Less is more – How food re-use and zero waste help cut waste in the catering industry

Eight years ago, the United Nations adopted its 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under Goal 12, “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”, item 12.3 aims to cut global per-capita food waste in half by 2030.¹ Germany has committed to achieve that goal with its National Strategy for Reducing Food Waste. In 2020, the year’s total food waste in Germany came to some 11 million tonnes, 17 percent of that in the catering industry.² Most of this waste in hospitality and institutional catering at company canteens, schools, kindergartens, or restaurants arose in storage, in production, from overproduction, and from orders rejected by customers. This is where waste reduction solutions like the “Zero Waste”³ and “Food Re-use”⁴ trends can step in.

Measuring waste provides transparency and enables comparisons 
In 2019, to achieve SDG 12.3, several of the world’s largest food retailers and providers committed to the 10 x 20 x 30 Initiative, based on the key figures from the SDG. The roster includes the Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer. At the end of 2022, food waste at the restaurants at 32 IKEA markets had already been cut 54 percent, and thus more than halved.⁵

Creative kitchen concepts: The Food Re-use trend

The approach they take at the HAPPA restaurant in Berlin is something completely different. This organic restaurant is a showcase project for preparation that appreciates the value of food. Its cooking, aligned with  growing seasons and the region, focuses on an appreciative, holistic processing of foodstuffs. Co-founder Sophia Hoffmann has made a name for herself as a cook, author and restaurateur, and has been advocating for climate protection, sustainability and feminism for years. Since her restaurant opened, its collaboration with Querfeld has already saved 2,500 kilos of food from the waste bin. She’s completely sold on the concept of this organic supplier, who rescues non-standard organic foods and sells them to restaurants: “We have to get away from the gigantic amounts of waste caused by the expectation of having too much of everything always available. A lot of businesses still follow the principle of ‘as much as possible for as little money as possible’ – and that’s not ecologically viable.” This is where the Food Re-Use concept sets in, revealing the potential of food leftovers. Menu planning at HAPPA is designed so that vegetable leaves are incorporated into its recipes. The restaurant ferments its own products from watermelon rinds and makes seasoning pastes from vegetable parings. “We’re a very small concept, but we think a lot of our components can work as best practices for bigger operations,” Hoffmann says. “Greater flexibility in menu planning, and the courage to let a menu item run out occasionally – those are factors that I’ve repeatedly found to be the biggest lever in my consulting jobs for big companies.”

 

Rethinking how to deal with food

The catering market is thought to have great potential for preventing food waste. Success stories show that food waste can be reduced 50 percent. But advancing the catering industry’s reduction of annual food waste will call for not just practically feasible measures and support from the political side, but also a change in attitudes. Rethinking in the direction of a greater appreciation for food as a precious resource can be the key to achieving SDG 12.3 by 2030.