In collaboration with The Bombay Canteen, Mumbai | 2019

In 2019, Edible Issues worked alongside The Bombay Canteen, one of Mumbai’s most loved modern Indian restaurants, to support their early efforts in defining a long-term sustainability roadmap for the business.

The month-long project applied a design thinking approach to explore how the restaurant could meaningfully transition toward becoming a more environmentally responsible and community-rooted establishment by 2030.

Project Focus:

• Rethinking single-use plastics (SU) and disposables within the restaurant’s operations and supply chains.

• Mapping out existing sustainability efforts — from waste management and ingredient sourcing to staff practices and consumer education.

• Identifying opportunities to embed circular practices, regenerative sourcing, and zero-waste principles into day-to-day restaurant operations.

• Co-creating actionable recommendations and short-term experiments for the team to pilot.

Methodology:

Using a design thinking framework, the process involved:

• Ethnographic interviews with staff, suppliers, and customers.

• Systems mapping to identify material flows, pain points, and intervention opportunities.

• Workshop sessions with the restaurant’s team to co-develop ideas for operational changes and consumer experiences.

• A strategic roadmap outline for phased sustainability goals leading up to 2030.

This project allowed us to explore the intersection of food service, design thinking, and sustainability in an urban Indian context. It highlighted the importance of addressing not just product or ingredient choices, but systemic shifts within restaurant ecosystems — from sourcing and waste management to the stories restaurants tell about sustainability.