Chef Tim Morris Using Leanpath System
Metz Culinary Management, Inc. (Metz) has launched a food waste prevention initiative, helping its culinary partners curtail waste in meal preparation and service by 30%. The initiative includes automated food waste tracking technology that is part of the Leanpath platform and is now operational in 18 Metz dining partner sites.
Metz’s food waste prevention initiative is part of the company’s commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability across its operations. Metz has set a goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030, in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for food waste reduction.
One-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted in production with 25% of that food waste coming from the food service industry, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Food waste contributes approximately 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere every year, primarily methane, the most caustic of the greenhouse gasses.
“The average commercial kitchen wastes 4% to 10% of the food it purchases before it ever lands on a diner’s plate, with most of that waste coming from overproduction of meals to serve guests,” said Brian Bachman, Vice President of Purchasing for Metz. “By leveraging the Leanpath technology platform, we can measure and track food waste over time, allowing our culinary teams to better align food production to actual demand.”
Leanpath’s technology allows foodservice kitchens to understand what food they are wasting and why it’s being wasted. Kitchens can then make smart adjustments to purchasing, prep and menus to prevent that waste from reoccurring. This process has led to large food waste prevention numbers within the 18 Metz sites using Leanpath and generated the following results:
- 30+% food waste reduction
- 74K+ pounds of food waste prevention
- 235K metric tons of CO2 avoidance
- 29+M gallons of water conserved, the equivalent of 829,553 bathtubs of water
Preventing food waste has a critical impact, resulting in:
- Reducing carbon footprint
- Contributing to water conservation by reducing water used to grow wasted food
- Targeting hunger by leaving food in the system for those who need it
“We launched the food waste prevention program at Arcadia University in August 2022, initially just to get a baseline on what we were throwing out. The photos and the data really opened our eyes to the cost value of what we were wasting,” said Tim Morris, Executive Chef at Arcadia University. “Since October 3, data shows that our team has reduced food waste by 52%. We’ve also incorporated an incentive program for our team members who can earn a gift card for reducing food waste.”
Throughout its sustainability efforts such as the food waste initiative, Metz is invested in doing its part to be environmental stewards of the planet by working closely with client partners such as Arcadia University and vendors to protect our precious resources for future generations.