The “Eurest Chef 2024 Stop Food Waste ” project is a comprehensive and innovative sustainability initiative designed to raise awareness and action around reducing food waste within our organization and across our network of stakeholders. Launched as an internal competition, it encouraged creativity and sustainability among our 4,500 employees, where we had more than 60 participants submit recipes that maximized the use of ingredients by incorporating frequently discarded food parts such as stalks, seeds, bones and trimmings. The competition underlined our commitment to minimizing food waste and celebrated the resourcefulness and talent of our culinary teams. The competition culminated in an event where 12 finalists were invited to cook their dishes and a panel of judges evaluated the best recipe. This final took place on April 24, the day that marks Stop Food Wast Day worldwide. The winning recipe was a magnificent recipe for banana peel lasagna (vegetarian).

All the recipes in the competition were compiled in a book Great Tastes Without Waste, launched on World Food Day, emphasizing our commitment to more sustainable food. This book, a collaborative effort showcasing the creativity of our teams, reflects our organization’s mission to promote sustainability and food safety. Each recipe demonstrates that it is possible to cook delicious and nutritious meals using whole ingredients, thus reducing waste and contributing to a more sustainable food system.

During the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) November 16-24, we are bringing these ideas directly to our Consumers in a visible and impactful way. In Eurest restaurants, we’ll be highlighting one Great Tastes Without Waste recipe a day, preparing meals that showcase these lesser-used ingredients and educating customers about the importance of reducing food waste. This interactive approach not only enriches the dining experience, but also deepens consumers’ understanding of sustainability principles and allows them to apply these concepts in their daily lives.

In addition to the experience in the restaurant, this project was widely shared on our social media channels and among our corporate partners, with whom we work closely to spread the message of sustainability. By taking advantage of our online presence and collaborative networks, we hope to inspire the widespread adoption of waste reduction habits, underlining our commitment to environmental responsibility.

Through this project, Eurest not only addresses waste reduction in its kitchens, but also promotes a culture that values sustainable practices and innovative approaches to food preparation. Our aim is to make waste-conscious cooking the norm rather than the exception, and we look forward to seeing the knock-on effect of these efforts in our community. This way of doing business backs up our Planet Promise commitment, where we pledge that we will reduce food waste by 50%.

As we look forward to the European Week for Waste Reduction, we are excited to contribute to collective action against food waste on a larger scale. Our participation in EWWR is a testament to Eurest’s dedication to positive environmental impact and we hope that our “Eurest Chef 2024 Stop Food Waste ” project will inspire others to rethink their approach to food consumption and waste.