Stop Food Waste

As part of our 2023 sustainability initiatives, this month we are celebrating Stop Food Waste Day. Started in 2017 by Compass Group USA, Stop Food Waste Day, celebrated on 26 April 2023 is now recognised in every corner of the world as everyone unites to educate and ignite change.

Did you know that 1/3 of food produced for human consumption is globally lost or wasted?

Food waste is central to some of the key challenges facing the world today, including hunger and poverty, climate change, health and wellbeing and the sustainability of agriculture and oceans. Wasting food is also a waste of energy to grow, harvest, process and cook, and food waste in landfills can cause methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. 

The mission of Stop Food Waste Day is to ignite change regarding the global food waste issue. This is done by drawing attention to the problem and at the same time educating through engaging with society at all levels and sharing practical, creative, and impactful ways we can all change our behaviour to minimise food waste.

It’s easy for everyone to get involved with reducing the impact of food waste, not just on Stop Food Waste Day, but day in, day out – both in our personal and professional lives. 

What are we doing to stop food waste?

During this day and the whole year, we are celebrating ways our teams are tackling food waste, one of our pillars to reduce our impact on the environment. Let’s take a closer look at how this commitment is being brought to life in our hotels.

We serve millions of meals a year and we would like to take concrete action to shape the future of travel and deliver a more sustainable model. Because we can see that today’s model is no longer viable. And because our customers desire innovative food products and experiences that have a positive impact on our planet and communities.

Therefore, our main aim going forward is to reduce our food waste by 30% by 2025 and by 80% by 2030.

We plan to:

• Prevent food waste at source, by storing food optimally, making use of every edible part of the ingredient and planning meals ahead of time;
• Inspire guests to waste less, and repurpose more;
• Repurpose food by redistributing any surplus to the local community or giving a second life to ingredients that most commonly go to waste.

How can you waste less food?

Make every day Stop Food Waste Day.

To further raise public awareness of Stop Food Waste Day, Compass Group USA created a digital food waste cookbook for home cooks, featuring recipes from 45 chefs across 30 countries which give a second life to ingredients that most commonly go to waste in home kitchens, including stale bread, bruised fruit & vegetables, and discarded peels. You can download the cookbook here.

We hope you get to replicate these recipes and enjoy them at home! Help us in our mission to Stop Food Waste.

Keep tuned for our next sustainability initiative in May. And if you would like to read more about our other sustainability initiatives for 2023, you can do so here.