Food Waste in India’s Hospitality Sector

In my last article, I shared an overview of the wastage of food at the household level. Now, let us move out of the house and look at other sources of food waste by retail consumers. Topmost among the sources are hotels and restaurants. According to the Food Waste Index Report 2021 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), India generates about 68.7 million tons of food waste per year, out of which 11.9 million tons come from the food service sector. This sector includes restaurants, hotels, caterers, canteens, and other establishments that serve food to customers. There are three different modes of food wastage in this sector. Firstly, pre-consumer waste is generated during preparation and storage. Then when the food is served to the customer as per the order, many customers leave some portion of the food in their plates. Many customers prefer to carry packed meals at home or their respective workplaces. However, they may not consume the entire portion of food they have carried. The reasons for food waste in restaurants and hotels are manifold and can be summarised as follows:

1. Overproduction: Restaurants often prepare various food dishes in excess quantities to avoid running out of stock and to meet the demand of customers. However, they do not consider the average number of customers visiting their restaurants per day. Hence, all the food that is prepared does not get consumed and becomes stale. Such food is discarded in the trash.

2. Serving portion quantity: Restaurants often serve large portions of food to customers to attract them and satisfy their appetites without even considering their age. People who are in their late 60s and 70s and above do not have such an appetite, but they are served the same portion as given to the youngsters and adults. In general, the said customer may not be able to gulp down the entire food on the plate. I have experienced this many times. For a single person, they serve a portion of food that can be shared by two or three people. So obviously, some food gets left over. The customer may get it packed and take it home, thinking that it will take care of one meal at least. But it rarely happens. Such packed food is kept in the refrigerator and is then discarded the next day.

3. Customer behaviour: On the contrary, customers often order more food than they can eat or need, either due to a lack of awareness, peer pressure, or impulse buying. They also tend to leave uneaten food on their plates or take away leftovers, but do not consume them later.

4. Menu variety: Restaurants often offer a wide variety of dishes and cuisines to cater to the different tastes and preferences of customers. However, this also increases the complexity and cost of food preparation and storage, as well as the risk of spoilage and wastage.

   
   

5. Lack of awareness: Both restaurants and customers often lack awareness and knowledge about the causes and consequences of food waste, as well as the best practices and solutions to prevent and reduce it. They also lack incentives and motivation to act against food waste.

   
   

More on this next week! Till then, have a good weekend!

(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)