Food waste is a global issue with significant economic, social and environmental impacts.
Addressing this problem requires a multifaceted approach. Especially for hotels, on average, it is estimated that almost 20 tons of food waste is produced per hotel each year, which represents about 43% of its total waste. While 45% of food waste in hotels comes from processing and over-preparation, 34% is due to food left on plates, while the remaining 20% is the result of poor inventory management.
To solve this problem, a promising avenue is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. If AI is used to monitor and optimize food production and supply chains, hotels and restaurants alike can effectively manage food waste and boost the circular economy, say experts. As a result, resource efficiency can be maximized while minimizing environmental impact and ultimately promoting a more sustainable food system.
AI-based approaches to reduce food waste
One way AI can be used is to use Machine Learning algorithms to predict demand for food products. This can help reduce food waste by ensuring that the right amount of food is produced and delivered, to the right place, at the right time.
An example of good practice is the new program of the Accor hotel group, which every year serves 200 million meals worldwide in 5,500 hotels and 10,000 food and beverage venues. As part of International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day, Accor encouraged its hotels to measure their food waste as reduction can only be achieved through accurate measurement. In this direction, he suggests that his hotels measure their food waste using Gaïa, an exclusive online tool for Accor hotels. This technology-driven solution makes it easy for hotels to measure and monitor their energy, water, waste and carbon footprint performance so they can accurately track the impact of their sustainability initiatives. To date, Gaïa has been adopted by 71% of the group’s affiliated, managed and franchised hotels, spread over 3,900 hotels, and by 2025, it is planned to be extended to all hotels with catering activities.
At the same time, the group considers it necessary to develop methods of work, reporting and analysis based on a rigorous scientific approach. To achieve this, Accor leverages the latest technological advances in AI. Thanks to these two levers and by 20230, it aims to exceed the originally planned 50% reduction in food waste.
Partnerships with startups
Among other things, the group entered into partnerships with 3 start-ups leveraging AI. To reduce waste at source, 200 pilot programs have already been launched in hotels with significant F&B sales. For example, Winnow Vision scans and visually identifies excess food to obtain detailed data on its quantity and type, allowing management teams to adjust menus and reduce food waste. This solution is currently used in around 100 hotels, including the Fairmont Jakarta, which reduced food waste by 16% or 1.6 tonnes in just one year, and the Novotel London Excel, which reduced waste by 39 % or by 12 tons.
Startup Orbisk, on the other hand, uses AI to scan food scraps to get clear data about the amount and type of food thrown away. In this way, it helps to customize menus and, by extension, to reduce waste. This system has been used at the Sofitel The Palm in Dubai, which reduced its food waste by 13% in 5 months, equivalent to 3 tonnes per year, and at the Novotel Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, which reduced its waste by 35% , a rate equivalent to 8 tons over two years.
Finally, the third startup, Fullsoon, offers management predictions for restaurants, calculating the number of customers, the dishes that will be ordered and the exact amount of ingredients needed to prepare them. According to the team leaders, it is estimated that by the end of 2023, 10 pilot programs will be in place which they expect to be rolled out in a large number of hotels worldwide, with the aim of optimizing F&B, 6% profit margins and saving on average term of 800 euros in waste per hotel per month.
Changing habits of employees and customers
Sharing best practices to positively influence the behavior of employees, and chefs in particular, is another action point. Also, improving customer awareness of the need to combat food waste is a key daily task for management teams. This led to the group working with Too Good to Go, with the aim of uneaten food being sold at reduced prices or donated. It is worth noting that in 2023, 137,116 baskets were collected by the 685 hotels participating in the program, preventing more than 345 tons of carbon emissions and saving 137 tons of food.
Green initiatives are expanding
Another hospitality giant, Hilton, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Program West Asia, UNEP, Winnow and ne’ma, the National Food Loss and Waste Initiative, has launched a first-of-its-kind initiative which he called Green Breakfast. The action aims to significantly reduce food waste in breakfast operations of 13 hotels based in the United Arab Emirates.
The Green Breakfast follows Hilton’s Green Ramadan campaign, which saw a 61% reduction in food waste at the group’s hotels in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The Green Breakfast initiative provides a blueprint for managing food waste across the local hospitality industry. The pilot project started in August with the installation of production and waste systems in the participating hotels, where baseline data was recorded which will be collected in November 2023. In addition, UNEP Agriculture Organization studies found that 1/3 of the food produced for human consumption consumption, is lost or wasted globally, accounting for 8% to 10% of global carbon emissions, totaling a trillion problem. dollars. The group’s breakfast campaign aims to address these challenges in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which commits to halving consumer-level food waste by 2030.
What is France doing to collect and sort food waste?
Important developments are underway in France regarding the collection and sorting of food waste according to a report by the Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs in Paris.
In particular, until December 31, French local authorities are invited to implement the separation of biological waste, starting with households.
The aim is, of course, that the separation of waste at the source is not limited to households, but concerns all waste producers, that is, services, businesses, professionals in the catering sector, and in general all entrepreneurs and professionals.
As mentioned in the report, despite the early mobilization, there is expected to be a delay, as the management of around 10 million tons of food waste is an extremely big challenge, given that local authorities already offer a green waste solution. As stated by the General Representative of the Cercle National du Recyclage (CNR), Mr. Berthrand Bohain, the high cost of waste collection is what makes the project difficult, while the General Representative of the Union of Local Authorities (Amorce), Mr. Nicolas Garnier points out in particular that the cost of collecting bio-waste represents an additional cost of 10-15 euros per inhabitant for local authorities, which acts as a decelerating factor.
It should be noted that this is an additional separation process, given that in France the separation of packaging, textiles and electronic waste already takes place. Despite any difficulties and delay, the local authorities and especially the large urban complexes are preparing and looking, in this context, for possible combined management solutions of the new process. Among these solutions, individual and collective composting stand out as the simplest and least demanding, while the creation of specific collection and sorting points or door-to-door collection are equally possible. The choice will be made depending on the particular conditions that apply in each region.
Finally, in France it is under discussion whether and to what extent the state will support this new program with some kind of funding. 100 million euros have been earmarked for the project, taking into account that the aid from ADEME (Agence de la transition écologique à Paris-Ecological Transition Agency) through the green fund dedicated to bio-waste is limited to 10 euros per inhabitant for each project. However, the additional cost of a mixed system combining voluntary delivery and door-to-door collection is estimated at a national scale of €700 million per year, equivalent to the TGAP, the general tax on polluting activities.
The debate has also started in the senate, while the officials argue that especially during the first years of implementation of the program, support from the state is necessary, in order for it to be implemented as quickly as possible.
