Goan restaurant Souza Lobo first in India to opt for Green Certification, Carbon Neutral practices

PANAJI: Goa’s famed seafood and traditional Goan food restaurant Souza Lobo at Calangute in North Goa, is India’s first restaurant to go in for a Green Certification and opt for carbon neutral practices.

According to Jude Lobo, the owner of the restaurant who is passionate about nature and the environment, “when I was offered the option to go in for a Green Certification with carbon neutral practices, I jumped at the idea immediately.”

“Goa is facing various Climate Change-related weather issues like extremely hot weather, unseasonal rain that has caused loss to farmers, crops and vegetables in the State and other vagaries of the weather. It is imperative that Goans see the writing on the wall and come forward to address the climate crisis-like situation in our land,” said Lobo emphatically.

Last year, in 2021, it rained every month in Goa, sometimes very heavily, causing huge damage to crops and vegetables grown by farmers in the State. This year in April 2022, unseasonal heavy rains have wreaked havoc in vegetable growing regions. It has never rained like this before, when rains were witnessed in all the 12 months, says Monica Rodrigues of the NGO Global Green Earth Forum.

Souza Lobo, which is celebrating 90 years of its existence, has pledged to plant 90,000 trees – 1000 trees for each year of its existence and has already appointed an agency to carry out the sapling plantation work across the state, after identifying spots where the sapling plantation can take place.

Our agency is working on identifying spots for sapling plantation and the tree plantation will start along with the monsoon, said Lobo, who is thrilled about the idea of planting so many trees.

The restaurant is also working alongside a Green Certification agency to chalk out Carbon Neutral practices for its food and hospitality business, which will be implemented on the go.

Souza Lobo is renowned for its authentic, traditional Goan food for nearly a century, since it was started in 1932 by Lobo’s grandfather. Based on the Calangute beach, it is a landmark for tourists and has weathered many storms and hostile takeovers by businessmen who wanted to turn it into a money-making machine.

Lobo has resisted business changes that are not in keeping with good environmental practices. For example, Souza Lobo is one of the very few restaurants in Goa that treat its own waste water in-house and recycle it for farming purposes.

“We are among the very few who have a sewage treatment plant and our wastewater is treated and recycled,” Lobo explains.