Sustainable Triangle Article: Green Planet Catering
Green Planet Catering
This article was written by Erin Peters
The meeting and event industry is one of the most wasteful industries in the country, so when I first heard of Green Planet Catering, my first thought was, "There's got to be some greenwashing going on here." To find out just how "green" Green Planet Catering really is, I emailed their managing partner Daniel Whittaker with a few questions.
I'm happy to report that I was totally off. Green Planet Catering is the real deal. They seem to have every green angle covered, from managing their waste, to sourcing their ingredients from local and sustainable suppliers, to running their delivery vehicles on reclaimed kitchen fryer oil. Their commitment to sustainability in an industry that typically revolves around waste is inspiring...and the photos of some of their past events are mouthwatering. If you're hosting an event and need a caterer, check out Green Planet Catering (and make sure you invite me)!
Please provide a brief description of Green Planet Catering and the kinds of services you offer.
GPC is a full service catering company that focuses on high end product and quality. In order to ensure our customers receive the freshest items available, in a sustainable fashion, we've gone to extreme lengths such as; farming some of our own produce and herbs; producing biodiesel from our used kitchen fryer oil to run our trucks; and using compostable "papergoods" including a composting pickup service for our events.
We handle events ranging from a private house party of 12 to corporate retreats as large as 2000 people. We offer a variety of menus for those looking for things ranging from zero-waste box lunch events to full plated dinners using only almost exclusively local ingredients.
Green Planet Farms
What makes Green Planet Catering eco-friendly and/or sustainable?
The staff and management team at Green Planet Catering are focused on delivering high quality catering services that feature foods that are locally grown, pesticide and hormone free, and meet our high standards of quality. Many of our more commonly grown produce items are grown at our home office or on our sustainable farmsite. Supplying our own products provides the availability to control the way items are planted, grown, and harvested to ensure no harmful chemicals or pesticides are used while keeping costs down for our client.
At Green Planet we will make every effort to distribute our services in the most energy efficient way possible. Our delivery vehicles run on reclaimed kitchen fryer oil to cut down on CO2 global warming emissions. Green Planet Biodiesel Facility is where our used fryer oil is refined. Through a fairly simple process, a waste product can be transformed into a clean burning petroleum alternative. Currently the facility produces approximately 100 gallons of B100 a week.
Green Planet Catering's Garden
Most of the paper and plastic products we use are compostable or biodegradable. We also offer resale/distribution capabilities for companies who would like to provide eco-friendly paper goods and packaging in their place of employment, for your home, or even for your private event. Our staff will return to pickup all the compostable waste, and we have it commercially composted using Brooks Contractors.
Our platters are made from reclaimed items such as old framed household mirrors, bamboo and other sustainably harvested natural products, reused metals, and recycled glass. We even write our menus for each event on second-hand floor tiles, using dry erase markers. This ensures we don't print a new menu each time. This truly helps us focus on our paperless efforts.
Our employees take pride in recycling, donating to food banks and worthy causes, and choosing trade free, eco-friendly goods when ever possible. GPC chooses to partner with like minded companies who strive to keep sustainability a part of their mission.
Basically, if I can figure out a way to reuse, repurpose, or reclaim something while keeping it upscale, sustainable, and aesthetically pleasing...I WILL!
Why did you decided to start Green Planet Catering?
Green Planet was started after an original business partner's child was sick and needed to be switched to an organic diet. We found a need for additional aspects (in the form of our sustainable efforts) in the Triangle catering world, and we started to focus more on our "green" efforts. We've quickly become a leader in the sustainable catering effort across the entire U.S. with our crazy efforts, and we'll continue to try new approaches to keep ourselves ahead of the game.
The main goal applies still though, serving really tasty fresh food.
Where do you source the ingredients you use when catering?
We have a LARGE network of suppliers. Some of our Featured Local Vendors: Elodi Farms, Chapel Hill Creamery, John Pope Farms, Ashley Farms, Coon Rock Farm, Eastern Carolina Organics, & Green Planet Farm. We also have typical large scale vendors for more common items and supply ourselves (our own farm and herb garden).