Recovery: Feeding Hungry People

Channeling safe leftover food to those in need through a proactive program of donation helps remove organic matter from the waste stream, and it’s an action that resonates with consumers.

CHAPTER 7

Recovery: Feeding Hungry People

SAFE LEFTOVER FOOD CAN BE CHANNELED TO THOSE IN NEED

The foodservice industry needs to be more generous. According to ReFED, only 10% of surplus food is being recovered in the combined foodservice and restaurant sector, leaving 900,000 tons of surplus food unrecovered—the equivalent of 1.5 billion meals per year.¹

Channeling safe leftover food to those in need through a proactive program of donation helps remove organic matter from the waste stream, and it’s an action that resonates with consumers. From a purely material point of view, it can also generate tax deductions.

Effective donation tracking programs can lead to a 25% reduction in surplus (pre-consumer waste) food when used in conjunction with prevention initiatives.¹

ReFED points out that while foodservice businesses can implement their own food-waste reduction plans, recovery and donation plans require an ecosystem approach that includes education for food businesses on donor liability protections and safe food handling practices; policy changes that encourage donations while providing standardized and science-based food safety regulations; and efficient logistics and infrastructure to transport, process, and distribute excess food.²

OPERATOR SPOTLIGHT
Compass Group utilizes a comprehensive platform that reduces food waste by managing menus, ordering, production records, and waste tracking. Included is an extensive set of online tools the company created for chefs, which provides simple demand forecasting for 5 billion meals served around the world throughout the year. The tool scales recipe ingredients taken from the week’s menus to quantify production needs. Waste information is tracked by the chef and feeds back into the system to help reduce overproduction.

56% of operators donate excess food to charitable organizations.³

The National Restaurant Association suggests the following approach:

1. Design a custom program. Panera Bread donates leftover bread and baked goods at the end of each night to local hunger-relief agencies and charitable organizations through its “Day-End Dough-Nation” initiative. It also makes direct donations to food banks and other nonprofits.

2. Partner up. There are many food-sharing organizations, such as Food Donation Connection, that act as a middleman between foodservice providers and local shelters, rescue missions, and food banks. Services can include food safety training, transportation, logistics, tracking, and liability and tax issues. Some are app-based, like Copia, Food Rescue US, and 412 Food Rescue, matching food businesses that have extra food with agencies that serve people in need.

3. Understand your liability. Many restaurants fear liability when they donate prepared food inventory. But the federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act protects donors against donation-related liability claims.

4. Be aware of mandates. Cities and states are increasingly passing bills to ban organic waste from landfills, although the mandates often come before jurisdictions have the facilities to support composting or other alternatives.

There’s an App for That

Donating food to nonprofits is not the only way to deal with leftovers. In fact, a new generation of smartphone apps like Food for All, goMkt, and Too Good to Go connect budget- and waste-conscious consumers with restaurants that still have tasty, wholesome leftovers to sell at a discounted price. Typically, users search their area for partner restaurants and food retailers, then go pick up the food before the business closes, at a price that’s 50%–80% less than the original. Operators who sign on recover some value and may even gain new customers in the bargain.

^{_{Sources: [1] ReFED, Restaurant Food Waste Action Guide (2018). [2] ReFED, “A Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste by 20 Percent” (2016). [3] Technomic Omnibus February 2019.}}