Turning food waste into a sustainable advantage

At the recent COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Dubai last month, hotel group, Iberostar, unveiled its circular economy roadmap. This included a commitment to reducing food waste by 60% in its all-inclusive hotels over the next five years and ensuring its hotels will offer food that will at minimum be 65% plant-based by 2030.

This is just one example of the contribution hotels are making when it comes to reducing food waste, a topic that is particularly pertinent for the meetings and events industry. According to UK-based venue sourcing provider Headbox, on average, an event wastes a fifth of all its food.

Food waste management solution provider Winnow, which has a presence both in the UK and internationally in 77 countries including APAC via its Singapore hub, works with a number of hotels in the UK and abroad, including brands such as Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Accor, Four Seasons and Iberostar, to help counter food waste from events.

Winnow uses AI tools which provide actionable insights through Winnow’s analytics platform, enabling kitchens to quickly pinpoint waste and adapt accordingly. Winnow says this has proven particularly effective in various settings, from city-centre hotels to larger chains.

Learning on the job

“Winnow has spent 10 years developing an effective training and onboarding process for chefs; however adapting to new technologies and changing long-standing kitchen practices naturally comes with challenges,” said Ken Kuguru, managing director for Winnow APAC based in Singapore. “Initially, there's a learning curve as staff adapt to using our tools and integrating them into their daily routines.”

Kuguru said that technology is a tool but not the solution itself. “We've seen first-hand how measuring and understanding food waste leads to behavioural change in kitchen staff. The data collected not only helps in reducing waste but also in improving menu planning and procurement practices. However real change at scale requires a change in culture which needs to be driven right from the very top of the organisation.”

By implementing Winnow’s technology, some of the benefits hotels have experienced include a significant reduction in food costs, with kitchens saving between 3% and 8% on purchasing costs. Kuguru said there is also a marked improvement in operational efficiency as kitchens become more adept at managing resources. Moreover, reducing food waste can contribute greatly to sustainability goals. The impact can therefore extend beyond financial savings, including a substantial reduction in CO2.

Hotels take action

Hotels are also exploring partnerships to help reduce food waste. Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester, owned by IHG, participated in a food waste pilot programme as part of IHG's involvement in the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Guardians of Grub campaign. This initiative provides hotels with free resources to help reduce food waste, emphasising the environmental and business benefits.

The hotel says it reduced food waste by 11% over a seven-month period through an eight-week pilot programme, achieving this by reviewing menus and diligently tracking food waste data. Going forward, IHG said it is continuing its engagement in this programme across all its hotels to address food waste in the hospitality industry.

Angeliki Krama, senior sustainability manager of Lamington Group, which operates the Room2 hotel brand in the UK, said it has implemented a range of food waste reduction measures, including an on-site composter, a bespoke-designed bin to enable guests to correctly sort food waste and a partnership with TooGoodtoGo, an app which connects customers to businesses with surplus food.

“Cocktails are also made utilising imperfect fruit and offcuts that would otherwise be wasted and we also recently partnered with Kafoodle to help reduce the carbon emissions associated with the meals and provide our guests with the opportunity to understand the emissions of their meals,” added Krama. “By providing the emissions per meal, we hope to influence customers to make more sustainable choices when selecting from the food options.”

Monitor and share best practice

Krama adds that it is important to monitor progress when implementing food waste initiatives and to communicate with guests the process of reducing food waste and managing waste properly.

“It is becoming more important to find a way to close the loop on food waste management, however it is a difficult issue to address,” said Krama. “It is a multistep process, beginning with identifying the main waste streams, educating staff and consumers, and partnering with responsible waste management providers. A greater amount of training on waste management and cleaning practices have been implemented across the industry. Increased education and awareness will help to ensure proper disposal and sorting of waste. It will also allow for proper storage of food to increase longevity, while preparation planning will allow for all pieces of food to be used, decreasing waste.”

Challenges

As well as working with Room2, Too Good to Go has helped hotel brands including Accor Hotels, Radisson Hotel Group and Malmaison with their food waste strategies. Its UK and Ireland managing director Sophie Trueman says that one major challenge with regards to managing food waste is the lack of standardised measurement and reporting practices, which makes it more difficult to assess efforts and collaborate across the hospitality industry.

“There can also be a challenge in staff engagement and adoption when introducing any new process or system, and especially in hospitality or retail sectors where turnover can be quite high,” she adds. “We understand that it's not just about introducing new practices; it's about ensuring that every staff member is actively involved and supports the mission to tackle food waste. We invest a considerable amount of time and resources to assist our larger partners with comprehensive onboarding sessions, as well as ongoing account management and retraining.”