34 Spotlight Food waste: knowing what your guests eat Many companies and their caterers are troubled by unnecessary food waste. Tackling this problem can save a lot of food and a lot of money. Early 2018 Green Business Club Zuidas started a project together with Wastewatchers to fight food waste in Zuidas companies. This resulted in a reduction of food waste of 8% per category on average. The Method During six months, companies kept track of what they served during lunch meetings and what was actually consumed. For the first three months the caterers continued business as usual, aside from noting exactly what food was wasted per item. From there, the caterers adapted the selection of food based on the collected data. Over the next three months the monitoring of waste continued to compare the results at the end of the project. Fruit and drink The food items were sorted into the categories bread, salad, drinks, snacks and fruit. Drinks and fruit scored highest for waste with 41% and 44% respectively being thrown away. By adjusting supply, waste was lowered to 23% and 34%. Salads were also often wasted with 41% – this was reduced to 37% at the end of the project run. Advice: know what your guests eat Wastewatchers presented a report based on this project advising participants and companies in general, Christiaan Houben from Wastewatchers recounts the findings: ‘No-shows, participants not turning up, are an important factor. This happens mostly at companies on Thursdays. For example, to get a good overview of who will – and who will not – turn up at a meeting or event, you could send an e-mail on Wednesday evening requesting conformation. Portions can be adapted, as people eat less than is offered anyway. Present your lunch in a different way to avoid looking ‘stingy’ such as serving miniature sandwiches instead of larger sandwiches. The largest gains can be made by simply adapting what is offered to the actual consumption. Is little salad eaten? Then offer less salad. Consumption varies wildly per company and even per day. This is why it is so important to use the Wastewatcher’s tool to gain insight into how, when and what is eaten by whom. It allows the servings to be well adapted to the demand and everybody can enjoy an adequate lunch.’
35 Online Touch Home