3 - Endorsed
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Bread, meat, cheese, fish and dairy come from local suppliers, and two regional products are named on the menu: Wâldpyk chicken carrying the Wâldpyk regional mark for De Friese Wouden, the region Burgum sits in, and Copa di Akkrum, a ham cured over 18 months by a butcher in Akkrum.
Waste and energy work runs across the whole building: gas, water, electricity, waste and cleaning figures are tracked and compared each year, food returns are measured periodically so portions can be adjusted, cooked food waste and organic waste are separated, and the new kitchen runs almost entirely off gas under LED lighting on a green electricity contract. Plastic disposables such as straws have gone, bags are paper and disposable tableware is compostable sugarcane.
On the social side the house employs staff through the Wajong scheme and the target group register and offers placements to pupils on the autism spectrum; neighbours are invited each year to a free preview of the theatre programme, an AED was installed with the municipality of Tytsjerksteradiel, and De Pleats supports the Kledingbank, the Autisme Campus and the local Streekmuseum. De Pleats has held a Green Key Gold certificate since 2014, the highest environmental level of that scheme, and renewed it in 2024. It is also recognised as a Fairtrade restaurant, serving fairtrade coffee and tea, and is a partner of MVO Nederland.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices
Sustainable animal products
Two regional products are named on the menu, Wâldpyk chicken from De Friese Wouden and Copa di Akkrum ham from Akkrum, alongside local suppliers for bread, meat, cheese, fish and dairy.
Two regional products are named on the dinner card and both trace to a specific, independently verifiable producer. Wâldpyk chicken carries the Wâldpyk regional mark, administered by Stichting Wrâldfrucht under Streekeigen Producten Nederland, for products from De Friese Wouden. Copa di Akkrum is an 18-month cured ham produced by Slagerij Spijkerman in Akkrum from Livar pork.
The 2024 CSR report states that local suppliers are a basic house rule: the baker, butcher, cheesemonger, fishmonger and dairy supplier are all local, and regional products sit structurally on the menu card. Large suppliers have signed a sustainability declaration under the Green Key scheme.
A monthly soup and a monthly vegetarian main rotate on the dinner menu, alongside seasonal specials such as December menus and Christmas brunch.
Part of the offering rotates on a monthly cycle. The dinner card lists a 'kop maandsoep' (monthly soup), and the 2024 CSR report refers to a 'maandmenu' that must always carry a vegetarian soup and a vegetarian main. A December special and a Christmas brunch are advertised separately. The à la carte dinner card itself is a fixed 16 main course list, and no source connects the monthly rotation to seasonal produce availability.
Specific named practices run across food waste (portions measured, swill separated), packaging (no plastic disposables, compostable tableware, free tap water), and energy (gas-free kitchen, LED lighting, green electricity), with annual utility tracking.
Specific, named practices are documented across all three sub areas. Food waste: returns are measured periodically so quantities can be adjusted, smaller garnish dishes cut discards, buffet trays are kept full and refilled with guest input, sauce is served in bottles at weddings and parties, and swill (cooked food waste) and organic waste are separated into extra fractions.
Packaging: no plastic disposable articles such as straws, paper bags replace plastic, disposable tableware is made from sugarcane and 100% compostable, greater use of bulk packaging, a larger glass container emptied less often, and free tap water with no large bottles of mineral water in stock. Energy: the new kitchen is almost entirely off gas, LED lighting throughout the restaurant and halls, a green electricity contract, freezers replaced with energy-labelled units, a Winterhalter MT dishwasher rated more efficient in water and detergent use, Albird cooling sensors monitoring fridge temperatures, High Green hand dryers, sensor taps limited to five litres per minute and eight water-saving urinals.
Gas, water, electricity, waste and cleaning figures are tracked as annual key figures and compared year on year, and an electric catering van plus four charging points are budgeted. The restaurant holds Green Key Gold, awarded on 12 November 2014 as the first restaurant in the north of the Netherlands and renewed in early 2024; the Gold award is independently reported in regional press.
Two animal products carry named sourcing: Akkrum ham made by Slagerij Spijkerman from Livar pork sourced from 'environmentally responsible and animal friendly' suppliers, and Wâldpyk chicken certified under Streekeigen Producten Nederland.
Two animal product lines carry named, traceable sourcing. Akkrum ham (Copa di Akkrum) is made by Slagerij Spijkerman from Livar pork, from a producer that describes its suppliers as working in environmentally responsible and animal friendly ways. Wâldpyk chicken carries the Wâldpyk regional mark certified under Streekeigen Producten Nederland. The 2024 CSR report adds that the butcher, fishmonger and dairy supplier are local.
Named commitments span fair employment (Wajong scheme staff, autism spectrum placements, training and annual staff trips), community engagement (eight theatre productions yearly, free neighbour previews, AED installation, weekly litter clearing), and cause support (Autisme Campus, Kledingbank, local Streekmuseum).
Named commitments run across all three sub areas. Fair employment: an employee in the Wajong scheme and an employee from the target group register are on the payroll, work placements are offered to pupils with an autism spectrum condition, and the report lists clear house rules, an in-house confidential counsellor, an annual RI&E risk inventory, training and further education including on sustainability, an annual staff trip, healthy food for staff, automated rostering and salary systems, and a standing hospitality and sustainability group.
Community engagement: around eight theatre productions a year run in the building, neighbours are invited annually to a free preview so that noise concerns can be aired, an AED was installed with the municipality of Tytsjerksteradiel and resuscitation training for neighbourhood residents was organised with De Friesland, and litter around the building is cleared weekly. Cause support: sponsorship of the Autisme Kafé and Autisme Campus, the Kledingbank, the Protestantse gemeente Burgum, the Gemeenschapsfonds Oranje Ferbynt, the Burgummobyl community transport scheme and the local Streekmuseum. Regional press independently describes the owners' focus on staff development and their co-founding of an autism campus initiative.
The 16-course à la carte includes four vegetarian or vegan dishes (vegan shepherd's pie, gado gado bowl, truffle ravioli, goat's cheese salad), with a monthly vegetarian main and vegetarian soup guaranteed on every menu.
The dinner card carries 16 main courses, of which four are vegetarian or vegan: a vegan shepherd's pie, a vegan bowl with gado gado, ravioli with truffle cream sauce and a goat's cheese main salad. Vegan dishes are printed on the card rather than offered on request, and plant forward intent is structural rather than token. The 2024 CSR report records a deliberate menu policy, that every monthly menu must contain a vegetarian soup and a vegetarian main and that a meat dish was removed from the card and replaced with a vegetarian one. Plant-based options also run through the other courses, with a vegan naan bread starter and a vegan monthly soup. Animal proteins remain more prominent, with 12 of 16 mains built on meat or fish.
Sourcing signals
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Direct named-farm sourcing
Two regional products on the menu trace to named producers: Wâldpyk chicken via Stichting Wrâldfrucht and Copa di Akkrum ham via Slagerij Spijkerman. The CSR report names five local supplier categories (baker, butcher, cheesemonger, fishmonger, dairy) but not the individual suppliers.
De Pleats is recognised as a Fairtrade restaurant. Fairtrade coffee, tea and table linen are used, and fairtrade meeting arrangements are offered.
Free tap water replaces bottled water, no plastic disposables are used, paper bags and 100% compostable sugarcane tableware are standard. Bulk packaging, cloth table linen and bottled sauce at events further reduce waste.
