Corporate America and Climate Change Impact: Company Cafeteria Food Waste Reduction Strategies

Up to forty percent of food is wasted by retailers, food service providers and consumers in the United States and across the world each year. ¹ With each item of food that is lost, there are additional resources lost — the water, soil, fertilizers, labor, fuel, and infrastructure that were used in its production. Much of this wasted food is disposed of in landfills where it subsequently produces methane, a strong greenhouse gas, as it decomposes. For additional context, if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases.²

In recognition of the resource conservation, climate change, and food security implications of wasted food, support has surged for both public and private sector intervention. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the Food Recovery Hierarchy, which prioritizes actions that organizations and individuals can take to prevent and divert food waste, which are, in order of importance: source reduction, feed hungry people, feed animals, industrial uses, composting and landfill/incineration.³

To successfully implement the Food Recovery Hierarchy, it is important to encourage seamless transitions into more sustainable practices by incorporating human centered design solutions at each step. Human-centered design focuses on understanding the perspective of the person who experiences a problem, their needs, and whether the solution offered effectively meets such needs.⁴The phases of human centered design include: empathize, define, prototype, test, and iterate. Using this method makes it possible to create solutions that resonate with an audience, ultimately driving engagement and growth.

The national dialogue on food waste currently emphasizes changing consumer behavior, along with reducing food waste in both school cafeterias and the hospitality industry. Yet adopting such strategies in company cafeterias is not widely discussed. Companies, such as Google, LinkedIn, Amex, Epic Systems and AirBnb serve up to three meals per day to their employees, which are completely or heavily subsidized. Food programs continue to expand as a perk offered to attract new, talented employees.

I posit that company cafeterias have the potential to significantly reduce food waste, as their decisions have an effect both upstream and downstream in the food system.  My work relies on three elements: existing corporate food waste practices, the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy, and human-centered design. Using these elements, I develop a guide for sustainable company cafeterias, which can both guide corporate policy and employee behavior, and facilitate food waste reduction.

Study Methodology

This study was performed through a multi-faceted approach. The first phase consists of analysis of white papers and company performance reports to identify industry trends regarding food waste reduction strategies. Next, observation of front-of-house lunch time operations in the company cafeterias of Google, Amex, and Epic Systems provided insight into how select companies approached food waste in their cafeterias. While in the cafeterias I examined menu design and execution, service options (buffet style, made to order, grab-and-go, etc), cafeteria flow, availability of seating, use of signage, waste spaces, and secondary micro-kitchens. The third component consisted of ten interviews with stakeholders in the company cafeteria space. Those interviewed were associated with Google, Amex, Epic Systems, AirBnb, Stanford University, Natural Resources Defense Council, Leanpath Technologies and multiple consultants who work on developing sustainable food programs for companies. I inquired about company motivations for food waste reduction and whether they were economic, environmental or socially based, barriers that companies face, and thoughts about the future of waste reduction strategies in corporate cafeterias. Finally, this data was compiled into a guide of best practices, and key components for not only reducing waste in cafeterias but also for supporting more sustainable food systems.

Five key areas for improvement in company cafeteria food waste reduction

My research indicates that each company follows the Food Recovery Hierarchy, but to different degrees, and educates their employees on best practices surrounding food waste reduction. Through this work, I identified five key areas in which companies can improve their efficiency and sustainability in reducing waste in their food spaces in alignment with the EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy. These areas include source reduction through waste tracking, menu design, cafeteria design, and smarter ordering/sourcing practices and feed hungry people, feed animals, industrial use and composting through developing partnerships with food rescue and recycling companies.

Invest in Waste Tracking

First and foremost, tracking their waste is essential, as doing so allows companies to have full visibility into their waste streams. By collecting explicit, actionable data, strategic modifications can be made in ordering, preparation, and production to reduce food waste. By utilizing emerging tracking technologies such as Leanpath, Winnow, or Olio, companies can track waste in the kitchen with scales, cameras, and tablets, which illuminates the financial and environmental impact of the waste. For example, through a partnership with Leanpath, IKEA Lyssach was able to reduce food (waste?) costs by 50 percent and food waste weight by 45 percent in just one year.⁵ Because this step relies heavily on employee education and motivation, this is a key area for human based design innovation. 

Smart menu design

Smart menu design, or redesigning menus, can be cost effective while keeping the employee satisfied. First, to implement smart menu design, the mindset of kitchen employees and those eating the food needs to shift around using ingredients not always thought to be viable. Encouraging culinary creativity, and providing education to employees for optimizing ingredients during preparation are great ways to start. Emphasis on seasonal and locally sourced ingredients supports regional food systems, and contributes to reducing the company’s carbon footprint through food. Nudges such as transitioning to smaller portion sizes (people can always go back for seconds), choosing specific utensils for buffet service, and offering single serving desserts can all improve individual plate waste.

Cafeteria design

Cafeteria design considers how employees move through meal time. Designing a cafeteria that requires employees to swipe in provides data that allows for tracking of meal time patterns for smarter preparation practices. The responsibility of sorting waste materials correctly should be taken off the employee and instead be done by a paid staff member of the culinary team. There is no need for individual waste bins in the cafeteria. Instead, a smarter design is a tray/plate/waste conveyor belt unit that brings all materials to the back of the house to be properly sorted.

Streamlined procurement systems

By improving ordering and sourcing practices, companies can reduce waste of food, packaging, and single use products. Phasing out single use products such as cups, utensils, to go containers, individually wrapped snacks, and bottled beverages, can be continuously phased out as employee demands and overall culture begins to shift.

Downstream partnerships

By developing  relationships with downstream food system partnerships, companies are able to turn food that would normally go to waste into food that is recovered by a secondary source. Establishing connections with local nonprofits that perform recovery work entails more than simply passing off the leftover food. Companies must assist in developing a system for efficient pick up and transportation, in addition to establishing a pay structure for compensating the secondary organizations. While many companies think of their surplus food donation as a “gift” that benefits these downstream operations, the reality is that companies must quantify the value of this waste removal. While lower on the EPA hierarchy, compost operations are also important to consider.

Concluding thoughts: developing stronger corporate food system and culture

While in-house design changes have the potential to create considerable food waste reduction, many of the stakeholders I spoke with agreed that implementing various policy levers may also work to demand change from companies in how they operate their dining programs. Requiring companies to be more transparent about their waste reduction efforts, laws surrounding recycling and composting, and certification systems similar to LEED certifications would aid in establishing more sustainable businesses practices.

A company food program can be so much more than a service that merely supplies food. If designed properly, such programs have the potential for a positive impact on climate change and can serve as a way to educate employees about the challenges and threats of the current food system. A study done by Project Drawdown, a coalition of experts designing climate change solutions, ranks reducing food waste as the number 1 action item out of 80 total, projecting roughly 87 gigatons CO2 equivalent reduced between 2020-2050.⁶ This provides the justification for why food waste policies are an important part of climate change policy.

It is the responsibility of companies to take climate consciousness seriously, and to build a system where the adherence to such strategies are integrated into their own success metrics. While there are many waste reduction strategies present in company cafeterias, the real solutions needed are structural and systemic: allowing employees a healthy escape from their desks and providing companies with the motivations, resources and partnerships necessary for waste reduction.

Food has an influence on happiness and productivity. Companies have an opportunity to utilize human centered design changes to inspire their employees to see food choices as a way to build more sustainable lifestyles through tracking waste, implementing smart menu and cafeteria design, improving ordering/ sourcing practices and developing mutually beneficial food system partnerships.

 Resources

1. Gunders, Dana. Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill. August 16, 2017. https://www.nrdc.org/resources/wasted-how-america-losing-40-percent-its-food-farm-fork-landfill.
2. “Food wastage footprint & Climate Change.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Last modified 2015. http://www.fao.org/3/a-bb144e.pdf.
3. “Sustainable Management of Food – Food Recovery Hierarchy.” United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy.
4. The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. N.p.: IDEO.org, 2015.
5. Food Waste Watcher Program Case Study – IKEA Switzerland-Lyssach. 2018. Accessed March 8, 2020. https://www.leanpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/CaseStudyIKEALyssach.New_.v1.pdf.
6. Project Drawdown. “Table of Solutions.” Project Drawdown. Last modified March 2020. https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/table-of-solutions.