In a collaborative effort to combat food waste and promote environmental sustainability, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have unveiled an upgraded version of the Hotel Kitchen platform. This innovative tool aims to empower hoteliers across the United States to minimize food waste, safeguard the environment by diverting food from landfills, and significantly reduce operational expenses.
The revamped Hotel Kitchen platform represents a pivotal step towards achieving the ambitious national goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030. Since its initial launch in March 2017, the platform has already witnessed remarkable results, with over 36,000 hotel staff completing its comprehensive training series. Hotels that have embraced the program’s strategies have achieved impressive food waste reductions ranging from 17% to 38%, showcasing the platform’s tangible impact.
The latest updates to Hotel Kitchen focus on simplifying the process for hotel professionals to adopt sustainable practices, making it even more accessible and user-friendly. By streamlining the program’s functionalities, the AHLA and WWF aim to ensure that a wider range of hotels can readily implement these beneficial initiatives.
Hotel Kitchen serves as a key component of AHLA’s broader sustainability initiative, known as Responsible Stay. This overarching program emphasizes a holistic approach to sustainability within the hotel industry, encompassing areas such as energy efficiency, waste reduction, water conservation, and ethical sourcing practices.
As part of its commitment to sustainability, AHLA collaborates with the Hotel Association of Canada to administer the Green Key Global hotel sustainability certification program. The organization has also partnered with IncentiFind, a platform that helps hotels identify and capitalize on cost-saving opportunities related to sustainability.
“Reducing food waste provides a number of important benefits: It’s good for the environment, reduces hoteliers’ operating costs, and conserves resources at a time when too many Americans are food insecure,” emphasized AHLA Vice President for Committees and Member Engagement, Lauren Pravlik. “The Hotel Kitchen platform is dedicated to helping hoteliers achieve all of these important goals, and we are pleased to continue sharing this important resource with the industry through our partnership with WWF.”
“With food at the forefront of every hospitality experience, reducing food waste in hotels helps move the entire sector in the right direction,” said WWF’s Vice President Food, Food Loss and Waste, Pete Pearson. “For years, Hotel Kitchen has demonstrated what can be achieved when the right tools are used by hotels and event staff. The latest updates make the program even more accessible, as we strive to bring the broader meetings and event community and clients along on this journey.”