Report: Restaurants should push sustainability, local connections. The restaurant business is continuing to flourish in Charleston, with 30 eateries opening in the past 90 days and many more at various stages of development, according to Kennedy Commercial Real Estate’s Charleston Restaurant Report for April.

The restaurants offer a variety of concepts and food styles, and not all of them will succeed in a crowded marketplace, but a recent report by Modern Restaurant Management magazine says one key concept new restaurants should consider as they build their business is sustainability.

According to the MRM study, three forces are pushing restaurant sustainability practices forward.

1. Localization: More customers are looking for restaurants that can share where their products came from, and are placing a high value on locally sourced food. The farm-to-table concept is not new, but is continuing to gain in popularity, and customers like knowing that their food does not contain pesticides, hormones or additives.

2. Social responsibility: Some customers want to know how much restaurants recycle and how they dispose of food waste. They want to know that restaurants take care of their employees and work to benefit their community. “Taking steps to reduce food waste is the first and most impactful practice a restaurant can adopt to become more socially responsible,” according to the MRM report.

3. Transparency: Some customers want to see the results of a restaurant’s sustainability practices, such as the number of meals donated or the local food companies supported. While localization and social responsibility are key, they don’t mean anything if restaurant owners can’t prove that their business is doing the right thing. --Leigh Savage

50 Most Influential
Will Haynie

Mt. Pleasant

Mayor

Councilmember Will Haynie was elected to Council in November 2015. He was elected mayor in November 2017.

Born in Greenville, Haynie moved with his family to Mt. Pleasant in 1966. He attended kindergarten at First Presbyterian Church and spent days playing in the Old Village and walking to Pitt Street Pharmacy for their legendary Cherry Cokes. After his father finished a stint at the Medical University of South Carolina, Haynie’s family moved to Sumter in 1969, where he completed high school.

Haynie graduated from The Citadel in 1983 with a degree in business administration. While a cadet, he rose to the highest cadet rank, regimental commander; was elected by his classmates as commander of the Summerall Guards; and received the highest award for leadership and principle that can be conferred by the college on a cadet, the Palmetto Medal Award.

In his professional life, Mayor Haynie has been CEO of several non-profits, including the Lowcountry Open Land Trust and the S.C. Maritime Foundation. His media experience includes stints as an op-ed newspaper columnist for three newspapers, including The Moultrie News; sailing columnist for The Post and Courier; talk radio show host; and congressional press secretary. His first book was published in 2001. 

Haynie currently owns his own media/marketing/PR advisory firm located in Mt. Pleasant. He and his wife, Suzette, a local school teacher, have four children.