Abstract

The foodservice sector has grown rapidly due to the increase in meals out of home. Thanks to the enormous number of meals served daily, making changes to reduce the environmental footprint of their menus could have a positive impact on the sustainability of the food system. The objective of this study was to select indicators to evaluate and communicate the sustainability of culinary preparations offered by foodservices. A bibliographic search of indicators was carried out, which were subsequently subjected to validation regarding their relevance by a group of experts. The indicators finally selected, carbon footprint, water footprint, presence of meat and/or animal products, presence of local ingredients and generation of waste in processing, were applied to traditional Chilean recipes and the results were presented to two discussion groups of consumers to evaluate their understanding and usefulness. When these indicators were applied to 10 Chilean recipes, it was found that those containing meat as an ingredient were less sustainable. A group of consumers invited for validation found the way these indicators were communicated understandable and useful. It is expected that the validation of these indicators will be useful for communicating to services and consumers the sustainability of dishes in foodservices.