Michelin Retires Green Star As Sustainability Recognition Takes New Direction

The Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland is to retire its Green Star sustainability accolade, bringing to a close a scheme that for several years identified restaurants demonstrating exemplary environmental and ethical credentials across their operations.

The announcement confirms what had been the subject of increasing conjecture within the trade for some months, with a number of operators — including businesses that had previously held the distinction — openly speculating that the programme was due for revision or discontinuation.

The Green Star, which carried no prerequisite for a restaurant to hold any other Michelin accolade, recognised venues taking a considered approach to issues including food waste reduction, the sourcing of seasonal and locally grown produce, regenerative growing practices, staff welfare, and community engagement.

Assessors weighed a broad range of criteria, with no fixed formula determining the outcome.

The 37 Green Star holders currently listed across Great Britain and Ireland will retain their designations until the close of this year, after which the accolade will be formally discontinued as part of a gradual wind-down.

In place of the Green Star, Michelin is launching an editorial initiative called Mindful Voices, described by the guide as a vehicle to spotlight and amplify the work of chefs, hoteliers and wine producers who are reshaping practice within their respective sectors. The initiative will make its debut at next month’s Michelin Guide Nordics ceremony, taking place in Copenhagen.

Crucially, Mindful Voices will not function as a formal award. There will be no accompanying icon, badge or logo — distinguishing it markedly from the certification-based model of the Green Star. The guide says the shift reflects a desire to tell a richer, more expansive story that moves beyond the confines of food and drink alone.

Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guide, said the new initiative would give a platform to those changing the way their industries operate.

“This new framework draws directly from what our inspection teams witness first-hand,” he said. “Encounters and experiences that are transforming how things are done and that deserve to be shared. The Michelin Guide will amplify and give full resonance to these voices from the worlds of gastronomy, hospitality and wine, so that they can be heard, wherever they may be.”