Wahaca plans restaurant expansion across London

Wahaca is planning to expand across London, targeting environmentally conscious sites in areas such as King’s Cross, Victoria, and the suburbs.

It marks a return to growth for the Mexican restaurant group, which closed almost half of its estate in October 2020.

There are currently 13 Wahaca stores in operation and its site in London’s Southbank has been named as the capital’s most sustainable restaurant build.

Mark Selby, co-founder of the Mexican diner, said: “We want to work with landlords to open restaurants in places that share not only our ethos, but are as committed as we are to taking positive, affirmative action on the environment.”

Thomas Rose, co-founder of Wahaca’s exclusive property provider, P-THREE, added: “Landlords are rightly prioritising ESG corporately, but there is a growing move to do so at an asset-level too as they respond to changing consumer behaviours.

“While Wahaca’s new strategy lays down a challenge, it is being welcomed by landlords and leading to some exciting conversations.”

The chain’s sustainable site selection strategy coincides with its introduction of carbon ratings to its menus from this week, which it claims is an industry first for a British restaurant group.

Wahaca partnered with food and climate specialists Klimato to calculate the carbon footprint of each dish. Each menu item will now have a low, medium or a high rating, depending on the greenhouse gas emissions of its ingredients.

In autumn last year, the restaurant chain also released its avocado-free Wahacamole, a sustainable alternative to guacamole, which is known to contribute to deforestation and water shortages.

The company received three stars out of three from the Sustainable Restaurant Association in January 2022.