Quality seals can go a few different ways. Many of them are criticized for lacking either uniform standards, clear criteria, or sufficient inspections. Or all three. But the GreenCanteen seal is different. It’s much more than just an “eco-stamp;” in fact, it’s considered one of the premier marks of quality in sustainable company catering. The award is given by K&P Consulting GmbH following an intensive audit that scientifically examines more than 100 criteria in eight areas, from food planning and procurement to company restaurant working conditions.
In October 2025, Rational AG – or more precisely, the company restaurant at its headquarters in Landsberg am Lech – joined the ranks of GreenCanteen seal recipients and pioneers in implementing sustainable practices. As such, they’re in the company of other renowned corporations such as Deutsche Bank and AXA Konzern AG.
Image: Hilke Opelt
“Quality comes first”
“Supply, procurement, ingredients, storage, production… the evaluation encompasses all of that and more,” explains Verena Demontis, F&B Administration & Projects at Rational. The GreenCanteen criteria catalog “takes all areas of the gastronomic value chain into account. It also considers all three dimensions of sustainability – economy, ecology, and social issues,” the official description says. As Verena Demontis explains, “For our company, the deciding factors included the regional supplier structure (which is very important to us), our energy efficiency, and our general theme of resource conservation.”
Andreas Deyerler, Head of Restaurant and Event Service at Rational since 2009, adds: “Quality comes first for us, which is why we’ve been in constant dialogue with our partners in the region for years now, checking availabilities… and why we always consider the entire animal, the entire vegetable. Taking a holistic view is very important to us.” As a result, the food that winds up on the menu in Landsberg can sometimes require up to four weeks of lead time. “Beyond that, we also make detailed plans for what will happen to the products once they arrive. If there’s a head of broccoli left over, we’ve specified exactly what will become of it. We’ll already know that it’s going into a vegetable puree, soup, or a gratin.” This helps the company kitchen reduce food waste, ideally eliminating it altogether.
Perfect kitchen technology
One priceless advantage the Rational company restaurant enjoys lies in its kitchen equipment: its in-house technology supports the process perfectly, which also contributed to its GreenCanteen success. “All of our processes are based on iVario and iCombi cooking paths,” Andreas Deyerler explains. The precise cooking technology ensures consistently high food quality while also lightening employee workloads. Moreover, the cooking systems consume just half the water and around three-quarters the energy of conventional kitchen equipment. “They keep the processes running smoothly. And they’re so reliable that we’re free to focus on the product itself – cutting or otherwise processing the product – when in other kitchens they’d still be standing at the stove.” There’s also more time for administration, contacting partners, planning, and working with junior staff. After all, “We’re a training company. That’s our obligation.”
Image: Rational
The two professionals agree that company catering as a whole is undergoing a dramatic shift. In many places, the maximum-efficiency “chow hall” concept has given way to high-quality dining that focuses on the product – and the diner. “A lot of companies now view the company restaurant as a place for people to meet and share ideas,” Deyerler says. Company restaurants, he says, are becoming a meeting point that not only fills employees’ bellies but offers something sustainable in every sense of the word. The trained chef notes that today’s restaurant goers generally have more and more product knowledge, which also means company employees have ever-increasing expectations for “their” company catering. Rational employees, meanwhile, are constantly reiterating how much they appreciate their own company’s future-oriented – and healthy – selection. Rational employee Jana Imann speaks for many of her colleagues when she mentions focusing on sustainability “wherever possible” outside of work, “which makes it even better that the company restaurant values it as well – and that people here consider sustainability a matter of course.”
Rethinking company catering
As a result, sustainable dining options and overall menu selection are playing an increasingly important role in people’s chosen place of employment. So today’s company restaurants have to offer plenty of variety. Including a selection of vegan and vegetarian dishes, of course. In Landsberg, Deyerler says, that happens “without a moralizing undertone. Diners here always have a choice.” Naturally, reduced reliance on industrially manufactured products is a focal point here. “We consider using a high percentage of vegetables or pulses essential, we’re not moving towards convenience products at all.”
According to Verena Demontis, sustainability has always been important to Rational when it comes to producing and supplying employee food. By participating in the GreenCanteen audit, the company has spotlighted that value to the outside world – among other reasons, because that type of publicity elevates the value of company restaurants. “Of course, an award like this is a huge visibility boost. That motivates us to keep developing even further.”
Andreas Deyerler is eager to use this as a jumping-off point. “I’d like to put more emphasis on ‘Cook and Serve,’ in part so that we can save even more energy in the future. For example, we can now load raw poultry, raw seafood, or raw vegetables into the iCombi Pro and have them ready exactly on time, so diners will always get perfect service. In the past, we blanched food, then chilled it and Finished it later; now, we save ourselves the chilling process, which conserves a lot of energy. We want to go further in this direction. We’ve done a lot of sustainability-related work here in the past, too, but the GreenCanteen seal process was what made us realize that we need to communicate it more to the outside world. But writing and summarizing all of that was fun, too, and that was the best part of this journey: enjoying the process.”
Verena Demontis sums it up by saying that “Every small step towards greater sustainability is important and needs to be pursued. This award confirms what we’re already doing and motivates us to keep finding innovative solutions that will benefit our company and the entire industry.”
