Earth Day toolkit

Take your climate-friendly menus to the next level this Earth Month! Our Earth Day toolkit has everything from marketing & customer engagement ideas, menu cycle inspiration and more.

Earth Day engagement ideas

Sampling table

Increase student or customer appreciation of and engagement with plant-based offerings by setting up a table and sampling the items the day before you plan to menu them or the day of. Let your students or customers offer immediate feedback by voting for their favorite dishes.

Recipe demonstration

Surprise your students or customers with a special dinner or demo event that features easy-to-make and popular plant-based items like build-your-own nachos bar, make-your-own mushroom street tacos, or a baked potato bar featuring popular toppings like black bean chili.

Voting

Create a contest around new plant-based items and allow students and customers to vote on their favorites. This will get students, customers, and staff more enthused about and invested in these options. It is also an excellent way to inspire chefs to get excited about new dishes and potentially unfamiliar ingredients.

Invite a guest

Have a plant-based guest chef at the event to get students and customers excited about plant-based food!

Naming contest

Let students or customers name the dishes! You can also select fun names after your city (e.g., Tacoma Tacos, Minneapolis Muffins, Cincinnati Crisps) or school (e.g., Bulldog Burritos, Park High Pesto Pasta, Cooper Chili).

Invite a vendor

Collaborate with a plant-based vendor for an event or takeover to get students and customers excited about the new menu items. Examples of simple ingredient swaps include swapping the meat and cheese on your pizzas for plant-based pepperoni and non-dairy cheese. Or even more straightforward would be swapping out the chicken nuggets for plant-based nuggets.

Recipe contest

Have a plant-based recipe contest and invite students or customers to submit new, creative recipes. For staff, we also offer plant-based virtual product trainings, where participants can innovate exciting new recipes to roll out using some of the newest and most popular plant-based products on the market.

Offer prizes

Offer incentives and prizes for students or customers who choose a plant-based menu item. For younger children who choose a plant- based meal, a bright-colored sticker on their meal tray or food item could enter them into a raffle. Implement a loyalty program for plant- based rollouts (e.g., when customers try new items on rollout days, they get a punch or stamp card that adds up to a free smoothie or other prize).