What makes you decide to book a table at a new restaurant? Is it the delicious items on the menu, the vibes of the space or the quality of service?
What about their efforts to reduce plastic or become more sustainable? Members of Shedd’s Let’s Shedd Plastic restaurant program are going green and making a lasting impact on their customers, other Chicago restaurants and the planet.
Read more about how two influential places on the Chicago food scene, KOVAL Distillery and necessary & sufficient coffee, are sustainable, and make sure to stop there for a drink during Chicago Restaurant Week!
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KOVAL Distillery
Why did you decide to join the Let’s Shedd Plastic program?
KOVAL is Chicago-based and also committed to environmentally conscious practices. We value partnering with other historic Chicago institutions and continuously seek new ways to give back and make a positive impact on our community.
Let’s Shedd Plastic stood out because it is a local, approachable program rooted in protecting Lake Michigan and our ecosystems.
What are some of the standout ways that KOVAL Distillery is striving for sustainability?
KOVAL practices sustainability from the beginning of production - the farms we source our grains from, to the way we serve our products in our distillery tasting room. We work with organic and local farms to source everything we use to make our products, we use state-of-the-art technology to produce the spirits as efficiently as possible without compromising our high demand for the utmost quality, and our tasting room uses bamboo straws and glass cups, with minimal plastic use (which we recycle when used.)
KOVAL also uses millet, which is a lesser-used grain in whiskeys. Millet is a regenerative crop that gives nutrients back to the Earth as it is grown and harvested.
What makes KOVAL Distillery unique?
KOVAL believes that the best spirits must come from the best ingredients, and crafts its entire line from scratch using a grain-to-bottle approach. Every step of the process is closely monitored and managed by KOVAL, from sourcing grains harvested by trusted farmers to milling, mashing, distilling, aging and bottling on-site. All spirits are certified organic by Midwestern Organic Services Association (MOSA) and certified kosher through the Orthodox Union (OU).
Why is sustainability important to you and your business?
We believe that quality lies not only in the production of the product, but also how the base ingredients are developed. Sustainability is vital to production because it ensures that tomorrow’s grains are equal or greater than today’s grains.
How do you think the Chicago restaurant/business industry could be more sustainable? What impact do you think Chicago restaurants could have if they all joined programs like Let's Shedd Plastic?
Chicago has an opportunity to lead by example. By collectively reducing single-use plastics, choosing reusable or compostable materials, prioritizing sustainable and local sourcing and supporting local environmental initiatives, like Let’s Shedd Plastic, the industry could significantly reduce waste and protect our waterways.
necessary & sufficient coffee
Why did you decide to join the Let’s Shedd Plastic program?
In the coffee industry, plastic shows up everywhere and it’s easy for it to become invisible. We want to make reductions that really matter, but that also change customer habits in a space as familiar as a cafe. Working with an institution like the Shedd is a way to connect what we do behind the counter to real environmental impact.
What are some of the standout ways that necessary & sufficient coffee is striving for sustainability?
Sustainability shows up for us in a lot of small, everyday ways. We work with local Chicago farms like Closed Loop and source from other small, Midwest producers through an Illinois farmers collective called Down At The Farms, to support regional systems instead of long supply chains.
It also includes an emphasis on people as much as the actual product. We also pay a certified living wage, so our employees can afford to live and spend money in the neighborhoods they work in. We’re also intentional about sourcing in an industry that’s pretty exploitative. Alongside that, we compost everything we can, use compostable goods, maintain native prairie gardens at both locations and are continually auditing our environmental impact.
What makes necessary & sufficient coffee unique?
N&S is unique because it was designed as a place for the community to connect, feel rooted and slow down - even if it means having to sort our garbage. Specifically on our coffee, we work with our roaster Olympia Coffee because of their amazing beans but also their B Corp Certification. We were really mindful that we wanted to work with partners that prioritize ethical sourcing, transparency and long-term relationships with farmers. Sustainability has to include the entire production cycle of coffee, not just what happens to it once it’s in the cafe.
Why is sustainability important to you and your business?
Restaurants sit upstream of so much waste! When you change restaurants, you can reduce plastic before it exists. That’s structural intervention. We love knowing that we have a part in actual environmental betterment.
How do you think the Chicago restaurant/business industry could be more sustainable? What impact do you think Chicago restaurants could have if they all joined programs like Let's Shedd Plastic?
Chicago restaurants can start lowering their impact by focusing on the systems they’re a part of daily. This means moving away from Styrofoam and single-use plastics, composting more and paying their employees in line with their values. If more restaurants joined, the collective impact would be huge, at that scale, sustainability becomes normalized rather than a small consumer niche.