'Sustainable' on your menu? Check if the Dutch regulator still allows it

Does your menu say "sustainably produced" or "local and sustainable"? Since September 27, 2026, that single phrase could cost your business dearly. From that date, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) actively enforces against vague sustainability claims without substantiation, with fines up to €900,000 per violation, and hospitality businesses are no exception. Anyone using such claims on a menu, website or social media now needs to check whether they're substantiated, and adjust them before the ACM comes knocking.

Key takeaways

Since September 27, 2026, the ACM actively enforces against vague sustainability claims such as "sustainable" and "eco-friendly" without substantiation, with fines up to €900,000 per violation (ACM, 2026).
The rules apply to every business communicating with consumers, from a sole proprietorship to a multinational: there is no exception for small hospitality businesses.
KHN, the Dutch hospitality trade association, urges operators to check their sustainability claims on menus, websites and social media before September 27 (KHN, 2026, Dutch source).
Self-made sustainability labels without recognized certification are no longer allowed; only labels based on a recognized certification system or government scheme remain permitted.
71% of Dutch consumers feel companies regularly engage in greenwashing (Duurzaam Ondernemen, 2026, Dutch source): a substantiated claim is therefore an immediate trust advantage.

What changes since September 27, 2026

Since September 27, 2026, stricter rules for sustainability claims toward consumers apply in the Netherlands, with the ACM as regulator and fines up to €900,000 per violation, or a higher percentage of annual turnover if that's steeper (ACM, 2026). The rules stem from the EU directive "Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition" and are meant to curb greenwashing.

Important for hospitality: KHN explicitly tells its members that the new rules also cover the claims on your menu, your website, social media and advertisements, and calls on them to check those before September 27 (KHN, 2026, Dutch source). This isn't an abstract law change for large food corporations. It touches directly on how you talk about your dishes and your business today.

Which claims fall under the new rules

General, vague terms such as "sustainable", "green", "eco-friendly" or "climate-neutral" can no longer be used without concrete substantiation. The same goes for self-made sustainability labels: a homemade "eco" stamp on your menu will soon be banned, unless it's based on a recognized certification system or a government scheme.

Climate claims that rely solely on carbon offsetting are also under scrutiny. A phrase like "we work sustainably" or "local and sustainably produced" is exactly the type of claim that now becomes a problem: broad, pleasant-sounding, but without a concrete fact behind it. Specific claims with a number, a certification, or a named source carry much less risk.

Why there's no exception for small hospitality businesses

The new rules apply to every business that communicates with consumers, from a one-person café to an international chain. There's no exception for small or medium-sized businesses: the standard for a neighborhood lunchroom is the same as for a large restaurant chain.

That can feel disproportionate if you're a sole operator without a legal team checking your marketing copy in advance. Still, the logic behind it is simple: a guest who reads "local and sustainable" makes a choice based on that phrase at a one-person business just as much as at a large chain. Protection against misleading claims applies to every consumer, regardless of the size of the business where they eat.

Checklist: which sustainability claims are you making right now

Go through this list for your own business, and note for each claim whether you can substantiate it today:

Does your menu say "sustainable", "green", "eco-friendly" or "climate-neutral" without explanation?
Do you use words like "local", "fresh" or "organic" without knowing exactly which supplier or certification backs that up?
Do you have a self-designed "eco" logo or star next to dishes, without recognized certification behind it?
Does your website or social media mention general sustainability ambitions without figures, a year, or a concrete action?
Do you point to carbon offsetting as proof that a dish or your business is "climate-neutral"?

Every "yes" on this list is a claim to fix or substantiate now, not something to deal with after September 27.

The owner of a small bistro with two staff members reads the KHN notice and goes through the menu. It lists "local and sustainably produced" next to the daily fresh meat, without the owner ever having recorded exactly which farm it comes from or what "sustainable" is based on.

Instead of leaving the term as is, he calls his meat supplier and asks for the exact origin and any certification. The answer: beef from a farm 9 kilometers away, carrying the Beter Leven (Better Life) animal welfare label. He changes the menu text to "beef from De Groene Hoeve farm, 9 km away, Beter Leven 1-star certified" and rolls out the same text on his website and Instagram bio.

The result is a shorter claim with more information, one he can also substantiate if a guest asks or if the ACM ever stops by. That's exactly the shift the new rules require: from a pleasant-sounding word to a fact you can point to.

How to properly substantiate a sustainability claim

The ACM works with five rules of thumb: use correct, clear, specific and complete claims, substantiate them with facts and keep them current, make fair comparisons, describe future ambitions concretely and measurably, and make sure labels and images don't confuse rather than help (ACM, 2026, Dutch source).

Translated to your menu, that means: not "local and sustainable meat", but "beef from farm X, 12 kilometers away" or "chicken with the Beter Leven label". Not "we work sustainably", but a concrete action with a year attached, such as "since 2025 we've used reusable cups on the terrace". A claim you can explain in one factual sentence usually survives scrutiny. A claim that only sounds good usually doesn't.

What to change this month to avoid a fine

Start with the claims from your checklist you can't substantiate: drop them, or replace them with a concrete, verifiable version. When you change such a text, you want to update it consistently everywhere: on the menu, the website and social media, instead of fixing it in one place while the old claim lingers somewhere else. Central content management (Dutch only) rolls out an updated text to every location at once, so you don't have to check location by location whether the old claim is still floating around.

If you want to substantiate a claim about ingredients, such as "local" or a specific origin, it helps if that information is already on record. Recipe management (Dutch only) records supplier, origin and ingredients per dish centrally, so when a guest asks, or an inspector does, you can immediately show what the claim is based on instead of having to track it down.

Honest communication pays off as much as the claim itself

71% of Dutch consumers feel companies regularly engage in greenwashing (Duurzaam Ondernemen, 2026, Dutch source). That distrust works in your favor the moment you make a concrete, substantiated claim: it stands out against the vague promises of the rest of the market.

Avoiding a fine isn't the only goal. A guest who reads that your chicken carries a specific certification, or that your vegetables come from a named farm 15 kilometers away, believes that faster than an unexplained "sustainable" sticker. Still unsure which claims on your menu will pass the test? Get in touch with Horecaflix, and we'll help you think through how to update that consistently across all your channels.