Competence Center for Out-of-Home Catering

Background and Objective

With the United Nations' "Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development," Germany has committed itsself to the goal of significantly reducing food waste. By 2030, food waste is to be halved at the retail and consumer level and the food losses that occur along the production and supply chain, including post-harvest losses, are to be reduced. For Germany, this global sustainability goal is implemented through the National Food Waste Strategy.

As part of this strategy, which was presented by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in February 2019, Dialog Forums were opened for each sector to jointly develop concrete measures to reduce food waste and develop sector-specific target agreements. 

The Discussion Forum For Food Service ran from 2019 to 2021. The Centre of Excellence for Food Service To Reduce Food Waste (CoE), which the Thünen-Institute primarily accompanies scientifically, continues the dialogue in the sector and reviews and documents the successes of the sector with regard to the declaration of participation (signed by companies) for the target agreement (signed by associations). The signatories of this agreement are committed to the Union-wide indicative target for the reduction of food waste by 30 percent by 2025 and by 50 percent by 2030 for the Food Service sector.

To achieve the targets, food waste reduction measures will be evaluated and the efficiency of the implemented measures will be communicated. In addition, food waste is measured in a continuous monitoring process in order to show te reduction trend towards the achievement of the targets and to readjust them if necessary. Another important task of the CoE is the acquisition and consultation of (future) signatories in order to achieve the highest possible market coverage and thus to make representative statements for the entire sector.

Approach

The CoE is coordinated and managed by United Against Waste (UAW), funded by the BMEL. The Thünen Institute acts as a scientific partner, evaluating the incoming data and the underlying process. 
As a neutral and inter-association body, CoE continues the exchange and dialogue between the actors in food service and prepares relevant key figures for the sector. This includes in particular
- the collection, analysis and processing of food waste data submitted by companies,
- the preparation of targets for food service,
- the documentation of the targets achieved for various target groups, and
- monitoring implementation and success to verify the effectiveness of this target agreement. 

Preliminary Results

Interim Report

The results are based on the data submitted by the companies to CoE by 28 June 2024. On this date, 39 companies were involved, comprising a total of 251 business locations from out-of-home categories of company restaurant, educational institution, accommodation, hospital, retirement/nursing home, pub/bar/kiosk and restaurant. Of these 251 locations, 201 locations had been certified by the CoE for their successful participation by the reporting date. The data from these 201 locations was analysed accordingly and provides the basis for the published evaluation report. The operating sites were able to reduce their waste per meal by an average of 20 g or 13 % after the first approx. 6-month participation period. After two participation periods, this figure had already risen to 23%. Most of the waste was overproduction and leftovers. Accordingly, most measures were implemented in these areas.

The sustainability assessments of three evaluated operating sites showed that a total of around 35,000 kg of food waste could be saved in six months. A comparison of the costs and benefits of implementing the measures led to savings of around 119,000 kg of CO₂ equivalents and around 187,000 euros. As several measures were implemented simultaneously at these operating sites, it was not possible to highlight the effects of individual measures. Nevertheless, based on the findings from the sites, waste measurement in particular, partly with the help of external tools or service providers, and employee sensitisation were identified as effective and efficient. Further measures must be selected on a very individual basis depending on the company.

These results also show that CoE fulfils an important function as a contact point for companies from various industries in the sector. The methodology developed provides a clear guide on how companies can get involved. The continuous support provided by the CoE ensures that companies remain motivated and continue to reduce their food waste, which is recommended in order to achieve the agreed reduction targets.

Links and Downloads

Zu gut für die Tonne: www.zugutfuerdietonne.de/strategie/kompetenzstelle-ausser-haus-verpflegung

KAHV: www.kahv.de