor’s Better Futures+ programme to help.
Louise points out that other restaurants can reduce their emissions by not cooking on gas and by using fewer animal ingredients, as beef and lamb products produce more than 30 times the emissions per kilogram as plant-based protein.
Stem & Glory’s ready meal range will shortly be on sale in supermarkets, while its second City of London restaurant is due to open soon.
The competition, supported by BT, SSE and NatWest Group, was part of the government’s Together for Our Planet campaign run by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and had judes including the government’s net zero business champion Andrew Griffith.
The small business category was won by Bristol and London-based camera rental company VMI.TV, which impressed judges by include installing solar panels and insulation, purchasing electric vans and recycling and reusing, sending no waste to landfill in 15 months.
Read more
Vegan restaurant Stem & Glory makes carbon negative pledge
Vegan or plant-based: What’s the difference and does it matter?
Vegan restaurant Stem + Glory announces reopening and plots move to new Cambridge site
Sign up for our weekly newsletter and stay up to date with Cambridge business and food and drink
