Partnership and collaboration

Here at WRAP, I have spent many years working closely with our partners, such as Bidfood, to reduce food waste. Through our Hospitality and Food Service Agreement, I’m proud that the sector showed excellent progress (£67 million savings, 11% reduction in food waste). And now we need to move faster to tackle the food thrown away. Financially, this costs the average outlet a staggering £10k each year. It’s the equivalent of 1.3bn meals, or 1 in every 6 meals served.

In the UK, the Hospitality and Food Service sector throws away one million tonnes of food, 75% of which is avoidable; it could have been eaten.

The growing public consciousness about climate change in recent months has the potential to be a watershed moment – but only if we decide to act on it. And we all have a role to play.

No one can reasonably argue against  food waste being bad for the environment, bad for the bottom line and is morally wrong.

Standing up for food

We are working with our partners across the sector to create a positive movement for change; and WRAP is calling on Bidfood customers and clients throughout the sector to join us to Stand Up For Food this September. Together we can harness the energy and collective commitment I know we all have to really getting to grips with the food we are wasting in the sector.

WRAP’s new Guardians of Grub campaign reinforces the point that we all have a role to play in reducing food waste – from the CEO to the kitchen porter, from the buyer to the waiting staff. We are all part of the problem, and therefore can be part of the solution. So the bold rallying cry for September is ‘Stand Up For Food’ and play your part in contributing to the UK’s goal of halving food waste by 2030.

Seeing is believing

Elior used WRAP’s free tracking tools, and at a single site identified £2.4k savings, simply by recording wastage by weight.  “When you can actually see the mass, it makes an enormous difference. We learnt quickly that some of the things going in the bins during production such as the tops from peppers, for example – could be made use of. The main point for us was that staff were completely unaware of the physical quantities being thrown away. We were always under the belief that we didn’t have a large volume of food waste, because it was being recorded in financial terms rather than weight.” Elior’s case study can be found here  www.guardiansofgrub.com, providing many more examples of how to take simple actions to make sure food stays food.

So why wait?

Start seeing how much of the food thrown away at your site can be reduced. Harness the energy, commitment and passion for food in your business. Use our simple tracking sheets, posters and calculator to work out how much you can save. Get ready for this September’s month of action ‘Stand Up for Food’ and register here www.guardiansofgrub.com for all the tools you need to rise up against food waste.