The day to end food waste is here
Immersive experiences. Gamification. In your line of work, the shiny new objects keep flashing across the horizon, fiery comets demanding your attention. But other important tugs on your bandwidth don’t go away. Food waste is one of those.
Wednesday, April 29, marks the 10th Stop Food Waste Day, called by its organizers the largest single day of action against global food waste. Started in 2017 by Compass Group USA, the nation’s largest contract food service and facilities management company, the day is now recognized in every corner of the world as an opportunity to educate, inspire and ignite change.
The hottest trend for dealing with surplus food in the hospitality and catering world is to treat it as a resource rather than trash.
Biodigesters in some hotels use microorganisms to break down food scraps into grey water used for irrigation. On-site anaerobic digesters in others can convert excess food into biogas to power kitchen appliances or heat the hotel. Hyper-local composting happens at properties where scraps become nutrient-rich soil for kitchen gardens and landscaping—a closed loop “farm to table” cycle.
Culinary “upcycling” redefines waste as a premium ingredient. Like a chutney made from watermelon rinds or crispy potato peel chips or using citrus peels for cocktail syrups. Taking a page from a grandma’s cookbook, chefs are “repurposing” today’s roasted veggies into tomorrow’s hearty soup.
Read More: Food Rescue and Donating to Those in Need: The Law Is On Your Side
You’ve no doubt seen fewer big buffet trays and more small plates, which can significantly reduce so-called “plate waste” (food taken but not eaten). And hotels that donate surplus meals to local food banks; no surprise, there are now apps (like Too Good To Go) for that.
“The hottest trend is to treat food waste as a resource rather than trash.”
Of course, AI has waded confidently into the food waste arena too. Systems promise to identify what and how much is being thrown away to help chefs adjust purchasing and portion sizes. AI-enabled forecasting tools predict guest demand based on historical data, weather and other factors.
Hotel Kitchens Sign On
Despite major efforts on many fronts over the past decade, about a third of all food produced globally is still lost or wasted every year. Only 25% of that, it’s said, could feed all 795 million undernourished people in the world.
As frequent buyers of catering and hospitality services, you know where you intersect with this issue. Food service in the United States accounts for 12.5 million tons of surplus, most of it sent to landfills, incinerators and sewer systems. Food surplus from the lodging subsector makes up nearly 10% of the waste, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA)—equivalent to 2 billion meals and valued at $17 billion.
That’s why AHLA has become the latest trade association to sign the U.S. Food Waste Pact, a joint initiative led by ReFED and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). It joins 29 other food businesses and organizations that have agreed to follow a voluntary “Target, Measure, Act” framework to reduce discarded food.
Read More: Food Waste: Ditching the Dump
Other signatories include grocery retailers, food products manufacturers, other trade associations and food service companies like Compass Group USA, Aramark and Sodexo USA. The sole hospitality company to join is Hilton Hotels & Resorts.
“Reducing food waste is an important part of ensuring hotels address sustainability while also ensuring that food reaches families, not landfills,” commented Lauren Pravlik, an AHLA vice president, when her organization announced its joining.
Its commitment to this issue is not new. Nine years ago, AHLA and WWF launched the Hotel Kitchen program, which offers training and resources on food waste reduction for the hospitality industry. As part of this, a series of workshops focused on innovative strategies to waste less in hotel kitchens—and participating hotels saw reductions of up to 38% in just 12 weeks.
Bottom line: Know not only where your food is from but where it’s going. By astutely ordering less, you may even trim your catering budget.
This article appears in the March 2026 issue. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
