Drawing on four years of first-hand observations and collaborative efforts with Chefs and kitchen teams at over 40 global properties, along with my experience as an auditor for various certification bodies, I aim to clarify some practices that may help or impede the management of food waste within hotels and restaurants.

For the past years we have seen tremendous improvements in food waste monitoring led by start-ups proposing “smart scales”. This innovative technology utilizes advanced systems equipped with cameras and sometimes artificial intelligence to identify, weight and categorize various types of food discarded in bins. The data gathered is then presented in detailed reports. These reports quantify the food waste from each meal period by components—such as meat, vegetables, and trimmings—providing measurements in kilograms. The most advanced companies propose to categorize each item depending on the menu, so one is able to identify a chicken curry in the food waste mix. A significant advantage of this technology is its capability to monitor both the weight and the costs of food waste, allowing for comprehensive tracking of financial implications.

The purpose of this article is not to critique the technology or undermine the benefits provided by these “smart scales”. Instead, the focus is on addressing potential misperceptions and incorrect expectations that may arise. The following three issues have been identified:

  1. “Smart scales”, as “intelligent” as they may be perceived, do not solve the food waste problem on their own. The issue of food waste in the hospitality industry is complex and involves different actors. There is no silver bullet to food waste management.
  2. Management using reports provided by “smart scales” to increase the pressure on Chefs is counterproductive and leads to unintended consequences and questionable practices.
  3. Not all the waste generated in kitchens is food waste. It’s essential to separate the waste that can’t be avoided (bones, trimmings, …) and exclude this part from the cost calculation.

In greater details:

1. “Smart scales” limits

Firstly, there is the issue of the overall amount of food that can be monitored. This is especially the case when we are talking about large operations such as hotels’ buffets that create substantial amounts of food waste. Under this scenario, it is practically impossible to individually monitor each plate, or each batch of food thrown away. Separating different type of food waste is very labor intensive thus adding workload to the front- and back-of-the-house teams.

Secondly, “smart scales” provide tremendous level of details which is indeed very useful to understand and appreciate what is being thrown away. However, before looking for such a detailed analysis of each tenth of grams of potato peals, it is crucial to have the big picture. The big picture helps to acknowledge the main food waste streams which are: spoilage, kitchen preparation waste, buffet (if any), guest plates, and staff canteen. The “smart scales” should only be deployed in the restaurants and kitchens that have already monitored and understood their food waste generally speaking and that are now looking for a more detailed analysis. Before searching for the needle in the haystack it is important to have a comprehensive overview of the haystack.

2. Reports

Food waste used to be an invisible problem: food waste disappears in black bags, which are black holes where no one dares to check. Now we have a camera taking pictures of anything getting into the bins. However, these images without context can be wrongly interpreted. These pictures and reports are used by management to ask the Chefs to make a change. Unfortunately, this top-down approach is problematic and leading to new practices in the kitchen whereby Chefs will not monitor the entire food waste anymore and divert a part of it from the snitch in the kitchen: the “smart scales” becoming the enemy instead of the ideal partner to monitor food waste. It is an unfortunate but expected adaptation to management expectations that cannot be fulfilled under the current circumstances.

In the worst-case scenario, Chefs are forced to implement a new tool that is not adapted to their work environment, and they may be resenting the technology providing a wrong picture of the situation. This is the exact opposite of the outcome awaited from that technology.

3. Food waste monetization

A significant benefit of the “smart scales” is that they assign a cost to each piece of food waste: if you throw away 1Kg of beef it will be recorded as well as a cost. The issue here is that some unavoidable wastes have been assigned a monetary value: egg shells, fruits or vegetables trimmings, … So, the daily, weekly or monthly reports provide a distorted vision of what is going on: trimmings, while categorized as food waste, are practically just waste. The science around food waste is still new and adjustments are needed to get to the right picture. One consideration is to understand the difference between food waste and waste produced in the kitchen. As long as this is not solved, we keep getting a wrong image of the food waste monitoring and a limited trust from Chefs.

Solutions:

  1. Implement a global monitoring system: before embracing “smart scales”, it is recommended to implement a global monitoring system only focusing on the categories that make sense for the hotel or restaurant. There is no need to get into the details; instead, it is important to have the team trained in the big picture and how to collect the food waste data correctly. Collecting information on food waste takes time and should be done through different seasons and meal periods, until the data is consistent and stable. Then one may go deeper and work with a tool for more details.
  2. Analyze the amount of waste produced in the kitchen: It is important to have a good understanding of waste produced that is not relevant for practical food waste management: bones, shells, trimmings… New indicators can then be developed such as: 54% of the waste generated in our kitchen is not food waste but just waste. You may be able to keep this data for all the future calculations.
  3. Assign a cost to food waste only: It is best to refuse to have the waste that is not food waste to be assigned a cost by the “smart scales” providers. Ultimately, “smart scales” providers work for you and not the opposite. Their support can be very helpful as long as it is related to what is happening in the kitchens under the leadership of Chefs.
  4. Supporting the Chefs: Most Chefs are often doing their best to reduce food waste and they should be supported rather than ostracized. The new tools should be used only when the team is ready to work with those. The team can take advantage of the technology to improve the way it works but again, those new tools should never be forcedly implemented without consent and support. Failing to do so and the collected data may simply not be useful.

“Smart scales” are implemented in a growing number of kitchens and these are good news because it means that the managers and owners understand the value of advanced food waste monitoring. This article aims to warn the different actors against expectations that can’t be fulfilled without respecting some imperative steps. We are now seeing some restaurants where “smart scales” are removed because they were judged inefficient. The scale is not smart, neither intelligent, we, humans caring for food, are the ones to use the tool to our advantage if we follow the organic steps related to food waste monitoring described above.