EYEBROW
THIS MONTH ’ S SECTION IS ABOUT
OPERATORS ARE ENGINEERING MENUS AND TWEAKING OFFERINGS TO PREVENT WASTE AND PROTECT THE BOTTOM LINE .
Food waste is a major global issue , and recent research has identified the tourism and hospitality industry as one of the largest contributors . About 1.3 billion tons of food is lost or goes to waste annually , according to studies from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Southern California researchers . That ’ s equivalent to one-third of all food intended for human consumption .
But hotel F & B operators are taking note of what ’ s going into the bins . This “ trash can management ,” as Gregory Griffie , senior vice president of Davidson Restaurant Group ( the F & B division of Atlantabased hotel management company Davidson Hotels
& Resorts ), calls it , is helping operators and chefs to better engineer the menus in order to prevent waste . “ Trash can management has been our philosophy for many years ,” Griffie says . “ It means any food byproduct scrap or waste that goes into a trash can is money that can ’ t be recovered .”
That ’ s why chefs , restaurant GMs and F & B teams were challenged to get more creative in planning their menus , he says . Instead of tossing what would typically be viewed as garbage , chefs were tasked with finding new uses for it . That could include creating oils , syrups , powders or salts for dishes , or creating menu items that cross-utilize ingredients .
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