What’s Going On Here?
Last year we wrote about Winnow Solutions, the food waste innovators developing digital tools to help chefs run more sustainable kitchens. This week they’ve announced the release of a new tool which means restaurant food waste can be monitored and quantified without kitchen staff doing as much as lifting a finger.
What Does This Mean?
Winnow’s AI-enabled food bin is being rolled out internationally, starting in the kitchens of furniture giants IKEA. The clever AI technology uses a camera to auto-recognise and weigh food each time the bin is used. The waste is then converted to equivalent values in $$$s and CO2, and the system produces actionable reports so chefs can modify their menus to reduce waste.
IKEA have reported a 50% reduction in food waste since they started using the technology. Even that is just a fraction of the 23 million meals worth of food waste that Winnow are reporting to have saved.
Why Should We Care?
All the food we waste in the UK causes an extra 25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. That’s 38 times more the total annual CO2 emissions of the entire London bus fleet. ????
Wondering what one tonne of CO2 emissions looks like? ????
That’s what it looked like at PWC’s London offices a little while back – times that by 25 million – that’s a lot of balls.
Wondering what one tonne of CO2emissions looks like?
That’s what it looked like at PWC’s London offices a little while back – times that by 25 million – that’s a lot of balls.
Why is technology like Winnow’s so important?
Despite the hospitality sector being responsible for only 10% of all UK food waste, Winnow zones in on a crucial aspect of the food waste problem: awareness. Winnow’s reporting raises awareness of the areas every kitchen can cut waste. Wouldn’t it be great if we all had someone doing the same for us?
Check out the menu below from this fabulous Welsh hotel and you’ll see that the CO2 emissions for one option can be 10 times greater than an alternative option. Best stick to the soup of the day…
Picture courtesy of Twitter @PNBryant
Be Curious!
What’s the best way you can think of cutting food waste?
We love the idea of having CO2 emissions next to each item on a menu. In fact, some restaurants already do this. If the price of the food is the cost to you, the CO2emissions are the cost to society.
Got some great ideas on how to tackle food waste? Share them on our social channels with over thousands of others!
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