Food Waste Intelligence

There are so many moving parts in hospital foodservice that chefs and managers rarely have time to identify the root causes of food waste, let alone strategize to improve their operations. That's why Palomar Health trusts Leanpath technology to measure their food waste, analyze food waste data, and provide reporting and expert coaching to guide their prevention efforts.

A recently released, UN-backed study discovered a 7:1 ROI for restaurant food waste initiatives and shatters the notion that the associated costs of food loss and waste can remain buried in operational budgets, accepted as the cost of doing business, or considered not worth the investment needed to achieve reductions.

Leanpath is deployed in nearly 200 Google cafes in 21 countries. Since 2014 when we started working together, Leanpath has helped Google prevent 4 million pounds of food waste from going to the landfill. See how they’ve done it.

Novotel Brisbane is a 296-room hotel located in the city’s business district. Executive Chef Sean Collins has focused his food waste tracking at the breakfast buffet, which serves 150-400 guests daily. The savings he's realized have been reinvested in the kitchen, leading to better product and steady menu pricing. “The whole exercise has bolstered our competitive edge. Not having to increase our prices to compensate for cost of goods: that’s given us a head start above our competitors.”

Collins has lead his team to a 66 percent reduction in waste value and 62 percent cut in waste weight.

Many foodservice operations incorporate donating excess edible food into their food waste strategy and overall mission to do good. The US EPA food recovery hierarchy, which has long been a guiding resource for prioritization of food waste solutions, positions feeding hungry people just below source reduction for preferred approaches to food waste. And it seems like it’s hard to argue with the inherent “good” that comes along with feeding hungry people, right?