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V. Engage a dialogue with your clients
•
Involve your customers in your efforts to reduce food waste/losses:
encourage them to act responsibly and sustainably;
•
Engage a dialogue with your customers to check what their
expectations in terms of portion size are. Make sure that the room
staff passes on the information to the kitchen staff;
•
Offer to your customers different portion sizes or/and menu sizes.
E.g. offer customers to choose after the main dish if they want a
dessert, offer them to order a supplement (instead of filling more
the plates);
•
Be flexible on customers’ request concerning some ingredients
(e.g. if a customer does not like a specific ingredient);
•
Be transparent: explain to the customer that if the menu offer is
limited or if some dishes are not available, it is because the products
are fresh and stocks limited to avoid waste;
•
Think about offering doggy bags or food-boxes to clients. But be
careful not to create expectations of larger portions because you
offer them. Communication is the key. Warn customers about
hygiene aspects;
VI. After the service
•
For staff’s meals: use products which are close to their expiry, as
well as unsold products. Rewarm/toast the unsold bread from the
previous service;
•
Some leftovers from the cooking can be re-used to make new
products (e.g. bread can be used as toasts, vegetables leftovers
can be re-used to make soups/bouillon/mashes, etc.);
VII. Re-use and recycling – how to get a value out of
residual food
•
Some edible food products which are close to their expiry but still
safe can be donated to food banks and charitable organisations.
Make a partnership with such organisations;
•
Some waste (of non-animal origin) can also be used as animal
feed. Find a partner to collect these waste for this purpose. Be
careful: specific legislation applies on the matter;
•
Some food waste can be recycled for composting and/or
transformed into energy throughmethanisation. Collect suchwaste
in separate containers and make a partnership for the collection of
such waste;
•
Some leftovers can also sometimes be used for different ecological
purposes (e.g. coffee grounds can be used as a natural repulsive
against slugs). Think about it!
European hospitality industry guidelines to reduce food waste and recommendations to manage food donations
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