How The Restaurant Group built a partnership model that's scaling product-level footprinting across their supply chain - and what it means for the future of supply chain transparency.
Most hospitality businesses ask their suppliers for emissions data. The Restaurant Group (TRG) decided to help them measure it.
As one of the UK's leading hospitality businesses, operating brands including Wagamama, Barburrito, and Brunning & Price, TRG recognised early that reaching their Net-Zero by 2040 target would require bringing suppliers along on the journey. But there was a problem: most suppliers didn't have the tools, expertise, or budget to measure product-level emissions.
So TRG built the infrastructure to make it possible.
Rather than simply requesting data, TRG created a three-part framework:
Clear requirements: A tiered carbon maturity framework across four categories; Footprints, Targets, Product Data, and Action Plans, so suppliers know where they stand and what progression looks like.
Contractual support: Requirements integrated into tender processes and supplier contracts, with lead times that give suppliers time to build capability.
Discounted access: Partnerships with providers like Sustained to offer suppliers affordable access to footprinting tools, removing cost as a barrier.
The result? Suppliers aren't being asked to do the impossible - they're being given the tools to do what's necessary.
Two TRG suppliers illustrate the model working:
Tazaki Foods has footprinted over 1,000 products and is now sharing granular emissions data with their own suppliers - turning a reporting requirement into upstream collaboration.
Harvey and Brockless (Compleat Food Group) moved from manual, time-intensive footprinting to automated calculations at scale, making product-level data a core capability, not a niche exercise.
All three suppliers gained more than compliance. They gained operational insights, competitive advantages, and in some cases, new business.
TRG's model demonstrates that supply chain transparency isn't a zero-sum game. When buyers invest in supplier capability rather than just issuing requirements, the benefits flow both ways:
TRG is creating a template for how buyer-supplier sustainability partnerships can work at scale, not through demands, but through enablement.
In the full case study, you'll find:
Access the complete story, including supplier insights and the framework TRG built to make product-level footprinting scalable.