In September 2023, Marriott International UKIN set the ambitious goal to have all their 55 managed hotels certified The PLEDGE on Food Waste.
To achieve this, over 120 Chefs, Directors of F&B, and Hotel Managers have been trained by LightBlue during a 2-day workshop in Edinburgh, and equipped with knowledge and tools on how to implement and achieve The PLEDGE certification, and how to monitor food waste using the Winnow system.
Adopting a holistic approach, the hotels first built their food lovers’ committee, and implemented new practices following the 95 criteria of The PLEDGE, that include:
- Designing and adopting a food waste policy, that was shared with all stakeholders
- Training their employees, and raising their awareness using multiple touch points (canteen, on-the-job training,..)
- Diligently capturing and analyzing food waste data,
- Reinforcing and embedding new SOPs at critical food waste generation points, such as receiving, storage, forecasting, mise-en-place, buffet, and service.
- Engaging with guests, to nudge them towards reducing plate waste
- Exploring existing solutions to divert the remaining food waste from the landfill.
The 55 hotels went through third-party audits conducted by SGS UK and Audit Diagnostic Solutions Tourism, to verify their compliance against the standard.
53 hotels obtained GOLD, and 2 hotels SILVER against the 95 criteria of The PLEDGE certification. This collective effort resulted in a remarkable 25% reduction in food waste per cover, equivalent to 215,900+ meals and to 415 tons of Carbon emissions being avoided. 121 zero food waste dishes have been added to the menus too.
Marco Sandri, Global Manager of The PLEDGE on Food Waste: “We are so pleased to see Marriott UKIN pave the way on the critical issue of food waste in hospitality. 11 years of expertise in food waste prevention is encapsulated in this project, combining technical capacity building, joint strategy, tailored support, and third-party certification. This success will hopefully inspire more industry leaders to become PLEDGERS too.”
