Food Waste Intelligence

For foodservice operators, managing costs has always been a balancing act—but in today’s economy, that balance is becoming harder to maintain. Rising food prices, supply chain disruptions, and inflationary pressures are already squeezing margins, and now, new tariffs on imported goods are set to make food even more expensive. With these financial challenges looming, preventing food waste is no longer just a sustainability goal—it’s a crucial business strategy for survival.

The latest installment of the Chef’s Round Table Webinar brought together chefs from Leanpath and the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to discuss repurposing and upcycling in the kitchen. The conversation was packed with insights, strategies, and best practices for minimizing food waste while enhancing sustainability in foodservice operations.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has released an easy-to-use calculator that allows foodservice operations and others to calculate the methane emissions they’ve avoided by preventing food waste going to landfill. When food decomposes in the landfill, it generates methane, a greenhouse gas that is more than 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere. According to the EPA, wasted food causes 58 percent of methane emissions from landfills.

The following is an open letter to the industry and the intro to our latest e-book, “Artificial Intelligence in Food Waste Management: Leanpath’s Approach and Vision for a Sustainable Future.” Twenty years ago, when I founded Leanpath, food waste in commercial kitchens was largely an invisible problem. Today, it’s recognized as one of the most pressing challenges our industry faces, with significant economic and environmental implications. Throughout our journey, we’ve witnessed firsthand the power of data to drive change. What began ...