Avoiding food waste in Mediterranean region

According to estimates, around a third of all food is thrown away every year. In Germany alone 200,000 tons of food waste are generated every year in the hotel sector. Around 50% of this could be avoided. In other countries, the figures are likely to be similar: the basic study “Sustainable Food” showed that in the hotels surveyed in Turkey and Gran Canaria, around 60% of the food purchased ends up in the trash. An alarmingly high number that can be reduced through targeted measures along the value chain.

The aim of Futouris was to take exemplary action against food waste in selected holiday destinations in the Mediterranean. In order to find out where waste can be reduced, waste measurements were carried out in partner hotels of Futouris members as part of the industry project in cooperation with United Against Waste e.V.

A waste analysis tool was used to determine how much waste was generated in each area. Over a period of several weeks, the hotels measured food waste in storage, production, buffet and via plate leftovers. On this basis, United Against Waste then determined valid key figures and average values ​​for the entire industry.

On the basis of the measurements, checklists and a catalog with recommendations for waste reduction for hotels were then developed together – the chefs of the participating hotels discussed possible improvements in a roundtable meeting. Afterwards, all relevant hotel employees were trained using the train-the-trainer principle. After the measures developed had been implemented, waste measurements were carried out again in the participating hotels in order to evaluate the success of the project.