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F.acT: How much food is constantly thrown away in Austria in private households and in the Austrian hotel and catering industry?
Christine Ehrenhuber: Food waste is generated along the entire value chain - a considerable proportion of it in private households. According to the 2018/2019 report on the composition of residual waste, private households dispose of around 229,000 tons of avoidable food waste in residual waste every year, not including the food waste disposed of in organic waste. However, too much avoidable food waste also ends up in the Austrian catering and hotel industry - around 95,000 tons per year (1) - this amount could feed around 150,000 people (or a city the size of Salzburg) for a year. (2)
F.acT: How could commercial kitchens, but also smaller businesses, prevent this waste?
Christine Ehrenhuber: An important first step in preventing food waste is to get an overview of the food waste generated in your own business - what is returned in terms of plate returns, how much is left at the buffet and what about overproduction or leftovers. A trained view from the outside and waste surveys as well as ongoing monitoring help kitchens to keep an eye on their waste figures. As a second step, businesses can take targeted measures for different areas. The paths that lead to success can vary greatly from business to business: While in one business, checking portion sizes and the food on offer leads to the goal, in another, optimized stock management and in a third, the buffet is the key to success. Another important lever lies in raising the awareness of employees, who must implement and support the measures in daily operations. And last but not least, the guests also bear responsibility - so each of us can make a contribution, for example by using options (in terms of portion size or menu components), consciously scooping at the buffet and using take-away options so that there are fewer leftovers.
F.acT: What services and offers does United Against Waste provide for hotels and restaurants to implement this efficiently?
Christine Ehrenhuber: At United Against Waste, we support businesses in reducing their avoidable food waste with various programs: Catering and hotel businesses have the opportunity to take advantage of the "Küchenprofi(t)" offer - this two-stage advisory program includes a detailed survey and analysis of the food waste generated in the business on one day and advice from a catering expert, who provides tips for measures to reduce waste based on the survey and his observations on site. The offer is subsidized by the Tyrolean government's corporate environmental promotion scheme (via ecotirol). Another particularly low-threshold offer is our new e-learning course"Food Waste Hero", which we have developed together with WIFI Tirol. Operators often suffer from a lack of time and staff anyway and there is hardly any time for training. The eLearning course is designed to remedy this, as employees can complete it online regardless of time and location. The course also features experts from the field who give participants valuable tips for everyday kitchen life.
F.acT: What are the key facts about "Food Waste Hero"?
Christine Ehrenhuber: As an eLearning course for employees in tourism, "Food Waste Hero" helps to reduce food waste in the kitchen. With "Food Waste Hero", employees learn about the background and possible courses of action for food waste in an interactive and varied way and receive valuable tips for everyday kitchen work. The advantages of the course are
- Can be carried out anywhere and at any time on smartphones, tablets or PCs/laptops
- Individual and self-determined learning
- Immediate feedback through interactive engagement
- Knowledge transfer and interaction through varied and multimedia content
The entire course lasts approx. 2.5 hours and costs €99 (single license).
The eLearning offer can be booked at WIFI Tirol.
Footnotes:
(1) In Austrian out-of-home catering, around 175,000 tons of avoidable food waste is thrown away every year: around 45,000 tons of avoidable food waste is generated in the catering industry, 50,000 tons in the accommodation/hotel industry, 61,000 tons in communal catering (canteens, staff restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes) and 19,000 tons in other businesses such as coffee houses. Waste surveys in 50 kitchen operations by UAW in collaboration with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (2014-2015)
(2) According to Statistics Austria, Austrian food consumption is 632 kg per capita per year (as at 31.08.2022):www.statistik.at/statistiken/land-und-forstwirtschaft/landwirtschaftliche-bilanzen/versorgungsbilanzen