Running a hotel kitchen is a balancing act – between quality, efficiency, and cost. At Novotel Cambridge North, the team wanted to tackle a challenge shared by many in hospitality: how to reduce food waste in hotels without disrupting daily operations.
Figuring out how to reduce food waste in hotels can be tricky. But with the right visibility, you can identify the hidden drain in your kitchen. That’s exactly what Orbisk helped Novotel Cambridge North do.
With our AI-powered tracking, they found a scalable solution that they incorporated into their kitchen workflow without any disruptions to their operations. Together with our Food Waste Coaches, the team at Novotel Cambridge North came up with some impactful strategies to reduce their food waste. Let’s get into how they did it.
How did they come up with these strategies?
First, what’s really impressive is that the team at Novotel Cambridge North made massive progress even before installing the physical device. In 2023, they proved that mindset matters, reducing waste significantly before the Orbi ever came into their kitchen. Through insights, strategy, and motivation alone, the team at Novotel Cambridge North achieved a 3-tonne waste reduction, completely by themselves. That deserves some serious praise.
This impressive team, equipped with an Orbi, made an even greater impact. With just 30 days of data and coaching, the team turned insight into action. These are the strategies that made the difference:
- Formed a dedicated “Food Waste Warriors” team
- Leading the charge while embedding food waste reduction into hotel-wide culture.
- Targeted high-impact areas like the breakfast buffet
- Focused efforts were made where waste was most prevalent, especially during high occupancy periods.
- Used Orbisk’s AI-powered insights to drive decisions
- Leveraged data on timing, ingredients, and quantities to fine-tune kitchen operations.
- Expanded focus in 2024 to include staff meals and breakfast service
- Scaling up learnings for broader impact across more kitchen touchpoints.
- Empowered the kitchen team through ownership and recognition
- Built a sense of pride, creativity, and initiative in everyday routines.
- Launched the “Waste Warriors Corner” during events
- Invited guests to take home quality leftovers in eco-friendly packaging, sparking conversations and engagement around sustainability.
Novotel Cambridge North proves hotels can drastically reduce their food waste with insights and motivation alone. But with Orbisk, they were able to reduce their food waste even more. Here are the results they got from tracking their food waste with the Orbi.
Novotel Cambridge North X Orbisk: Results
Within just 14 months of tracking their food waste with the Orbi, they achieved:
- 28% reduction in food waste
- 2,449KG food saved
- €17,524 saved
- 7,073kg CO2 prevented
That’s roughly the same amount of CO2 as driving around the world one and a half times in a petrol car (EEA). That’s a big impact. And they aren’t stopping here. They continue to come up with impactful changes to reduce their carbon footprint even more.
So – How to reduce food waste in hotels?
The answer is quite simple. Track your food waste. Record your data. And make changes based on that data.
And with Orbisk, it becomes even simpler. The Orbi, our AI-powered food waste monitor, is already tracking food waste for 100s of other hotels and restaurants. Just hold the food under the camera for less than half a second, and let the AI do the work. No need to write anything down or press any buttons. The Orbi will identify when, what, and why the food is thrown away, and can even identify the waste stream. Whether it’s a gastronomy tray or a customer’s plate, the Orbi is the only food waste monitor that automatically identifies it.
Want to read about another hotel that reduced its food waste by 29% in just 6 weeks with Orbisk? Click here to read the full Raffles Singapore success story.
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