We are committed to providing a safe, supportive and rewarding workplace where everyone is treated fairly and with respect.

Our approach includes:

• providing fair and transparent terms of employment;
• maintaining a safe and welcoming working environment;
• supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of our teams;
• providing structured induction, training and ongoing support;
• creating opportunities for people to develop their skills and careers;
• promoting from within wherever practical;
• listening to employees and encouraging open, constructive feedback; and
• recognising the contribution each person makes to the business.

We have recently introduced a digital team platform that brings together communication, training, task management, compliance and employee surveys. This will help us listen more effectively to our teams and improve how we measure employee satisfaction, retention, training and progression – giving us a clearer understanding of where we are doing well and where further action is needed.

Arabica has always been shaped by people from many different countries, cultures and backgrounds. That mix of experiences and perspectives enriches our food, strengthens our teams and helps create the warmth and generosity we want every guest to feel.

We want everyone who works with us, visits us or is affected by our business to feel respected, valued and able to belong. This means creating fair access to opportunity, listening to different voices and challenging discrimination, bias and barriers wherever we find them.

Our Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment Statement sets out our commitments, how we are putting them into practice and how we will continue to measure our progress and hold ourselves accountable.

Respect for human rights extends across our own operations and the relationships within our value chain.

Our internal due-diligence and escalation process helps us identify actual or potential adverse impacts through employee and stakeholder feedback, grievances, supplier assessments, risk reviews and other relevant information.

Concerns are assessed according to their severity and likelihood, with greater weight given to the seriousness of the potential harm. Appropriate action may include further investigation, stakeholder engagement, changes to working practices, supplier improvement plans, increased monitoring or reconsideration of a business relationship. Severe, systemic or strategic concerns are escalated to senior leadership or the Board.

Our Human Rights Policy sets out the standards we uphold across our operations and supply chain, including fair working conditions, equality, modern slavery, responsible sourcing, speaking up and access to remedy.

Our food begins long before it reaches the kitchen. It is shaped by the landscapes, seasons, traditions and people behind the ingredients we use across the Eastern Mediterranean and closer to home.

Careful procurement and high animal-welfare expectations have guided our buying for many years. We choose suppliers not only for flavour and quality, but also for provenance, traceability and the care they show towards people, animals and the environment.

Eastern Mediterranean food is naturally rich in vegetables, pulses, grains, herbs, seeds and plant-based dishes. These ingredients have always been at the heart of our cooking—not included as an afterthought

We aim to maintain a broad and appealing choice of vegetarian and vegan dishes while sourcing meat, dairy and seafood with increasing care. Our menus are led by flavour and seasonality, with consideration also given to ingredient provenance, animal welfare, environmental impact and avoidable waste

We believe responsible menu development should increase choice and enjoyment rather than make sustainability feel like a compromise.

We work with a trusted network of established British businesses, specialist importers and independent producers, many of whom we have known for years. We do not judge value on price alone: quality, flavour, provenance, traceability and integrity all influence our decisions.

We aim to build lasting relationships, communicate openly, pay in accordance with agreed terms and treat our suppliers fairly. We expect suppliers, contractors and business partners to comply with applicable laws and uphold appropriate standards across human rights, working conditions, food safety, environmental responsibility and ethical conduct.

Behind the scenes, our internal Responsible Procurement Policy and Supplier Due-diligence Process formalise an approach that has long been part of Arabica. They guide how we select, assess and monitor suppliers, with additional scrutiny applied where greater social, environmental or ethical risks are identified.

We use local and seasonal produce wherever it is appropriate to our food. However, ingredients such as tahini, sumac, pomegranate molasses and spices are deeply connected to the places and traditions that give them their character. For these ingredients, responsible and traceable sourcing can be more meaningful than simply choosing the shortest journey.

We have always believed that serving meat, poultry, dairy, eggs and seafood carries a responsibility to understand where those ingredients come from and how the animals have been raised, handled, transported and slaughtered.

Careful procurement has been central to our approach for many years. We favour suppliers that can demonstrate clear provenance, responsible farming practices and high standards of animal husbandry. We are particularly committed to native and heritage breeds, which help preserve genetic diversity, support traditional farming and are naturally suited to their local landscapes.

For seafood, we consider the species, origin and method of fishing or farming, consulting recognised sustainability guidance and giving preference to credible independent certification where available.

Our Animal Welfare & Responsible Seafood Statement sets out our sourcing expectations, how animal welfare and seafood sustainability are considered within our purchasing decisions, and how we monitor and address concerns within our supply chain.

Serving safe food is a fundamental responsibility.

Our Fresh dips, ingredients and spices are produced in a SALSA accredited facility and regularly audited against recognised food-safety standards. Across our business, we maintain procedures covering food hygiene, allergens, traceability, cleaning, temperature control, supplier approval, employee training, product recall and customer complaints.

Our fresh retail dips have been shelf-life tested to support a life of up to 21 days. Extending shelf life safely can provide greater consistency for customers and help reduce avoidable food waste without compromising quality or flavour.

Full ingredient and allergen information is provided for our packaged products and is available for our restaurant dishes on request.

We believe good food should begin with recognisable ingredients, thoughtful recipes and careful preparation.

Our restaurant-quality dips are made without unnecessary artificial additives. We focus instead on the ingredients that give our food its character: chickpeas, tahini, vegetables, yoghurt, herbs, spices, olive oil, lemon and garlic.

“Clean label” is not a regulated certification, so we use the term carefully. For us, it means understandable ingredient lists, no unnecessary artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, clear allergen information and honest product descriptions.

For over two decades, we have travelled through fertile valleys, mountain villages, coastal towns and bustling cities across the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond—driven by a deep curiosity to taste, learn and immerse ourselves in the region’s rich culinary traditions.

The cooks, producers, writers, families and communities we have encountered along the way continue to shape our food. With that inspiration comes a responsibility to approach these traditions with curiosity, care and respect.

This means:

• acknowledging the places, people and traditions that inspire our food;
• continuing to listen and learn from people connected to the region;
• sharing the stories and cultural context behind ingredients and dishes;
• recognising that culinary traditions travel, evolve and cross modern borders;
• avoiding simplified claims of ownership where a dish has a shared or contested history; and
• using food and storytelling to encourage cultural connection and understanding.

We do not claim ownership of these traditions. Our role is to cook, share and celebrate them honestly, while introducing more people to their extraordinary depth, generosity and diversity.

Arabica began at Borough Market in the late 1990s with a trestle table and a small selection of ingredients and meze. The Market gave us a place to grow, build lasting relationships and become part of a community that continues to shape who we are today.

Our sense of community extends beyond the neighbourhoods around our restaurants. It also connects us to the people and places that inspire our food and to organisations addressing hunger, hardship and food waste.

Over the years, our support has included:

• creating our Soup for Syria initiative, through which a contribution from a selected restaurant dish was donated to support humanitarian relief;
• contributing recipes to fundraising cookbooks, including #CookForSyria and #BakeForSyria;
• conceiving and organising Bake for Beirut at Borough Market, bringing the food community together to raise funds following the devastating Beirut port explosion in 2020;
• preparing and supplying meals to NHS teams every week during the Covid-19 pandemic;
• redistributing surplus food through Plan Zheroes, helping good food reach people rather than going to waste; and
• regularly supporting the fundraising campaigns of Action Against Hunger and StreetSmart across our restaurants.

Alongside these established partnerships, we aim to contribute positively by creating employment and opportunities, supporting local and independent businesses, participating in neighbourhood initiatives and sharing food, time, knowledge or practical help wherever we can make a meaningful difference.

We have not always formally measured the full value or impact of these contributions. As part of our responsible-business commitments, we are improving how we record charitable donations, fundraising, volunteering, donated meals and other in-kind support so that we can report on our community impact more consistently and transparently.

Food businesses depend on healthy soils, reliable water supplies, stable seasons and thriving seas. At the same time, restaurants and food production consume energy, water and materials, generate waste and create emissions throughout their supply chains.

Careful purchasing, thoughtful stock management and respect for ingredients have long been part of how Arabica operates. However, we recognise that good intentions are not enough and that we have not always measured our environmental impact as consistently as we should.

Our Board-approved Climate Action Plan formalises the next stage of this work. It supports the global ambition to limit warming to 1.5°C and sets out actions and targets covering energy, emissions, waste, renewable electricity, materials, transport, procurement and employee engagement.

We are now strengthening our data collection, establishing reliable baselines and introducing more consistent environmental reporting. Progress against the Plan will be reviewed annually, reported to the Board and communicated publicly, with the Plan formally updated at least every three years.

Meaningful improvement begins with understanding our current impact.

We are developing an annual environmental-impact dashboard covering:

• energy consumption;
• Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse-gas emissions;
• relevant Scope 3 emissions;
• water use;
• food waste;
• total waste and recycling; and
• packaging and material consumption.

Our first reporting cycle will establish clear baselines wherever reliable information is available. Where information is incomplete, we will explain the gaps and set out how we intend to improve the quality of our data. These measurements will help us identify priorities, set informed reduction targets and report more transparently on our progress.

We believe food should be valued and used with care. Preventing waste is therefore more important than finding somewhere for it to go once it has been created.

Across our kitchens, we work to reduce food waste through careful purchasing and production planning, monitoring sales and waste patterns, adjusting batch sizes, rotating stock effectively and making thoughtful use of suitable trim and surplus ingredients.

Where safe and practical, edible surplus is used for staff meals or redistributed through partners such as Plan Zheroes, helping good food reach people rather than going to waste. Unavoidable food waste is separated for appropriate collection wherever facilities allow.

We are improving how food waste is weighed, recorded and reviewed so that we can establish a reliable baseline and measure future reductions.

Our restaurants and kitchens require energy for cooking, refrigeration, lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation. Our Climate Action Plan commits us to monitoring consumption, improving energy efficiency and increasing the proportion of electricity obtained from renewable sources.

We will measure our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions annually and identify the Scope 3 categories most relevant to our business, including purchased goods, packaging, transport and logistics. This information will help us focus our efforts where they can make the greatest practical difference

Water is also an essential resource throughout our kitchens and restaurants. We are working to improve how consumption is monitored and to identify sensible opportunities to reduce unnecessary use without compromising food safety, hygiene or the customer experience.

Packaging protects food, maintains safety and extends shelf life, but it also carries an environmental cost.

We are reviewing the paper, packaging and single-use materials used across our restaurants, kitchens and retail products. 

Our priorities are to remove unnecessary materials, reduce consumption, improve recyclability and introduce reusable or lower-impact alternatives where these are safe, practical and commercially workable.

We are also improving the separation and recording of waste streams across our locations. Better information will allow us to understand what is being discarded, increase recycling and identify further opportunities for reduction, reuse and circularity.

Hospitality is built on trust. We want our customers to feel welcome, treated fairly and given the information they need to make informed choices about our restaurants, food and products.

Our marketing, advertising and public relations should describe our food and business honestly.

We expect product descriptions and social or environmental claims to be accurate, clear and supported by credible evidence. We do not want to exaggerate individual initiatives, make unsubstantiated claims or present limited progress as though it represents the performance of the whole business.

Our internal Ethical Marketing and Public Relations Policy guides employees, agencies, contractors, advertisers and influencers acting on our behalf. Paid partnerships and sponsored content must be clearly disclosed, and we prohibit deceptive practices such as misleading claims, hidden advertising, fake reviews and undisclosed endorsements.

Content created with the assistance of artificial intelligence remains subject to appropriate human review and the same standards of accuracy, evidence and accountability as any other communication.

Listening to customers helps us understand what we are doing well and where we need to improve.

We gather feedback through conversations in our restaurants, customer surveys, reviews, emails, social media and direct contact with our teams. Feedback and complaints are reviewed by the relevant managers and used to inform improvements to our menus, products, service and customer experience.

We aim to respond promptly, openly and fairly when something goes wrong and to learn from recurring concerns rather than treating complaints as isolated incidents.

We want our communications to be respectful, inclusive and understandable to a broad range of people.

Our internal Inclusive Language Guide helps employees consider the language, imagery and formats used in customer communications. We aim to use clear language, avoid stereotypes and assumptions, and improve the accessibility of our website and other communications.

We take particular care when communicating with children, young people and other potentially vulnerable audiences. Our marketing must not exploit fear, misinformation, social pressure or personal circumstances.

We aim to provide clear information about our products, ingredients, allergens, prices and purchasing terms. Full ingredient and allergen information is provided for packaged products and is available for restaurant dishes on request.

We respect customer privacy and handle personal information in accordance with applicable data-protection legislation. 

Customers should understand how their information is used and be able to control the marketing communications they receive.

Read our Privacy Notice.

Responsible business begins with clear accountability. As Arabica has grown, we have been strengthening the structures behind our long-standing values and embedding greater consideration of people, communities, customers, suppliers and the environment into our governance and significant business decisions.

We believe a business should create value for more than its shareholders. When making significant decisions, we aim to consider the potential impact on our employees, customers, suppliers, communities, the environment and the long-term resilience of the business.

As part of our preparation for B Corp Certification, we are reviewing our governing documents so that our commitment to considering these stakeholders is formally embedded within the legal framework of the Company.

Arabica’s Board of Directors retains overall responsibility for our purpose and social, environmental and ethical performance.

Senior management is responsible for implementing our commitments, monitoring progress and ensuring that significant risks and concerns are investigated and addressed. Matters requiring additional resources or strategic decisions are escalated to the Board.

Our principal responsible-business policies and plans are reviewed regularly and, where required, formally approved by the Board.

We have identified the groups most closely connected to or affected by our business. These include our employees, customers, suppliers, communities, charitable partners, shareholders and the environment.

Our internal Stakeholder Engagement Plan guides how we gather and consider their perspectives. This includes employee surveys and meetings, customer feedback, supplier discussions, community partnerships, grievance channels and direct engagement with those affected by our decisions.

Feedback and engagement outcomes are reviewed by the Operations Director, with significant themes, concerns and progress on social and environmental matters reported to the Board at least annually.

We may not always be able to satisfy every request, but we aim to listen carefully, respond respectfully and explain the reasoning behind significant decisions.

We expect everyone acting on Arabica’s behalf to behave honestly, lawfully and with integrity.

Our internal policies address bribery and corruption, conflicts of interest, data protection, fair competition, workplace conduct and the responsible use of company information. Employees and business partners must not offer, request or accept improper payments or attempt to influence decisions through unlawful or unethical means.

Where suspected misconduct is identified, it should be reported, investigated and escalated according to its seriousness.

At Arabica we are committed to maintaining ethical, transparent, and respectful relationships with our stakeholders. We recognise that concerns may arise regarding our activities, decisions, products, services, business relationships, or impacts, and we are committed to providing a fair, accessible, and effective process for raising and resolving grievances.

Our Stakeholder Grievance Policy & Procedure provides a formal process for anyone who believes they have been adversely affected by Arabica’s actions or omissions to raise a concern and seek an appropriate remedy. A Grievance Submission Form is available for anyone wishing to use this process.

We believe businesses should use their voice responsibly. Where Arabica contributes to public-policy discussions, campaigns or industry initiatives, our involvement should be honest, evidence-led and consistent with our purpose, values and responsibilities to our stakeholders.

We do not make financial or in-kind contributions to political parties, candidates or political campaigns. We also prohibit bribery, improper influence and lobbying that undermines public trust or places short-term commercial interests ahead of people, communities or the environment.

Our Responsible Lobbying Policy explains the standards governing our advocacy, political engagement and work with trade associations and other partners.

We are improving the information used to measure our social and environmental performance and developing an annual impact dashboard covering our principal commitments and targets.

Progress will be reviewed by senior management and reported to the Board at least annually. We also intend to publish regular updates explaining what we have achieved, where targets have not been met and where information remains incomplete.

Accountability means being open not only about our successes, but also about the areas where further work is required.