How to Successfully Market Your Startup Restaurant As Sustainable

Sustainability is no longer just a way of making your business trendy. It’s a response to the greatest ecological crises of our time, and as a result, it’s becoming a profitable way for businesses and brands to reposition themselves as more appealing to potential customers.

Giants in the catering business like Starbucks took affirmative action in May 2025, with a pan-European rebrand of its cups that ditched their plastic lining, thus making its packaging fully compostable alongside increased demand for disposable coffee cups.

While some accuse brands of so-called “greenwashing”, the more drastic move from Nespresso to become a registered B Corp signifies how the movement isn’t an isolated trend, but a market necessity.

Read on to learn from Marshall Wilson’s twenty-year portfolio of sustainable rebrands, to see if we can help you on your journey towards a greener future.

Renew Your Brand Strategy

You can make your startup restaurant just as effective in counteracting climate change as these two giant corporations twice as fast, you just need the right positioning. Unlike them, a startup is more nimble due to its smaller size. Think of David and Goliath. But with fewer stones and more biodegradable coffee cups.  

A good place to start is by writing down the new ethos for your brand. Define precisely what it is that will make it more sustainable than your competitors. How will you make your catering business more sustainable than theirs, and why should consumers care? If you can’t fit this idea on a post-it note, it’s too complicated.

Study Your Niche

Once you’ve found out what you’re passionate about changing, you only need to change that single aspect of sustainability, no matter how incremental it seems. You will have a far larger impact on the world, especially as a startup, by making a bigger difference on a smaller scale than barely changing anything in a greater scope.

By asking your clientele what they care about most, you’ll find out what it is that makes your “post-it note idea” resonate with them specifically, too. Just don’t be afraid to ask them! A good example could be by trialling the transition of your takeaway bags from plastic to biodegradable ones, and monitoring how they react.

Communicate Your Message

Once your research is complete, you need to find out how you’ll make the outside world know - and care - about this latest invention before it goes live. This could be as simple as adding a small logo or slogan on your new biodegradable packaging. At Marshall Wilson, we can add designs like this to your packaging ourselves. 

It all starts with that first interaction with the product, and as anyone well-versed in the catering and customer service industry knows, a good first impression with the customer is vital. Especially if they’re hungry. Who knew a rebrand could be so important?

Get Started Now

Marshall Wilson has transformed catering businesses from vastly environmentally dated, to entirely sustainable in their market niche. We help you find and realise your vision for an eco-friendly future by making it happen actively, rather than just keeping it a dream.

Contact us today to learn how we can make you a part of this process.