07/11-13   -   Press releases

wbpstars.com adds sustainability to its scoring

The recent landmark report by UN´s climate panel says that it is clear that climate warming is caused by humans. “The heat is on, act now", says UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

wbpstars.com is now acting and adding sustainability when scoring and reviewing restaurants. The gourmet publication believes it is essential that gourmet dining integrates sustainable thinking even more in the future.

wbpstars.com, which only features the very best restaurants in the world, is now adding sustainability as criterion when scoring restaurants. Sustainability is the way to go for the world’s top restaurants. Customers are becoming more holistic and aware of the problem which makes it important for restaurants to lead and not only follow the development in sustainability. It also makes perfect sense for both the environment and the business. Less waste, better resource utilisation and seasonal local sourcing not only help the environment but can also improve both the business and dining experience.

The sustainability criteria take into account three main parts; the sourcing of produce and wine, the environmental impact and the restaurants’ engagement with society. wbpstar.com’s decision to take into account a restaurant’s sustainability when reviewing and scoring it, has been inspired by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), which launched its Global Sustainability Rating earlier this year. The SRA is a global not for profit membership organisation helping restaurants become more sustainable and diners make more sustainable choices when dining out. wbpstars.com will also be contacting its Top 60 restaurants urging them to complete the SRA Global Rating.

Mark Linehan, managing director of the SRA, said: “All our research indicates that consumers are increasingly influenced by restaurants’ commitment to operate responsibly. So, we are delighted to see a global review site like wbpstars.com make sustainability a key factor in its reviews and scores. We will be interested to see how they apply the principles of sustainability to their reviews, and look forward to rating those restaurants on its Top 60 list."

Joakim Hillberg, reviews editor of wbpstars.com said: “We look forward to see how this will affect the restaurant rating. We will also include good examples of sustainability and, when possible, share good examples on our YouTube channel where we already have more than a thousand unique films from the world’s leading restaurants."

wbpstars.com’s score descriptions are based upon seven different criteria with a max score of 10 in each except for the taste criterion where it is 40:
- Taste (how does it taste, flavours, texture, quality of the ingredients?) – 0 - 40 points
- Innovation (how innovative and unique is the food, or have we seen it many times before?)) – 0 - 10 points
- Plate (how beautiful, interesting and creative are the dishes presented on the plate?) – 0 - 10 points
- Service (how great is the service?)– 0 - 10 points
- Value for money (how good is the overall impression compared to the price?) – 0 - 10 points
- Design (how exclusive, cool, extravagant, clean, great etcetera is the restaurant as a whole?) – 0 - 10 points
- Sustainability (how sustainable is the sourcing and use of food and wine, environmental impact and engagement with society) – 0 - 10 points
More information can be found here: http://www.wbpstars.com/rating-system.html

wbpstars.com is a unique site. Many of the restaurants featured have previously only allowed very limited photography of their premises and have never permitted filming to take place on site. The films and the photographs provide a historic documentation of the restaurants and have in no way been edited.

Andreas Wadensten, co-founder and owner of wbpstars.com said: “With just a few clicks, food lovers throughout the world are now given direct access to the kitchens of the very best and most talented chefs the world has ever known, and for the future we will also show how the most talented chefs are working with sustainability."

For more information, images and interview requests please contact:
Katarina Olsson, telephone: +46 729-13 39 33 or email:press@wbpstars.com

For more information please visit: www.wbpstars.com, www.wbpstars.com/top-60 and www.thesra.org.
You can also follow the site on Facebook: www.facebook.com/wbpstars, or on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wbpstarscom. More than 1,000 films have been published on the YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/wbpstarscom.

About wbpstars.com
wbpstars.com is a gourmet guide featuring the very best restaurants around the globe, and not just from the parts of the world with the greatest economic impact. wbpstars.com is for everyone who considers food to be a lifestyle rather than just something you eat. The search for the world’s best restaurants is always under way, and new content is published on an ongoing basis for all food lovers, travellers and the restaurant business. The Top 60 list is updated on a regular basis and lists the cr ème de la cr ème of the world’s premium restaurants at any given point in time. For more information please visit: www.wbpstars.com