Sushi chain looks at cutting down on plastic waste
St Pierre’s Sushi is floating the idea of letting customers put sushi in their own lunchboxes to save on waste.
The nationwide chain wants to cut down on the rubbish resulting from the discarded plastic containers in which it serves its sushi. It is seeking designers and creatives to help them find a solution to the problem.
St Pierre’s marketing director Nick Katsoulis said the company was committed to doing something to reduce waste, it was just a matter of what.
The main obstacle to making a change was ensuring high standards of food hygiene were maintained.
“If we were living in the States we’d probably never do it because someone would probably sue us if they got sick [and] claim it was our fault,” Katsoulis said. “But New Zealand not being that sort of country we really want to give it a go.”
Options included getting standardised reusable containers which could then be swapped for another one, while the old container was washed and used again. Another was to just let customers bring their own Tupperware or lunchbox to be filled with their favourite sushi.
“Another thing we could do is wrap it in paper before they put it into their lunchbox,” Katsoulis said.
“When we do it, it’s just got to be practical for our staff but for our customers as well.”
This would only work for made-to- order sushi rather than premade packs. Made-to-order product comprised about 20 per cent of St Pierre’s sales, Katsoulis said.
Although the pre-made packs were already made of very light plastic, the company was also looking at options for making these more environmentally friendly, such as wrapping the sushi in paper rather than plastic.
A problem with this, however, was that rice had a tendency to stick to paper.
Dani Taylor said on St Pierre’s Facebook page that she would prefer her sushi in a cardboard box or something similar.
“I don’t always plan to buy sushi and on my work breaks I don’t have a lot of time for washing etc. Dislike the plastic too — recycled cardboard please!”
Alana-Jane Cameron said if people got sick from not cleaning their own containers properly it was their own fault.
“Just wear gloves or something between each order to prevent cross contamination. Great idea!”
The Ministry for Primary Industries, which regulates food safety standards, said it was up to individual businesses whether or not to allow customers to use their own containers. “There are instances of customers using their own containers in other sectors, such as when serving themselves at bulk-buy type shops, or coffee shops who refill drinks in personal cups.”