Purchasing and storage management with planning errors, poor use of the product or a passive attitude in the room so that the customer takes home what is left on the plate, are some of the causes (with a solution) of food waste in many restaurants. From Hostelería #PorElClima – an initiative promoted by Coca-Cola and Comunidad #PorElClima, with the support of Hospitality of Spain – they point out that there are more and more restaurants that are aware: 38.86% of those adhering to this initiative, more than 13,000 throughout Spain states that it develops actions to avoid food waste that occurs mainly for three different reasons.
The first, due to the deterioration that occurs between the purchase of food and its storage and which represents 60% of the total of an establishment. To avoid this it is necessary to have stock control. The second corresponds to the preparation of the menu and the preparation of the food. To reduce it, it is best to prioritize those products that are closest to their expiration date or deterioration and prepare them when it is certain that they will be consumed. In this way, up to 30% waste would be avoided.
If there is a surplus of food, Hostelería #PorElClima recommends donating it to social entities dedicated to the collection and distribution of food or joining communities that manage already prepared food through mobile applications. And, the third, is the waste on the customer’s plate, especially if the portions are correct. In this sense, offering leftover food to customers to take away prevents much of it from ending up in the trash.
One of the examples of success and good practices collected by Hostelería #PorElClima is the Semproniana restaurant. Located in the center of Barcelona’s Eixample under the direction of Ada Parellada and Santi Alegre, it offers customers three different “sizes” or sizes of its dishes. It also offers a compostable container that they can throw in the organic waste to take the food home. In addition, Parellada sponsors the Gastrorecup meal program, in which restaurants participate that offer meals at a very reduced price made with discarded food.
The Ovillo from Madrid, designed from the beginning under criteria of energy efficiency and cost savings, has also managed to reduce its waste to a minimum. To do this, it has an electric composter, uses techniques and serves menus of use – from using the less noble parts of the meat pieces to make sausages, to the use of fish bones to make miso broths and sauce vegetables. roasted, or prepare herb chutney with the remains of aromatic herbs – and recycle and reuse the packaging. In one year, it is capable of composting 1,400 kg of organic waste, which allows it to avoid the emission of almost a ton of CO2. Or the Bálamo restaurant, also in Madrid, 4,200 meters of sustainable gastronomic experience (with vertical garden included) that this year has received the #PorElClima Hospitality innovation award.
#Restaurants #unite #protect #planet
