Food waste is no longer just a sustainability talking point, it’s becoming a regulated business priority. As governments set reduction targets and brands face pressure to show verified progress, companies are searching for a consistent way to measure and manage their food waste performance.

That’s where ISO 20001 comes in. This upcoming standard will give the food industry its first global, certifiable framework for preventing and reducing food loss and waste across every stage of the supply chain.

What is ISO 20001 and how does it relate to your kitchen operations?

ISO 20001 is a new management system standard focused specifically on reducing food waste across the entire food chain. It’s expected to be published in late 2026 or early 2027.

At its core, the standard gives you a clear structure: understand where waste is happening, set your reduction goals, track your progress, and report results in a way that’s easy to verify. It’s a repeatable process that keeps improving over time.

What sets ISO 20001 apart from voluntary guidance is the ability to be certified. Once ISO 20001 launches, independent auditors will be able to confirm that your system truly meets the standard. That gives your organization something tangible to show investors, corporate clients, and sustainability teams who want real proof of progress, not just promises.

In the US, food waste regulations are already shaping business practices. California’s SB 1383 requires a 75% reduction in organics waste and mandates the donation of surplus food. New York City requires organic waste separation for businesses above certain thresholds, and Massachusetts bans commercial disposal of organic waste for operations generating more than half a ton per week. At the same time, the EPA is tracking methane emissions from landfilled food.

How does ISO 20001 differ from ISO 22000?

ISO 22000 addresses food safety. It’s about hazard analysis, critical control points, and keeping guests safe from contamination. ISO 20001 addresses food waste. It’s about prevention, measurement, and resource efficiency.

The two standards complement each other. ISO 20001 is designed to align with other well-known management standards like ISO 9001 and ISO 22000. So if your operation already has an ISO-certified management system in place, adding ISO 20001 wouldn’t require a complete overhaul of your processes.

What does ISO 20001 mean for the food industry?

ISO 20001 introduces a common language for defining, measuring, and reporting food waste.

Right now, one hotel measures waste by weight, another by covers, and a third by percentage of revenue. This makes it difficult for investors or sustainability teams to compare performance across a portfolio.

ISO 20001 simplifies that. It sets standard definitions, consistent metrics, and shared best practices covering storage, transportation, processing, and packaging.

This means your breakfast buffet waste, prep station trimmings, and plate returns all get measured the same way your competitors measure theirs.

For hospitality brands managing multiple properties, this standardization is a game-changer. Sustainability reporting gets easier. Benchmarking becomes fair and meaningful. And progress is finally something you can prove.

Who does ISO 20001 apply to?

The standard is meant for any company in the food chain, no matter its size or complexity. This includes food manufacturers, transport and storage providers, distributors, retailers, food banks, and businesses offering or catering food.

In practice, this means:

• Hotels with onsite F&B outlets, especially properties with breakfast buffets where waste visibility is highest
• Contract catering groups operating in stadiums, airports, corporate campuses, and event venues
• Healthcare facilities with commercial kitchens serving staff and patients
• Large restaurants and restaurant groups with centralized reporting requirements

If your operation serves more than 200 covers a day or manages multiple sites under one brand, ISO 20001 applies to you.

What are ISO 20001 requirements?

The final standard isn’t published yet, but the drafts make the direction clear. It’s all about planning, implementing, and improving a food loss and waste management system.

The core elements include:

• Leadership commitment: Senior leaders set the policy, targets, and resources. This can’t sit only with a sustainability coordinator.
• Measurement and monitoring: Waste needs to be tracked reliably, by weight, category, and source, so the data stands up to auditor review.
• Action plans with accountability: It’s not just about finding waste. You document corrective actions, assign owners, and check whether changes work.
• Regular review and reporting: Management reviews become routine, helping you assess performance, adjust goals, and share results with stakeholders.
• Continual improvement: Like other ISO management system standards, ISO 20001 follows the plan-do-check-act cycle. Progress is expected.

How businesses can prepare now for ISO 20001?

Many of the requirements in the ISO 20001 drafts are already clear, so you don’t have to wait for the final publication to start laying the groundwork. Here’s how to get ready:

1. Install reliable measurement systems: Manual logging won’t hold up at scale, and auditors won’t trust inconsistent data. Automated tracking removes guesswork and creates the robust data trail you’ll need for certification. Orbisk can help you by automatically capturing food waste by weight and category. Giving you an overview and verifiable data from day one.
2. Standardize definitions across sites: “Food waste” should mean the same thing in every location. Clearly define prep, plate, and buffet waste, and apply those definitions consistently across all kitchens.
3. Assign a single point of accountability: Someone senior should own the system. When responsibility is spread too widely, waste reduction quickly becomes no one’s priority.
4. Establish baseline metrics now: You can’t show improvement without knowing your starting point. Measure total waste, waste per cover, and waste by category before introducing any changes. Orbisk help teams reach a reliable baseline in as little as six weeks, giving you a quick snapshot of your performance.
5. Test small, then scale: Start with one site or one station. Run a pilot, document what works, and refine your approach before rolling it out across the full operation.

Recommended KPIs & metrics to track for readiness and reporting

To meet ISO 20001, you’ll need data that is consistent, measurable, and reliable enough for an auditor to verify. That means tracking waste in a structured, repeatable way. It’s not just about collecting numbers; it’s about building a dataset of key performance indicators (KPIs) that reveal patterns, show progress, and provide proof of improvement, such as:

• Total food waste: Measure your total kilograms of food waste per day or per week. Using Orbisk, you can quickly snap a picture of all food waste before it goes into the bin. This will be the first figure stakeholders will ask about.
• Food waste per cover: Dividing total waste by covers served normalizes the data and makes different types of operations comparable.
• Waste by stream: Break waste into prep (kitchen trimmings), plate (guest leftovers), and buffet (unsold items). Each stream has different causes and calls for different solutions. If you’re using Orbisk, we do this automatically for you. Our tool categorizes your food waste streams, allowing you to see exactly where waste is coming from.
• Actions taken and impact level: Document what you changed, such as portion sizes, buffet layout, purchasing practices, and quantify the results. ISO auditors will look for evidence that your actions actually reduce waste.
• Month-over-month trend lines: Single data points don’t show progress. Track performance over time to demonstrate whether you’re moving toward your targets or stalling.

Some teams may also track waste as a percentage of food purchased or calculate the cost of wasted food. This can strengthen internal business cases, but weight-based metrics align better with regulatory reporting and sustainability standards.

Get ready for ISO 20001

ISO 20001 will soon impact how food businesses everywhere measure and manage food waste. Rather than relying on estimates or varying measurement methods, the standard will expect reliable and similar data across the board.

Kitchen teams don’t need to wait. The first step is visibility: knowing what’s being thrown away, when, and why. These insights make it easier to adjust purchasing, portioning, and production without compromising service.

Orbisk helps kitchens do exactly that by automatically capturing and categorizing your food waste. No manual input or team training required. So your team can focus on improvements and operations rather than on manual tracking.

FAQ

Is ISO 20001 already published and certifiable?
No. ISO 20001 is still in the Committee Draft 2 stage and is expected to move to the Draft International Standard stage soon. The final standard should be published in 2027, and certification bodies will start offering audits shortly after that.

How does ISO 20001 differ from ISO 22000 or other ISO standards?
ISO 22000 focuses on food safety management. ISO 20001 focuses on food waste management. It’s being designed to work smoothly alongside other ISO standards like 22000, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001. Because it follows a familiar structure, organizations already certified to these standards will be able to integrate ISO 20001 more easily.

What are the first steps for a company to align with ISO 20001?
Start by measuring waste accurately. Use systems that track waste by weight and category, and make sure all locations use the same metrics. Then set a baseline, test a few interventions at one site, and document everything so you have solid evidence when auditors review your system in the future.