VisitEngland

2.11. Food, glorious food

A guide to responsible food provision that should provide plenty of interesting food for thought.

Key Takeaways 2.10

In a nutshell

  • How much do you think about food?

  • Consider your guests and visitors: what is important to them?

Food waste

According to food waste redistribution company Olio, we throw away one third of the food we produce. That is 6.4 million tonnes of edible food going to waste each year in the UK - the equivalent of 15 billion meals. By contrast, an estimated 14 million people in the UK struggle to feed themselves, their families and their children.

From an environmental standpoint, the amount of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by food waste is 10%, which is even more than from plastics. Olio has created five ways to significantly reduce your food waste levels, adapted here for brevity:

Thoughtful planning and ordering

Careful menu planning and accurate ingredient estimation are important to avoid over-stocking and wastage. Go back through your historical sales data and customer feedback to help you make informed decisions about what to order. By scaling back your inventory, you can prevent food from spoiling before it gets eaten. You will probably save money too.

Fostering a waste-conscious culture in your team 

Educating your staff on proper food handling techniques, product shelf life, expiry dates and portion control will make a big difference to how much food is wasted in your kitchen. Encourage your team to actively participate in finding ways to minimise waste, such as reusing ingredients for future menus. Pickling or preserving vegetables that are nearing their best is an excellent way to reduce food waste.

Improving storage and labelling 

Invest in good quality storage equipment to make sure ingredients have the best chance of staying fresher for longer. Implement clear date labelling and run a first-in, first-out (FIFO) rotation system. This is an easy way to make sure that older products are used up before newer ones, reducing the likelihood of items expiring and going to waste.

Monitoring plate management

Monitoring plate waste can provide great insight into customer preferences and help you manage food waste levels better. Is lots of food coming back into the kitchen after service? Consider adjusting portion sizes so that they are smaller. You could also encourage customers to request smaller portions or offer the option to order half portions.

Thinking inside the box with surplus food

If you cannot reuse food for future menus, you should explore ways to redistribute or donate it. Partner with local charities, food banks or similar businesses to have a positive impact on the community whilst simultaneously reducing food waste. 

Menu development

According to scientific journal Nature, the total global food system is responsible for over a third of global greenhouse gas emissions - second only to the fossil fuel industry.

The total global food system is responsible for over a third of global GHG emissions (Nature.com, 2021) - second only to the fossil fuel industry. Not many people know this, so this is where food providers can play an important role.

Here are some things to consider:

  • Expanding your menus to include a good balance of vegetarian and vegan dishes.  
  • Rethinking where you position plant-based options on your menu (not hiding them away at the bottom).
  • Adding carbon labels next to all menu items so that people can make more informed choices. In the same way as calorie labelling on menus was introduced in cafes, restaurants and takeaways by the UK Government in 2020.

We are not saying that your guests suddenly need to become vegetarian or vegan, but encouraging consumption of more locally sourced vegetables, for example, is good for health, supports the local economy and is good for the environment.

Local produce

Transport is a small but important contributor to GHG emissions from our food. For most food products, it accounts for around 10% of emissions. For any food items that are transported by air, the emissions can be very high, so particularly try to avoid sourcing air-freighted ingredients to reduce the overall carbon footprint of your food.

Supporting and using locally produced food has many benefits:

  • Menu variety (making use of seasonal produce forces you to update your menu regularly which is great for guests).
  • Confirming product provenance (complete certainty of product origin).
  • Developing fruitful partnerships (ensuring deep and accurate supply chain knowledge).
  • Creating and nurturing local storytelling (generating a distinctive character for your destination through novel products with a story behind them).
  • Supporting micro businesses (if they thrive, you thrive).
  • Community involvement (a united community benefits everyone).

… while all the while being helpful to keeping your carbon footprint low.