Food Waste Intelligence

Metz Culinary Management, Inc. (Metz) recently announced its launch of the Leanpath food waste prevention initiative to help its culinary partners curtail waste in meal preparation and service, now operational in 18 Metz dining partner sites.

Metz’s food waste prevention initiative is part of the company’s commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability across its operations. Metz has set a goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030, in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for food waste reduction.

Food waste is a global environmental, social and financial crisis. But it is also the rare win-win scenario for the foodservice industry, where the best thing to do for the planet is also the best thing to do for a kitchen's finances.

Here are six stats to help drive that point home:

The United States Tour Operators Association has awarded Uniworld Boutique River Cruise’s Sustainability Officer Julie Higgins its Future Lights Award for contributions to sustainability in the tourism industry. 

The organization highlighted Higgins’s “industry-leading efforts to reduce food waste” with Leanpath as her key achievement this year. As the association explained:

The foodservice program at Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, is broad and ambitious. They have traditional patient trays, room service and a cafeteria, but they also have a full-service restaurant that operates Monday through Friday. They have a medically tailored meal program that serves the hospital as well as area nursing homes and adult care facilities. They also have a small-footprint grocery on site, stocked primarily with donated food for low-income area residents. A mobile version of the grocery will launch soon to travel into the area's food deserts. The mobile and stationary groceries also work with local minority owned restaurants to prepare meals. 

“We actually touch every county in the state with our meals,” says Director of Culinary and Executive Chef Dugan Wetzel.

Since January 2023, the Eskenazi culinary team has brought the same mission-driven ambition to reducing food waste with Leanpath, cutting their waste by an impressive 32 percent in just three months.

Leanpath is integrating the AI engine behind ChatGPT into its suite of prevention tools as a beta test starting today. Its new AI coach assistant will offer users tips on preventing their specific food waste.

Leanpath will be testing the effectiveness of the new technology to help speed food waste prevention efforts.