Quite rightly the UK population has reacted to our extreme reliance on plastics and wants to fight back by reducing the obscene volume that we consume every day. Over the last ten years we have produced more plastic than during the whole of the last century. Sadly, of this 50% of the plastic we use, we use just once and then throw it away.*
The realities are it is pretty impossible to escape plastic in our everyday lives, but people are now increasingly questioning its widespread use and turning to many businesses to query why and what the alternatives are. This backlash is equally prevalent for the hospitality sector whether operating within hotels, leisure, foodservice or education and definitely an area that needs to be addressed. Simple steps can be made by using alternative materials or encouraging customers to re-use their plastic cups however surely this is just delaying the eventual impact.
From a drinks perspective a far better direction is to remove the use of plastic cups entirely by using a free pour approach where customers can help themselves using glasses to a myriad of different flavours and types of drinks. This is where Oranka Juice Solutions’ diverse range of concepts lends themselves as people seek out concepts that are far more flexible, delivering much less formality while giving them more choice. Delicious juices, smoothies and hydration juices are readily available to self-pour into glasses. These feature any flavour and format of two or three juices where combinations can be altered to reflect seasonality and add variety. Served in stylish glass dispensers on wooden and copper risers this format works equally well in celebrated restaurants and hotels right the way through to independent schools.
As Troy Smith, Managing Director of Oranka Juice Solutions highlights, “There is no doubt a rising interest in how venues can reduce the volumes of plastic they are using. Oranka are now being asked on a daily basis on how we can help. The obvious solution is to eliminate the use of plastics by replacing them with glasses, but this has to be achieved without diminishing the quality of the drinks offering.”
He continues, “In some instances, we are working with companies who offer free issue drinks and are issuing their employees with re-usable bottles to encourage them to use them daily instead of single use plastic cups. This is working brilliantly with our glass dispensers on counters. So, while the industry is starting to come to terms with reducing the use of plastics, at Oranka Juice Solutions we have long been offering hydrating drinks, juices and smoothies as a free pour option into glasses.”