Green Planet Catering is headquartered in Raleigh, but it does most of its environmentally friendly business in Chapel Hill.
The catering company is one of many finding its niche market in Chapel Hill’s green-minded market.
Tracy Triggs-Matthews, the assistant director at the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at Kenan-Flagler Business School, said she chooses the Raleigh-based caterer for center events because of its commitment to sustainability — all of the company’s produce is organic and it uses biodiesel fuel to operate its delivery trucks.
“They definitely live up to the ‘green’ in their name,” Triggs-Matthews said.
Daniel Whittaker, chief creator and sustainability director of Green Planet, said Chapel Hill businesses are drawn to the caterers because they understand the commitment to protecting the environment.
“The Chapel Hill crowd understands what we are doing,” Whittaker said. “They support the local movement and the desire to be more sustainable.”
Green Planet Catering produces its own food on North Carolina State University’s Agroecology Educational Farm. Food that isn’t grown on Green Planet’s farm is ordered from local farms.
“We started pushing the local food aspect because we started our own farm,” Whittaker said. “This way we can control the quality of the food and save money and supplement what we have with other local companies’ food.”
One-third of Green Planet’s business comes from Chapel Hill. The business has served clients in various departments at UNC, at the hospitals, the botanical gardens and private events.
