Hilton has introduced a series of ‘zero waste’ and ‘low waste’ menus in the UK.
The menus, available to guests for one month, showcase innovative techniques to combat food waste.
Curated by leading chefs at hotels including London Hilton on Park Lane and Hilton Manchester Deansgate, the dishes use a range of innovative cookery techniques to showcase the potential for commercial operators to eliminate or significantly reduce waste.
This includes nose-to-tail and root-to-shoot cooking, and repurposing leftover food. Pastries, bread, fruit and coffee beans have for example been rescued from breakfast buffets to create puddings. Vegetable stalks, trimmings and peelings have also been fermented to make rich sauces.
Hilton has made a commitment to implement a food waste reduction programme in every hotel kitchen. By visualising the most wasted produce, through AI-enabled technology, chefs at over 200 hotels have been able to make small changes. In some cases, trials have led to a reduction of 61% in breakfast waste.
According to UNEP’s food waste index report 2024, one billion tonnes of food is wasted each year, equating to one fifth of all food available to consumers. The foodservice industry contributes over a quarter of this waste. In total, an estimated 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed.
