easyJet holidays has today announced the results of its hotel food waste reduction scheme pilot delivered through a first of its kind partnership with Winnow, and confirmed the launch of its hotelier educational programme.
Winnow is a leader in food waste management solutions using AI technology which learns to ‘see’ food being wasted in the restaurant kitchen, using a connected terminal with a motion camera and collecting data. Teams then receive reports that pinpoint waste, giving them the insight to make operational improvements.
easyJet holidays and Winnow launched their pilot scheme in summer 2023 in the main buffet restaurant of one of its most popular hotels, the Bahia Principe Sunlight Costa Adeje resort in Tenerife. The hotel serves up to 2400 meals per day in busy holiday periods, with buffet waste being a larger component of overall kitchen food waste.
After 12 months of implementation, easyJet holidays has confirmed that buffet waste in the restaurant has been reduced by 68%. The food waste reduced by 32 tonnes compared to the previous year, and the Carbon emissions reduced by 139 tonnes compared to the previous year. These results led to cost savings of over €100,000 of food for the hotel for this year, compared to the previous year.
Over the year, the hotel has seen waste reductions of 71% for rice, 74% for pasta and pizza, 73% for salads, and 80% for tomato trimmings. These results were achieved by making reductions to batches of food cooked in advance, as well as sharing images with kitchen staff to make improvements on techniques for food preparation.
Following the trial’s success, easyJet holidays has made a commitment to a dedicated awareness campaign, to increase the adoption of Winnow AI technology across its’ hotels. Webinar content will provide hoteliers with all information and support they need ahead of implementing this cutting edge technology and reduce their own food waste.
Matt Callaghan, Chief Operating Officer, easyJet holidays: “We’re really pleased with the results of our food waste reduction scheme using the latest artificial intelligence technologies. Reducing food waste not only helps lessen a hotel’s environmental impact, but also benefits them financially.
“At easyJet holidays, we want to make a more positive impact on the environment and local communities that make our holidays so special. So, drawing on the expertise of Oxford University’s SDG Impact Lab students from our Sustainable Tourism Programme, we found that food waste in our sector was of growing environmental and social concern, so, we wanted to find effective measures to tackle the issue.”