Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.11
Liaison Léah Aelion
Submission Date Feb. 10, 2021

STARS v2.2

HEC Montréal
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Jean-Michel Champagne
Sustainable Development Officer
Infrastructure - Sustainability Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Sustainable dining initiatives

Local community engagement

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a farmers market, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or urban agriculture project, or support such a program in the local community?:
Yes

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
There is a weekly organic food distribution program offered by Équiterre to HEC’s community, Panier Équiterre, implemented by the Sustainability office (suspended during summer 2020 due to Covid-19 lockdown)

Sustainability-themed outlet

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a sustainability-themed food outlet on-site, either independently or in partnership with a contractor or retailer?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
Not applicable to our campus - sustainably themed product is already integrated into regular food outlets.

Inclusive and local sourcing

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor support disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its food and beverage purchasing?:
Yes

A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
COOP HEC Montréal being a cooperative, it tries to get most of its supply from business that shares its values. Efforts are made to purchase food and beverages from local social business. Ex. La fringale - this supplier works toward inclusion by offering work to people with a disability. NAAK (cricket based energy bar) - social business using insects as a low footprint protein supply. Oneka - a local soap and cosmetic company that supply its product in refillable containers, and is certified b-Corp., etc.
Due to Covid-19, it is not possible to obtain sales data at this time (lack of staff)

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
1

Low-impact dining

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
Yes

A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
Meatless Monday has been introduced in 2017. In 2018, they where replaces by a meatless week - there is now a vegetarian or vegan daily meal offered every day to be more impactfull. During the Covid-19, this service was suspended (only one choice of daily meal is available), but replaced by a quality meatless food offer - homemade panini, daily choice of salad, and regular meatless options on the daily menu.

Vegan dining program 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a vegan dining program that makes diverse, complete-protein vegan options available to every member of the campus community at every meal?:
Yes

A brief description of the vegan dining program:
There is a salad bar that allows consumers to get the type of meal they want, including vegan, vegetarian or low calories plates. There is also vegan premade meal and sandwich, supplied by Crudescence, at the counter. During Covid-19 pandemic, the salad bar is closed and replaced by daily choices of salas. Vegan food offering was maintained.

Labelling and signage 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor inform customers about low impact food choices and sustainability practices through labelling and signage in dining halls?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
Various labels, such as Aliments du Québec (local food), Ocean Wise seafood, organic or vegan labels are displayed to help customers identify low-impact choices.
Moreover, beverages are ordered in display fridge from the highest sugar content to the less sugar content, to help people make their choice without having to check every information labels.

Part 2. Food waste minimization and recovery

Food recovery program

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor participate in a competition or commitment program and/or use a food waste prevention system to track and improve its food management practices?:
No

A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
Not necessary - there is virtually no edible food that goes to waste - surplus ingredient are reditributed to local organization, and left-over/unsold are given to the COOP student employees.

Trayless dining and portion modifications 

Has the institution or its primary dining services contractor implemented trayless dining (in which trays are removed from or not available in dining halls) and/or modified menus/portions to reduce post-consumer food waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
The salad bar is free service, but plates are weighted to determine their price, thus reducing the food waste. Daily menus are presented in individual portion and served by staff only, avoiding people to self serve and waste food. People can request modification to their plate, such as reducing the size of serving or removing/replacing a part of the dinner they won't eat.

Food donation 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
Yes

A brief description of the food donation program:
Food surplus from the catering service and cafeteria are given to a local food recuperation organization called La Tablé des chefs, or redistributed to the COOP student employees.

Food materials diversion 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor divert food materials from the landfill, incinerator or sewer for animal feed or industrial uses?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
Cooking oil are recuperated and recycled into fuel. Other food waste are composted.

Composting 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
Yes

A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
Compost bins are installed in the kitchen to ensure all food waste from preparation are composted as well.

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
Yes

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
All food waste and compostable containers (soup cup, coffee paper cups) are composted by site users using the compost bins located in the cafeteria, in every rest room, and washroom and on every floor.

Dine-in service ware 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor utilize reusable service ware for “dine in” meals?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
Most meal are served in reusable plates, bowls and with metal utensils. Customers have to pay an extra if they want their meal or salad in a disposable container.

Take-away materials 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor provide reusable and/or third party certified compostable containers and service ware for “to-go” meals (in conjunction with an on-site composting program)?:
Yes

A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
To-go meal ware, soup cups and coffee paper cups are made of biodegradable materials (fibers and PLA) , and therefor compostable.

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor offer discounts or other incentives to customers who use reusable containers instead of disposable or compostable containers in “to-go” food service operations?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
Extra charge for disposable ware and coffee cups.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
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Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.