Abstract:The aim of the study was to reduce food waste in a hospital, a hospital cafeteria, and a residential home by applying a participatory approach in which the employees were integrated into the process of developing and implementing measures. Initially, a process analysis was undertaken to identify the processes and structures existing in each institution. This included a 2-week measurement of the quantities of food produced and wasted. After implementing the measures, a second measurement was conducted and the results of the two measurements were compared. The average waste rate in the residential home was significantly reduced from 21.4% to 13.4% and from 19.8% to 12.8% in the cafeteria. In the hospital, the average waste rate remained constant (25.6% and 26.3% during the reference and control measurements). However, quantities of average daily food provided and wasted per person in the hospital declined. Minimizing overproduction, i.e., aligning the quantity of meals produced to that required, is essential to reducing serving losses. Compliance of meal quality and quantity with customer expectations, needs, and preferences, i.e., the individualization of food supply, reduces plate waste. Moreover, establishing an efficient communication structure involving all actors along the food supply chain contributes to decreasing food waste.

Abstract:Based on their experiences gained in 15 companies in the catering sector and the bakery industry, the authors present a participatory concept to reduce food waste in the food industry. This five-phase concept, adapted to the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle applied in the Total Quality Management, involves a participatory approach where employees are integrated into the process of developing and implementing measures to counteract food waste. The authors describe how the participatory approach can be used to raise awareness of the topic of food waste to improve employee commitment and responsibility. As a result, the authors further offer a Manual for Managers wishing to reduce food waste in their respective organizations. This manual includes information on the methodologies applied in each step of the improvement cycle. It also describes why the steps are necessary, and how results can be documented. The participatory concept and the Manual for Managers contribute to reducing food waste and to enhancing resource efficiency in the food industry.

Nutrition is responsible for about 30% of global natural resource use. In order to limit the negative impact the nutritional sector has on the environment and on society, the consumption and processing of foodstuffs with assumed low negative impact is an important topic in the effort of sustainable development. In professional kitchens, clearly defined indicators assessing the impact of business activities are needed in this effort. The research and development in the NAHGAST project provides groundwork that could be of important assistance in this effort. Two versions of an assessment tool, with indicators of different complexity (NAHGAST Meal-Basic and NAHGAST Meal-Pro), were developed that can be used by kitchen professionals to determine the sustainability performance of their products-the offered meal. An informed selection of indicators, and a discussion of what processes and impacts this indicator relates to in the wider context, are essential and are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, in the selection of indicators for the purpose of our research certain criteria were considered simultaneously: (1) Communicability-What information an indicator can communicate and how comprehensible this information is for different actors; (2) Feasibility and data availability-Whether there is sufficient data for an indicator to be included and whether it is realistic for companies to integrate this indicator in their daily work practice; and (3) Scientific relevance-Whether the indicator is relevant for sustainability efforts on a larger scale and for related discussions in the scientific community. Insights related to these considerations are valuable for future developments in sustainability assessment in out-of-home gastronomy. The tool has been used to evaluate a number of dishes and results are deemed meaningful. However, assessments must not be understood as an accurate measurement but as an approximation of the sustainability of meals. At the level of individual indicators, they allow a detailed analysis and targeted optimization of recipes, while the aggregated results in the form of labels can be communicated well to customers. However, deficiencies and challenges, as discovered in the application phase of the project, demonstrate research gaps in the wider context. Finally, further steps for an integration of the tool in company processes and remaining options for companies to adjust the tool are discussed.

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Zusammenfassung: Um die globalen Nachhaltigkeitsziele zu erreichen sind die Ernährungsentscheidungen, die Gäste in der Außer-Haus-Gastronomie treffen, von besonderer Bedeutung. Welcher Nudge am besten geeignet ist, um Gäste zu einem nachhaltigen Ernährungsverhalten zu stupsen, wurde in fünf unterschiedlichen Reallaboren der Außer-Haus-Gastronomie von Herbst 2016 bis Frühjahr 2017 in vier deutschen Städten getestet. Die Reallabore repräsentieren dabei die drei Segmente der Außer-Haus-Gastronomie - Betrieb, Pflege, Bildung. Erstmals wurden dazu drei identische Nudges zur Steigerung des Abverkaufs der nachhaltigsten Gerichte des Tages standardisiert verglichen. Um eine Vergleichbarkeit zwischen den Reallaborsettings und über den Erhebungszeitraum hinweg zu erzielen, wurde zur Bewertung der Nachhaltigkeit der Gerichte ein eigens entwickeltes Instrument verwendet sowie die Speisepläne zwischen den beteiligten Kantinen harmonisiert. Es zeigt sich, dass der aus Sicht der Unternehmen einfachste der getesteten Nudges allen anderen hinsichtlich der Wirksamkeit zur Steigerung des Absatzes nachhaltiger Speisen in der Außer-Haus-Gastronomie tendenziell überlegen ist. Summary: To achieve the sustainable development goals, it is important to take consumers’ food choices into account which oftentimes take place in the out-of-home catering sector. To influence consumer choice towards a more sustainable nutrition behavior three different nudges in five real life laboratories were tested. Until now—to our knowledge—there are no scientific publications about standardized comparisons of the nudges examined in this study. From autumn 2016 to spring 2017 these nudges were applied to the most sustainable dishes of the day in three different canteen settings (business, care, education) in four German cities. The comparability is ensured through a specifically developed sustainability assessment tool as well as the harmonization of the menus between the settings and across time. One nudge tended to be most efficient for increasing sales of sustainable dishes out-of-home in all settings of the out-of-home catering sector.