Mellow Mushroom Wins Inaugural Keg Champion Award
Mellow Mushroom has won the inaugural 2023 “Keg Champion Award” from the Steel Keg Association (SKA) in the Regional Restaurant Category. The new awards program was created by SKA to celebrate leading restaurants, bars, and breweries for embracing the remarkable benefits reusable steel kegs deliver: sustainability, efficiency, and a fresh consumer experience.
“Mellow Mushroom has had an environmental and sustainability focus since we were founded in 1974, from our recyclable pizza boxes to our vegan menu options,” said Anne Mejia, VP, Brand Development, Mellow Mushroom. “Mellow Mushroom is honored to be recognized by the Steel Keg Association with this inaugural ‘Keg Champion Award.”
Across the Mellow Mushroom collection of restaurants, more than 7000 unique draft beers were poured from steel kegs in 2022. In addition, the company offers a vegan menu, uses recycled pizza boxes, has transitioned to recycled paper bags and paper straws, and eliminated all single-use plastic containers.
Stainless steel kegs’ reusability and 30+ year lifespan make them the ideal circular choice for breweries, bars and restaurants. The Steel Keg Association created the Keg Champion Awards to recognize hospitality leaders’ sustainability programs and the positive impacts of steel kegs on the beverage industry.
By the Numbers - Environmental Impact
Mellow Mushroom’s use of steel kegs has a huge environmental impact (Steel Keg Association):
The equivalent of planting more than 42,000 trees
Saves more than 783,000 lbs. of landfill waste
Saves 32,000 gallons of gasoline
Kegs save more than 283,000 kg of CO2e vs. packaged beer
“We are so excited for Mellow Mushroom to be among the first class of Keg Champion Award winners this Earth Week,” says Dan Vorlage, Executive Director of the Steel Keg Association and MicroStar Logistics’ VP of Global Marketing. “For over 40 years, Mellow Mushroom has been serving up draft beer from reusable steel kegs to complement their fresh, stone-baked pizzas in an eclectic, art-filled, and family-friendly environment. They truly are Keg Champions, using reusable steel kegs to help remove billions of single-use containers from waste streams every year.”
The winners of the Steel Keg Association’s 2023 Keg Champion Awards are:
Regional Restaurant: Mellow Mushroom
National Restaurant: Buffalo Wild Wings
Local Restaurant: Clyde’s Restaurant Group
Large Brewery: Yuengling Brewing
Mid-Sized Brewery: Allagash Brewery
Small Brewery: Barley Brown's Beer
Draft Innovation: The Golden Mill
In addition to winning a coveted, custom-made Keg Champion Award (physically, the biggest award in the history of the food and beverage industry), the Steel Keg Association will donate $1,000 to EarthShare Georgia, an organization that connects people to trusted nonprofit organizations dedicated to conserving and protecting our air, land and water.