Australian food rescue charity OzHarvest has partnered with Winnow – a food wastage reduction technology system designed to help chefs and F&B managers minimise food wastage in hotel kitchens.
Since its foundation in 2013, the Winnow system is operational in more than 30 countries and is now saving more than 15 million meals each year from being wasted and is currently in use across major hotel brands including AccorHotels, IHG and Marriott International.
Winnow works by helping chefs measure, monitor and reduce food waste by assessing the volume of food going through a commercial kitchen. This is then compared with financial data to determine the dollar value of the food literally going in the trash. Insights and information is then provided to help reduce this figure and save up to 70% of food waste and put it to better use, thereby also improving the kitchen’s financial situation.
More than $20 billion each year in food stock is thrown out each year, more than half of which is being generated by the food and hospitality industries.
Through OzHarvest’s business innovation arm ForPurposeCo, Winnow is now being marketed more widely to the hotel industry as one way of saving dozens, maybe hundreds of meals each day from being thrown in the garbage bin. Instead, OzHarvest collects this stock before it is spoiled and provides it to less fortunate and vulnerable people. The company is working as part of a global UN Sustainability Development initiative to halve global food waste by 2030.
“We are on a mission to connect the commercial kitchen, create a movement of chefs and inspire others to see that food is too valuable to waste,” Winnow co-founders Marc Zomes and Kevin Duffy said.
“Collectively our clients are saving themselves $21m every year while becoming more efficient and doing the right thing for the environment. Tackling food waste is a huge opportunity for the hospitality sector and we believe that Winnow has application in virtually every professional kitchen across Australia and New Zealand.”