Tackling food waste

02/09/2014 11:30:54

The UK hospitality and food service sector is wasting just shy of one million tonnes of food a year, at a cost of £2.5 billion annually. Mark Linehan, Managing Director of Sustainable Restaurant Association, explains how their FoodSave initiative can help canteens and quick service establishments in London

Food waste; two words that should send a shudder down the back of any self-respecting chef, owner or operator. When we conducted our annual research in 2013, to find out the sustainability issues that really matter to consumers when eating out, food waste topped the poll. They understand that it’s socially unacceptable when people are resorting to using food banks, environmentally wrong (the water used to grow food wasted globally is equivalent to three times the contents of Lake Geneva) and economic madness.

And yet, speak to many of these businesses and you’ll find they are in denial. We don’t have a food waste problem, many of them will say. That’s been our experience while running a transformative programme for the Mayor of London, funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the London Waste and Recycling Board. Restaurants and cafés that have participated in FoodSave, many of which believed they did not have a serious problem, have, with our help, made really significant reductions to the amount of food they are wasting and have saved themselves thousands of pounds in the process.

FoodSave uses new smart and easy to use technology which for the first time allows food businesses to measure in minute detail exactly what they are wasting, in what quantity and revealing its value. During the three-four week programme, using a conventional bin placed on a set of scales attached to an intelligent tablet (the Winnow Waste System) that is loaded with detailed, site specific information about the menu ingredients, the business learns precisely what it’s wasting and at what stage of the process. This then allows the SRA to work with the operator to come up with innovative solutions. Businesses have reduced their waste by an average of 2 tonnes per year and in the process are saving £6,000 annually. A number of sites are saving in excess of £10,000. Not bad for a programme that’s completely free!

Given what we perhaps rather immodestly think of as impressive figures, it’s hard to imagine why any business would not want to get involved. For businesses outside of London, or which are too big to qualify for FoodSave, there are simple measures that will help cut waste and save money. Food businesses in Scotland have already had a wake-up call with the introduction of new regulations that mean they must dispose of their waste responsibly. And local authorities in England are taking up the fight too. Oxfordshire is running a Too Good To Waste campaign, using the SRA’s 2011 model, providing operators with doggy boxes and encouraging diners to ask to take home their leftovers.

Rather than living in denial or putting off tackling the issue, businesses should recognise that food waste is a problem and act now to realise the huge opportunity it presents to save money, reduce their environmental impact and impress their customers.
BOX OUT

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is a high volume, fast turnover operation. The management team signed up to FoodSave because they suspected their restaurants were wasting too much food. The BC is serious about sustainability and reducing food waste is one of its top priorities. Hoxton, one of The BC’s six sites in London, was chosen to take part in FoodSave.

The BC reduced its kitchen food waste by 55%, preventing 2.5 tonnes of waste going to landfill and providing a £5,600 saving on food costs annually. Information on plate waste informed a menu re0dsign, taking into account factors such as portion size and customers preferences. The Breakfast Club identified its hot holdings as a waste hotspot, achieving an 80% reduction in waste over the four weeks. Communication between staff improved and the team’s awareness of food waste was heightened.

Matt Goussaert, BC executive chef, says: “Taking part in FoodSave has had a hugely significant impact on our business, making us think about everything from how we order and store our food to the size of our portions. It’s been a very positive experience and one that will have a lasting effect on all the restaurants.”