TEAM MENU 2025
Food is one of the most delicious ways to make a difference in the world, and at AO25, we’re inviting you to explore how your choices on the plate can shape a more sustainable future. Whether you're grabbing a hearty burger or savouring a plant-based curry, every item on our menu tells a story about its impact on the planet.
Eating sustainably isn’t as simple as going green—it's a balancing act of nutrition, taste, and environmental impact. Some ingredients are resource-intensive, like beef and cheese, while others, like legumes and seasonal vegetables, leave a much lighter footprint. At AO25, we’ve carefully curated a range of dishes, each with an eco-score to give you an idea of how it stacks up in terms of sustainability. Think of it as a way to empower your food choices without sacrificing flavour or variety.
The Balancing Act of Sustainable Eating
Eating sustainably isn’t as simple as going green—it's a balancing act of nutrition, taste, and environmental impact. Some ingredients are resource-intensive, like beef and cheese, while others, like legumes and seasonal vegetables, leave a much lighter footprint. At AO25, we’ve carefully curated a range of dishes, each with an eco-score to give you an idea of how it stacks up in terms of sustainability. Think of it as a way to empower your food choices without sacrificing flavour or variety.
The Best of the Best
Some of our menu items are real sustainability champions! Take the Thai Vegetable Curry or Massaman Sweet Potato Curry—plant-based dishes bursting with flavour and packed with low-impact ingredients like sweet potatoes, spinach, and chickpeas. These meals prove that you don’t need meat to enjoy a satisfying, environmentally conscious dish.
Even simple sides like Steamed Victorian Vegetables and Steamed Brown or White Rice earn solid eco-scores thanks to their straightforward, resource-efficient ingredients.
The Heavier Footprints
Not every item can wear the sustainability crown. For example, our Philly Burger, with its beef patty and cheese sauce, scores on the lower end of the scale. Beef is notorious for its high emissions and resource use, making it a less eco-friendly protein. But don’t worry—we’re transparent about these impacts, so you can make an informed decision.
Dishes like Butter Chicken and Beer-Battered Fish Fillet also have moderate-to-high environmental footprints, thanks to dairy, chicken, and processed ingredients. While they’re not the greenest options, they remind us that optimising sustainability is a complex task—it’s not about eliminating indulgence but finding balance.
It’s Not Always Straightforward
Did you know that even seemingly similar items can have wildly different impacts? Rice is a perfect example: while white and brown rice have similar eco-scores, farming practices and water use can make a big difference. Similarly, plant-based ingredients like coconut milk have a higher footprint than you might expect due to intensive farming and transportation.
And then there’s the debate about dairy. Our Baked Penne with Goat Cheese highlights how soft cheeses tend to have a lower footprint than hard cheeses, but all dairy involves emissions from livestock farming. Every ingredient tells a story, and it’s rarely black-and-white.
What If We All Ate More Sustainably?
Imagine a world where everyone chose dishes like our Coconut Tofu Curry or Tandoori Roasted Cauliflower just a little more often. Small shifts in collective behaviour could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save water, and preserve biodiversity. But sustainability isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress. Choosing a lower-impact dish once in a while, reducing food waste, or simply becoming aware of where your food comes from can make a meaningful difference.
Your Plate, Your Choice
At Calyx.eco, we don’t believe in food guilt—we believe in food empowerment. Every menu item has been crafted to be delicious, with clear eco-scores to help you weigh up your options. Whether you’re in the mood for a veggie-packed curry or a classic cheeseburger, we’re here to provide the knowledge you need to make choices that reflect your values.
Sustainability starts with awareness and a willingness to ask, "What if?" What if we all ate just a little more sustainably? It’s a question worth chewing on. Explore the AO25 menu and discover how delicious sustainability can be!
For attendees, partners, and the broader community, this initiative underscores the importance of collective responsibility in addressing environmental challenges, inspiring others to follow suit. The AO's work with Calyx.eco is a step toward rethinking how food is sourced, served, and consumed in ways that benefit both people and the planet.