# A review of 114 restaurants across 12 countries found that nearly every site achieved a positive return, with the average restaurant saving $7 for every $1 invested in reducing kitchen food waste.

First-of-its-kind research on behalf of Champions 12.3 finds a robust business case for food service providers operating in hospitals, schools, sports arenas, and other facilities to reduce this inefficiency.

# A review of 86 sites in six countries found that nearly all achieved a positive return, with the average site seeing a 6:1 return on investment from reducing food waste.

# A review of 42 hotels across 15 countries found that nearly every site evaluated achieved a positive return, with the average hotel saving $7 for every $1 invested in reducing kitchen food waste.

#findings show that for every £1 invested in efforts to curb avoidable household food waste, households and local authorities saved £250. This report also presents data from the city of London.

SDG Target 12.3 on Food Loss and Waste: 2020 Progress Report

Five Actions Stand Out for Achieving Successful Reduction Programs

1) Measure. Generating a “food waste inventory” enabled sites to identify how much and where food was wasted, so managers could prioritize hotspots and monitor progress over time.
2) Engage staff. Kitchen and service staff often want to help prevent food waste, but need more definition and guidance from leadership.
3) Reduce overproduction. Certain production techniques contribute to a culture of overproduction. For example, batch cooking, casserole trays, and buffets tend to overproduce food relative to cook-to-order preparation.
4)Rethink inventory and purchasing practices. Restaurants that want to prevent food waste need to critically examine their current inventory management and purchasing practices.
5)Repurpose excess food. Because forecasting customer demand is not a perfect science, restaurant kitchens will find themselves with extra ingredients and potential wasted food. In these cases, having a Plan B for how to safely repurpose these ingredients can allow the kitchen to generate revenue from this potential waste.