In collaboration with Orbisk, Accor aims to reduce food waste by half
Accor Group is one of the first major hotel chains actively working to reduce global food waste. Over the coming months, hundreds of Accor hotels will implement Orbisk’s food waste monitor in their kitchens. This smart technology assists chefs in measuring and reducing their food waste. The first implementation at 10 hotels in Europe, resulted in a food waste reduction of 22% after 6 months. It is expected to reach a 50% reduction in food waste after 1.5 years.
Sustainability goals within reach
Accor Group, one of the largest international hotel chains with over 5,000 hotels, has set ambitious sustainability goals. Food waste reduction is a key focus, with a target to reduce food waste in all hotels by 60% by 2030. This goal exceeds the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 10%. “Through our partnership with Orbisk, our goal is now within reach,” says Amy Ferguson, VP Luxury & Lifestyle Global Partnerships & Solutions at Accor. ‘’At the hotels where we’ve implemented the technology, we observed that food waste became an important topic among the kitchen teams. The ecological and financial impact is substantial, especially as we roll out the technology globally.” Lea Bensaadoune, Sustainability Officer at Fairmont about this first roll-out: “Working with Orbisk has definitely helped our hotels achieve this year’s target on food waste: all of them now have a clear baseline and are ready for reduction. We aim for -60% by 2030.”
Artificial intelligence as tool against food waste
Currently, Orbisk’s food waste monitors, affectionately referred to as ‘Orbi,’ are already in use in hotel kitchens in for example India, Canada, the United States, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. Using AI image recognition technology, Orbi automatically identifies which ingredients are being thrown away, in what quantity, and at what time of day. Through a dashboarding solution, this data is used to train kitchen teams to use food more efficiently and effectively, reducing food waste levels substantially without impacting the guest experience. Accor’s kitchen teams have rated the solution with an 8.2 and have given the seamless use of the monitor a 9.
Food waste a thing of the past
Every year, 1.3 billion tons of food are discarded worldwide, which amounts to a staggering one-third of the total food production. “This is unnecessary and tremendously bad for our environment, and furthermore has a major impact on the bottom line of venues in this industry, especially with elevated food prices” says Orbisk Co-Founder Richard Beks. “We are pleased that major players in the food industry are now realizing this. Accor Group is a forerunner in taking action against food waste at scale, becoming one of the first hotel chains to do so. Each hotel will soon save between 15,000 and 70,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions per year, making the total impact of our collaboration enormous. In a few years, food waste in the current volumes will be a thing of the past, and we will no longer be able to imagine that in 2023, food was simply thrown into the trash.”
About Accor
Accor is a world-leading hospitality group offering experiences across more than 110 countries, over 5,500 properties, 10,000 food & beverage venues, wellness facilities or flexible workspaces. The Group has one of the industry’s most diverse hospitality ecosystems, encompassing more than 45 hotel brands from luxury to economy, as well as Lifestyle with Ennismore. Accor is committed to taking positive action in terms of business ethics & integrity, responsible tourism, sustainable development, community outreach, and diversity & inclusion. Founded in 1967, Accor SA is headquartered in France and publicly listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC Market (Ticker: ACCYY) in the United States. For more information, please visit group.accor.com or follow Accor on X, Facebook, LinkedIn,Instagram and TikTok.
