WASTE NOT , WANT NOT
Olivia Salvage , creative manager , Agiito , talks about reducing waste in the catering world of tomorrow
hen I first started working in events , I remember being so excited about the array of food on display at the buffets and how delicious it all looked . Even better was when the leftovers were sent to the production office , or the staff catering was , in fact , as good as the attendee dishes .
Pretty quickly though , this excitement turned to somewhat sadness when it clicked that the food left over , thrown away and wasted from our event , was only the waste from one event in a world where millions happen each year . Now , the sight of an overflowing buffet at a hotel with minimal occupancy really frustrates me , to think that little seems to have changed . It ’ s been eight years since my first buffet as an eventprof , so what improvements has industry made when it comes to catering ? What is
“ In my dream sustainable world , buffets would be a thing of the past and menus would show carbon emissions and environmental impact .” the dream goal ?
I recently stayed at a hotel in the Azores that had forgone the wasteful buffet for a personalised ‘ a la carte ’ tapas-style breakfast , where you selected multiple smaller portioned dishes using local produce . They took orders one course at a time , to give you the chance to feel full and avoid greedy over-ordering . This gave you the same variety of a buffet , exactly to your taste without the waste , with the added bonus of table service . Build time into your conference agenda that allows for a leisurely breakfast , which could also help to boost in-session motivation .
Other properties have gone for a different angle and adopted calorie-content style labeling to show the carbon emissions from food on a buffet . This is a great way to educate delegates on the impact of their choices and , in due time , statistics will likely show lower-emission choices are more popular . However , this does still leave the issue of wasted and leftover high-emissions food .
Olivia Salvage
Venues can combat this by partnering with local food banks to donate leftovers , hopefully supply and demand will eventually reduce the offerings of menu choices with a large footprint .
In my dream sustainable world , buffets would be a thing of the past and menus would show carbon emissions and environmental impact along with calorie content and dietary information as a standard . It would be a legal requirement for any establishment serving food to donate usable leftovers to charities that help feed the local population .
We have a great opportunity in our industry to showcase feasible solutions to many problems plaguing our modern world , so let ’ s keep moving and improving , implement these changes and achieve that goal . CN www . conference-news . co . uk