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.

In December of 2019, the United Nations General Assembly designated September 29 as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW). UN leaders sought to raise awareness of the scope and scale of the global food waste challenge to speed progress toward Target 12.3 – the global goal of halving food waste by 2030.

As we celebrate the fourth annual observance of the IDAFLW this week, we remain excited by the fact that food loss and waste is now explicitly recognized on the UN calendar – and we believe this date is only growing in importance.

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:

This post is part of a new series looking at ideas for repurposing commonly overproduced menu items.

We see carrots going to waste often across the wide range of foodservice operators we work with at Leanpath, whether it be raw unprepared carrot that was not used for its primary purpose or raw or cooked carrot that was overproduced and then wasted. In both of the above circumstances, there are many actions teams can take to prevent waste of carrots by either preserving or repurposing.

With a bit of foresight, whole surplus carrots that are not going to be used can easily be saved from spoiling by being preserved and stored for a later date, becoming a texture and flavor boosting accompaniment for many dishes.

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: