In the search for a more environmentally friendly future, catering companies play a leading role. In fact the entire food industry does. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food waste represents “between 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to an unstable climate and extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding”. Fortunately, in the last few years, the concept of sustainable catering has been getting stronger.
In this blog post, we’ll discover what are its benefits, challenges and more. Also, we’ll explore Minor Hotels Europe & Americas’ sustainable practices in relation to the Food and Beverage sector.
What is sustainable catering?
You may have heard about it, but what exactly does it mean? Sustainable food catering is a type of food catering that seeks to generate the least impact to the world. In other words, it is the perfect choice for sustainable events or ecotourism places.
Sustainable caterers meticulously consider every aspect of food preparation and its environmental impact, from ingredient selection and preparation methods to packaging and waste management. This whole process must take into account the origin of the ingredients and the type of tableware or packaging used.
What are some common sustainability´s practices in food catering?
Here are some sustainable practices among caterers:
- Choosing local and seasonal
- Choosing efficient transport.
- Using compostable, biodegradable or recycled packaging materials.
- Including vegetarian and vegan
- Donating surplus food.
- Supporting projects or initiatives that involve people in risk of social exclusion to help develop the local workforce.
What are the latest trends in sustainability for the catering world?
In addition, some trends are beginning to emerge among catering and event companies. For example:
- Urban agriculture: it’s about cultivating and processing food in and around urban areas. The main benefit of this is that it can help reduce the need to transport food.
- Zero-waste cooking: This trend means literally having no waste left behind while cooking, and using every single part of the ingredients. That is, finding uses for commonly discarded parts of vegetables (think beet greens, carrot tops, broccoli stems) and using all edible parts of animal products. Also, for example, transforming stale bread into croutons or overripe fruit into smoothies.
- Sustainability certifications: More and more companies are taking into account certifications, such as Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, or Animal welfare, among others. These certifications show that the products used by the company are responsible, as are its catering services.
Local and seasonal produce
Local and seasonal production has become another fundamental pillar in the business strategy of sustainable catering. What does it mean to choose local and seasonal products? Well, mainly, it means opting for fresh and recently harvested ingredients that come from the region in which the business is located.
The number of sustainable food catering companies that add to their good practices the choice of local and seasonal products is increasing more and more. Why? Because by adopting this approach, businesses not only contribute to the local economy, but also improve the quality of their dishes (who doesn’t love fresh food?).
But those are not the only reasons to choose local and seasonal production. The Goal 12 of the UN 2030 Agenda seeks to promote sustainable consumption and production. In this context, choosing local and seasonal products becomes a significant action that food catering companies can implement to contribute to the fulfilment of this goal.
Benefits of local and seasonal produce
Overall, some of the most notable benefits of choosing “fresh and local” are:
- Reduction of transport emissions: By choosing local ingredients, you reduce the need to transport food over long distances. The results? Greenhouse gas emissions associated with food transportation reduction.
- Support local farmers: Purchasing local products directly supports farmers in the community, stimulating the local economy, boosting employment, and contributing to the growth of local communities. Also, it enhances corporate image.
- Provision of fresher foods: Local and seasonal products are usually fresher and riper, which translates into better flavour and quality in the dishes prepared with them. Ultimately, this leads to greater satisfaction and happier customers with the catering service provided.
Reducing food waste
According to data from the HIM, “around 13 percent of food produced is lost between harvest and retail, while an estimated 17 percent of total global food production is wasted in households, in the food service and in retail all together.” This represents a significant global issue, and puts a spotlight on the catering industry, characterised by the production of large quantities of food for events and banquets.
Some of the direct consequences of food waste are:
- Environmental impact: Increase in greenhouse gas emissions, excessive consumption of water and natural resources, and generation of waste.
- Economic impact: Financial losses for companies and, therefore, increased prices for services and products.
- Social impact: excess food for some and deprivation for others, which leads to hunger and malnutrition, among other issues.
So what should sustainable catering companies do to try to avoid these consequences? Clearly, the answer is to adopt strategies and practices to reduce food waste as much as possible.
What are some effective strategies to reduce food waste at events and banquets?
Here are a few:
- Meticulous planning: Predict consumption as much as possible and adjust food quantities. This requires analysing historical data and trends to make better and informed decisions.
- Portion control: Offer reasonable, adjusted portions based on individual preferences.
- Smart buffets: Implement systems that encourage responsible food consumption, such as providing smaller plates.
- Custom menus: Design tailored menus for each event, to avoid excessive production of dishes that may not be popular (at least not with that specific audience).
- Donations: Collaborate with organisations to donate surplus food safely and efficiently.
Sustainability beyond food
But it’s not all about food: the challenge of sustainability goes beyond that. To cover all its pillars, catering companies must consider the impact of all their processes, from production to consumption, from start to finish. From the kitchen to the table.
One of the biggest enemies in this process is packaging. Let’s think for a moment about plastic containers: they are cheap and hygienic, but the impact on the environment is immense. So, for this reason, sustainable catering companies need to look for better and more environmentally friendly alternatives, such as biodegradable and compostable packaging.
With that being said, how can catering providers reduce their environmental footprint? Let’s find out.
What sustainable practices can catering companies implement regarding packaging?
- Eliminate the use of single-use plastics.
- Use recycled, compostable or biodegradable materials.
- Offer “to go” options in reusable containers.
Business benefits of sustainability
Sustainability itself is an important advantage that comes with implementing environmentally friendly practices. But, is that all? No, there are other benefits.
Firstly, being sustainable attracts – and retains – customers. Many people today look for companies that share their values and that try their best to impact the environment as little as possible. Especially among the younger generations.
On the other hand, in sustainable catering companies, good practices can help (a lot!) in financial ways. Energy efficiency, waste reduction, and decreased transportation expenses can help achieve long-term savings. Also, companies committed to sustainability can boost their reputation and attract top talent.
Challenges in the implementation
But those benefits don’t come without facing certain common challenges for sustainable food catering companies. Some of them might be:
- Succeeding in acquiring sustainable ingredients from reliable suppliers.
- Overcoming logistics and administrative challenges, such as training staff, investing in equipment and green packaging solutions, among others.
- Complying with regulations. Sustainable practices may be subject to specific requirements set by regulatory authorities that are not easy to meet or are constantly changing.
Choosing sustainable catering services
You may ask: How can corporate clients and event organisers promote sustainability when selecting catering services? Well, if this is your case, there are some questions you should ask yourself:
- Ask about the company’s sustainable practices. Investigate what type of sustainable practices they have in place and learn a little more about their processes. Do they prioritise local and seasonal ingredients? Do they work with responsible suppliers? Do they minimise food waste? Do they use reusable tableware or packaging?
- Look for sustainability certifications. Does the company have any certification that is validated by a third-party? Third-party verification adds an additional layer of scrutiny, ensuring that a company’s environmental practices are as advertised.
- Ask about the menu and evaluate it. Does it have vegetarian and vegan options? What is the origin of the ingredients? What preparation methods do they use?
- Find out about the company’s values. Do you identify with or are you attracted to the values that the company represents?
Even though there is still a long way to go, a lot of food and catering companies are changing their mindset and implementing sustainable initiatives. Minor Hotels Europe & Americas is one of them.
What practices does Minor Hotels Europe & Americas implement for sustainable practice in F&B?
Our Sustainability strategy includes numerous series of good practices and actions related to its F&B processes. Some of them are:
Our global F&B commitments:
- Zero Plastic Policy: Includes replacing single-use plastic straws with biodegradable ones, using glass bottles instead of plastic in mini-bars, and reducing plastic delivery and take-out containers.
- Recycling and circularity: Several of the company’s hotels have initiated a process to optimize and effectively manage packaging and container waste from their purchases. This includes working with suppliers on proper segregation, removal and reuse, which is fundamental to achieving sustainability in the foodservice industry.
- Sustainable purchasing: To provide sustainable services, we must rely on suppliers who are aligned with our values. We therefore focus on our value chain, prioritizing key partnerships and increasing our purchases from local suppliers and responsible organizations.
Some examples, applied to food procurement, include our commitment to promote sustainable fishing by complying with legislation on the consumption of species and responsible sourcing of these products, or animal welfare by prioritizing the use of cage-free eggs. The last initiative was launched in hotels in Northern Europe, which currently use cage-free eggs in their cuisine, and is expected to apply to all our hotels worldwide by 2027.
- Addressing food waste: The food amount is adapted to the needs of the events to avoid waste, and, when possible, in many hotels leftovers are carefully collected for donation to different soap kitchens we collaborate with. Our partnership with To Good To Go is also key to combat food waste in our hotels. This initiative, currently implemented in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany for breakfast, is being extended to other Group hotels around the world and implemented in event catering.
- Urban gardens: Several hotels have already installed urban vegetable gardens to grow their own aromatic herbs, vegetables and citrus fruits, enhancing the landscape and the gastronomic value of dishes while reducing the negative impact on the environment.
- Local Gastronomy & Healthy Food: the aim is to introduce the guests to the local gastronomy by providing meals based on local and seasonal products.
Featured local projects.
The commitment of Minor Hotels Europe & Americas not only stands out at the F&B level and in relation to sustainable catering practices. Some specific projects include:
America:
- NH Green Planet Initiative: Campaign focused on raising awareness and training team members.
Northern Europe Region:
- Waste reduction pilot project: The objective is to implement an extended PMC (plastic, metal and beverage cardboard) and ground coffee waste separation plan to contribute to a circular economy.
- Ecocreation Ecodigester: seeks to reduce food waste through creating compost for surrounding forests.
Southern Europe Region:
- ‘Portugal by Nespresso’: Involves the delivery of used capsules to Nespresso so that the ground coffee can be extracted and reused as compost.
- Waste cooking oil for biodiesel: In line with our environmental commitment, all waste oils generated in hotels in Spain are managed through an authorized manager and used as raw material to manufacture biodiesel, which is then used as a renewable fuel.
- Food Waste Pilot: Minor Hotels Europe & Americas wanted to improve the Company’s food consumption optimisation and food waste reduction strategies. So, a possible solution has begun to be tested in two hotels, in which, through technological innovation, data on food that is not being used and ends up in the trash is captured in the daily kitchen operations in an agile and simple way. The results? The amount of organic waste generated in the kitchen has been reduced by 36% and additional actions have been identified to continue improving.
The company’s commitment to sustainability is reflected in different initiatives, globally and locally. These practices contribute to the protection of the environment while improving our customers’ experience.
But this path to sustainability must be shared between companies and consumers.
So, now that you are aware of all the benefits, we encourage you all to make a responsible choice while choosing and booking your sustainable catering services, for a greener and friendlier today and tomorrow.
