EP Breakfast Briefing with Winnow Solutions

Looking at food service and what mattersWe are seeing increasingly that what matters to food service businesses are values such as health, wellbeing, mental health and nutrition, and with this comes a new consciousness about what our business does to the environment, how much we actually waste and what can potentially be done about it. Food waste is costing up t0 $1 trillion every year globallyThis morning saw EP hosting a breakfast briefing at AVEQIA, with co-hosts Winnow Solutions, to discuss the problem of food waste, possible solutions and changes in the wider industry, that give some hope that we will be able to significantly reduce this figure.  Winnow co-founder Marc Zornes explained the scale of the problem, in that kitchens are wasting as much in food waste as they make on net profits, and while the hospitality sector is not the worst, it is still wasting £2.5bn per year and 2/3 could be avoided.Winnow is working to help chefs run more efficient kitchens and save both money for the business whilst making the hospitality sector more sustainable. The discussion around the breakfast table covered education, and whether consumer education will help to make food waste more of a priority for the industry.Should change begin with the supermarkets? Sainsbury's have committed £10m to address their wastage, and hospitality companies such as Accor and Restaurant Associates are also leading the charge. But what will it take to get the whole industry looking for a solution?Changes could be as small as adjusting menus so portions are smaller, but what about customer expectations? Would your hotel guests accept a lack of breakfast buffet? Will consumers accept 'wonky veg' across the board and give retailers and F&B services more flexibility?Education is driving change, but as Marc says, we need more people and more companies to acknowledge and talk about the problem - food is too valuable to waste.EP would like to thank AVEQIA for their hospitality.