FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS

Okay. First question: Why?
 

Have you seen what these restaurants are doing? More people should know about this! Look, if you asked us to hot glue a vision board together, our goal would be simple: have a positive impact by inspiring as many people as possible to eat tasty, healthy, and sustainable. That's why My Treats includes both street food and fine dining. And everything in between.

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Why are you guys called My Treats? Candy is a treat. Or cake. That’s not conscious.

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True! So true. But when coming up with our name, we found the official definition of a treat, which got us thinking: a treat is ‘an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure.’

And you know what; that perfectly describes what all our restaurants offer! We hope to broaden the perception of what a true treat should be.

For it to include something damn delicious, that’s made with care and lots of good ingredients.

 

How do you validate the restaurants listed on My Treats?

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It's this ground-breaking technique we use. We go in, have the food, and talk to the chefs! When a restaurant is listed in the My Treats app, we did a deep dive into their menu choices, their suppliers, and things like waste policies. When a venue meets our list of base criteria, they've made the cut! Some of these places are the best of the best when it comes to conscious cooking. But we also love to support those who are on the right track. Every big step forward starts with small changes. Are they all perfect? No. But who is?
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Are all restaurants on My Treats vegan or vegetarian?

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No, My Treats also features restaurants that offer sustainable meat or fish. We want to help as many people as possible in their search for better food. Whether they’re vegan, vegetarian, or responsible meat or fish lovers. Of course, going vegan or vegetarian is a great way to contribute to a better world. But it’s not the only way.

 

How does your algorithm work?

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We prefer to feed people instead of an algorithm. And therefore, we put you in charge. By adding your preferences on sustainability and healthy eating, you get recommended places that match your cravings. And that’s it! We don’t push mediocre restaurants because they paid for a promotion. We don’t rank venues based on the height of their fee, because they don’t pay any. And we won’t be selling your data to 3rd parties. Doing these things would make our restaurant recommendations less valuable for you. And why would we want to do that?

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Do restaurants pay to get featured?

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Nope. Some asked us if they could, but we prefer them not to. We want to act and select independently, so we never have to compromise our standards and ideals. All the restaurants on My Treats grabbed our attention by being so. d*mn. good. We experienced it first-hand. We had their food (and licked the plate), loved their story, and decided you just HAD to try this as well. Restaurant owners can add their place as well. These are labelled ‘Treats-to-be’ until they are verified by us or the My Treats community.

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What do you consider conscious, healthy and sustainable?

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We know the definitions and standards for these words vary between one person and another. While we aren't an Oxford Dictionary, we worked hard on defining what these words mean to us as well. So, here you are:

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* CONSCIOUS cooking is making deliberate choices to positively impact others and the world around us.

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* HEALTHY eating translates to ensuring mostly unrefined whole foods, offering loads of vegetables, using no refined sugars, and choosing organic ingredients.

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* SUSTAINABLE food has low or no negative impact on the environment. Sustainable choices include buying seasonal and local, working circular, rethinking the use of meat and fish, and many more.

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How do you rate restaurants?​

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We have three types of restaurants:

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Standard restaurants haven't been identified as matching our values yet. They might, but we haven't found out yet. However, you can upvote them in the app, so we can prioritize their assessment and possibly upgrade them. (note, at the time of writing this explanation, this level is under development in the app. We expect this to go live during around Q4 2024.)

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Treats restaurants are our "entry-level" when it comes to matching the My Treats values. They do not explicitly collaborate with My Treats . We assess them based on publicly available information (typically the restaurant’s website and other public websites). They can get up to 3 planets, a potential 4th planet for exceptional cases only.​

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Top Treats restaurants collaborate with My Treats, and possibly with professional assessors working in partnership with My Treats. Their assessment is measured and produces a score that can go up to 5 planets, which requires a formal certification by a recognized external partner.

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We specifically assess the following dimensions in detail:

- Food healthiness: locality, seasonality, non-processed food;

- Sustainability: waste reduction, clean and efficient energy, plastic avoidance

- Social impact: engagement in local community practices, fair employment practices, support of good causes.

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The detailed assessments then translate in a My Treats score from 1 to 5, as outlined below.

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🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎 Outstanding: serves healthy and highly sustainable food, is at the forefront and shows leadership.

• Collaboratively assessed by My Treats and/or by a validated external assessment partner.

• Backed by sustainability data.

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🌎🌎🌎🌎 Really good: serves healthy and sustainable food.

• Collaboratively assessed in detail by My Treats and/or by a validated external assessment.

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🌎🌎🌎 Good: Serves healthy or sustainable food.

• Assessed by My Treats or a partner, possibly only assessed “from outside” (public sources).

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🌎🌎 Well intentioned: multiple healthy food and/or sustainability initiatives, has a credible narrative.

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🌎 Starting: one or more healthy food and/or sustainability initiatives, without narrative or a high-level one.