“Food waste is a major global problem”, which has led to many environmental problems. This has become a trend calling for entrepreneurs to start changing their businesses to keep up with global trends. Reducing food waste is also beneficial in many ways. Especially controlling the store's expenses, so that everyone understands what Food Waste really is. How is reducing food waste important to your business? We're going to talk to a chef who's an expert on this subject: Chef Daniel Bucher Executive Senior Sour Chef at Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen's Park The world's first five-star hotel to be certified by The PLEDGE, an independent standards-setting organisation created to combat the world's food waste problem.
What exactly is Zero Food Waste?
“ Some people have the understanding that Zero Food Waste It means that there is no food waste, but it is impossible because you cannot use all the ingredients. For example, when peeling a watermelon, some parts can be eaten, but some parts must be thrown away. Therefore, Zero Food Waste is not about eating nothing, but what we are trying to do is to leave as little food waste as possible in the environment. This is a very important point because it means that there will be no food waste that will end up in the landfill. Instead, it will be managed in other ways, such as composting, donating, etc.”
There are two things to think about carefully about this.
1. Trying to prevent food waste from ending up in landfills. Because it will be followed by many pollution and environmental problems. As many of you probably already know, the problem of food waste is related to environmental problems. 8 percent of greenhouse gases come from food waste, which produces methane gas, which is 14 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, causing global warming and pollution if landfills are not sanitary. Food waste is a major global problem.
2. What is the acceptable amount of food waste? How much food should we buy in order to serve customers with full, happy food and feel that their money's worth is worth it when they leave the restaurant or hotel feeling good and impressed with the service, while leaving as little food as possible?
How to manage food waste?
“When talking about the guidelines and methods for eliminating food waste roughly, we can divide it into 5 steps.
- prevent Reduce food waste from the source (Reduce at The Source ) This is the most important step.
- Allocate edible food to maximize its benefits By giving it to people in need or feeding it to animals.
- Take food waste and put it into the production process to reuse it. It is biogas produced through anaerobic digestion and fertilizer production for agriculture.
- Eliminate for energy recovery For example, burning food waste with low moisture content as fuel to produce heat energy.
- Enter the elimination process By entering the incinerator or landfill”
How should you start implementing the Zero Food Waste concept in your restaurant?
“The first and most important thing is that you need to understand that you have a problem. And you have to take that seriously. From 99 percent of the restaurant owners, chefs, hotel owners, whoever I talk to, they all say, “Yeah, we have a global food waste problem.” But no one is admitting that their business has a problem. I dare to guarantee that everyone has the same problem of food waste, 100 percent for sure. I think it's very important to understand this problem and admit that you have one. The first thing is to acknowledge that all of us, all of our businesses, have a food waste problem and that all of us can do better. If you think this way, you can definitely change the way you do business.”
The second thing that every business should do is to understand what your business problems are, where they are, so that you can solve them directly. You can start with simple methods such as accounting, sorting, and measuring waste. Just try to observe the trash cans in your shop every day to see what's in them. That's it. You don't need to buy expensive equipment. Just seriously observe 3 times a day to see what's thrown away. Then write it down, remember it, or take a picture. For example, if there are a lot of meatballs in the trash every day, you might try to weigh it before throwing it away. You might weigh 2 kilograms every day. After 1 month, it will be 60 kilograms. If you know this, you will think that you have to buy 2 kilograms less per day. This is a very simple method, but it works clearly. But the first important thing is to change your 'Mindset'. The next step is to understand what is the problem that causes your food waste. This is something that every business can do.
The third step will vary depending on each person's type of business. When you know what your waste is, I am sure you will naturally know how to deal with it. When you have a clear picture of what you are wasting, you will immediately start to have ideas on how to solve the problem.
