MPI
Putting food waste reduction on the menu
MPI CORRESPONDENT PAUL COOK EXAMINES WAYS OF FORECASTING WASTE AT EVENTS
F ood waste at events is a
headache that no meeting professional wants. Not only does food waste impact sustainability initiatives, but it also impacts costs.
But with all the technology available and new AI tools that can help deliver better predictions of food consumption, what’ s the problem?
According to chef Eric Vaughn, executive director of culinary operations, Las Vegas Region Banquets at Caesars Entertainment,“ The biggest challenge of food waste is forecasting. While a great deal of calculating and thoughtful planning go into this, at the end of the day it’ s just educated guesses, and if the actual attendee number is not what’ s expected, this can lead to a great deal of waste.”
Robbert Weddepohl, CEO, Conscious Hotels, sees a similar challenge:“ Meeting professionals often don’ t know how hungry attendees will be or what they will actually consume. That uncertainty frequently leads to overproduction to avoid shortages, which directly results in food waste.”
So, there’ s clearly a need for high-quality data to support accurate forecasting.
Weddepohl’ s view is simple:“ Pre-event registration data is essential,” he says.“ Knowing dietary preferences is helpful, but it’ s equally important to understand whether attendees plan to stay for lunch, dinner and networking drinks. That information directly impacts food planning accuracy. And post-event data from waste management systems is just as valuable. By analysing which items are consistently wasted, meeting planners can refine menus, portioning and service formats over time. Combining historical waste data with registration and attendance data results in a much more reliable forecasting model.”
Troy Reynolds, CMP, founder and chief experience officer, Imaginneurs, chair of the MPI Sustainability Advisory Council, believes that food waste at events isn’ t inevitable.“ By combining predictive analytics, attendee insights and realtime waste tracking, planners can make informed decisions that strike a balance between abundance and responsibility.”
All three of our experts are correct in their belief that understanding attendee insights is key. But, unless you walk through the hospitality delegate journey, planners could automatically be creating food waste. Everything needs to be aligned so that, for example, the networking nibbles don’ t impact consumption at the main evening dinner, etc. This means other stakeholders, such as sponsors, must be on board as well. Annette M. Ott-Barnett, advises planners to,“ Ask about the size of plates and cups. Not only will you save money by serving less costly coffee, but smaller plates result in less waste.”
Molly Johnson, CMP-Fellow, vice-president of sales & services, Wilmington and Beaches CVB and member of the MPI Sustainability Advisory Council, says that on occasion she has held back dessert from lunch( when did having dessert with lunches become the norm?) and offered it as an afternoon sweet snack instead.
Hayley Landingham, event and project manager, Emerge, says:“ I’ ve had attendees comment at some properties where the food is a perperson cost rather than a per-item cost, and there are heaps of food left over on buffets. I prefer items to be brought out periodically so that unused amounts remain usable elsewhere without buffet contamination.”
There’ s no doubt that food waste is always going to be a challenge but with the help of tech and smart thinking, planners have the tools to ensure it’ s minimised as much as possible. First step: have food waste reduction on your menu of priorities.” n
ISSUE 142 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 17