Iberostar sinks its teeth into sustainable hospitality

In association with: Iberostar Hotels & Resorts Iberostar’s upcoming webinar opens the discussion on decarbonising food Together with the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and the Sustainable Markets Initiative, a new paper, and upcoming webinar, highlights the importance of Food...

Dec 6, 2024 - 21:04

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Iberostar sinks its teeth into sustainable hospitality

In association with: Iberostar Hotels & Resorts

Iberostar’s upcoming webinar opens the discussion on decarbonising food

Together with the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and the Sustainable Markets Initiative, a new paper, and upcoming webinar, highlights the importance of Food and Beverage in reducing the hospitality industry’s footprint.

Food is a central cog in a client’s hotel experience – but it doesn’t have to come at the cost of the planet. This is the key message of a new white paper, produced by the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, the Sustainable Markets Initiative and Systemiq, which aims to encourage the hospitality industry to de-carbonise and lead the charge in ensuring food in hotels becomes greener.

Why does it matter?

Food consumed in hotels represents 0.5% of all meals eaten globally each year, yet accounts for six times that figure when it comes to food waste (3%).

The new research has found the global hotel food industry is responsible for around 168 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually; to put this into perspective, this equates to the same amount of emissions released by 40 million petrol cars every year.

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The four big sources of emissions in hotel food

Food production: With a 62% share of the hospitality industry’s total greenhouse gases, a combination of outdated farming practices, loss of food along the supply chain and energy-intensive ingredients means food production accelerates emissions before it even hits a client’s plate.Energy-intensive kitchen processes: Energy-hungry appliances like ovens and fridges mean hotel kitchens contribute nearly a fifth (19%) of the hospitality industry’s total emissions.Food waste: Did you know that more than 20% of hotel food goes in the bin uneaten? This is a mix of kitchen scraps and guest leftovers, but contributes to 17% of the overall emissions from the industry.Single-use plastics: Although they account for a small portion of the hospitality industry’s total emissions (2%), single-use plastics are still an important factor to reduce, or even eliminate, due to where they sadly often end up: in landfill or the ocean.

What can the hospitality industry do?

There’s plenty that can be done. The white paper sets out a pathway to reduce greenhouse emissions by 30% by 2030. It aims to cut the overall figure by up to 63 million tonnes a year, thereby helping to deliver cleaner environments in the destinations currently impacted by the hospitality industry’s footprint.

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The findings have identified four key avenues to help achieve this goal.

First, hotels can craft menus around more plant-rich dishes and by buying ingredients from low-carbon sources such as deforestation-free suppliers. When it gets to the kitchen, hotels should switch to more energy-efficient appliances to help reduce emissions before food even reaches guests.Second, after food hits the plate, the hospitality industry can gather data that will better inform them about what guests actually eat (and what food regularly gets left behind) with informative software like Winnow, so they can adjust the amount of food they order and also serve.Third, they can also create a solid action plan of what to do with any leftover food, whether that’s giving away any that’s still safe to eat to food recovery partners or, if it’s not, joining forces with farmers so it can be used for fertilisers or animal feed.Fourth, single-use plastic has become a term synonymous with sustainability and the report highlights this as a key area of improvement too by reducing plastic packaging used by suppliers and manufacturers.

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How is Iberostar making progress?

Iberostar itself is committed to decarbonising its business, with a strong focus on reducing energy consumption, finding alternative energy sources, and transitioning to fully electric kitchens. This effort to decarbonise is also complemented by the use of AI-driven systems like Winnow, and combined with changes from the culinary team, have led to a significant reduction in food waste, achieving a 56% decrease in landfill contributions since 2021. Building on its 2021 milestone of eliminating single-use packaging for customers—a process that involved rethinking over 1,000 products—the company is now extending its efforts to food suppliers to drive systemic change across its supply chain.

Perhaps the most important takeaway from the research is that this is just the beginning. Its white paper is laying the foundations for a greener, cleaner future. As Glenn Mandziuk, CEO of the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, says, “This paper is a gamechanger for not only the industry but the entire global food system. It is a vital resource which will futureproof the industry and guide hotels in their sustainable food initiatives.”

The World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and Iberostar Hotels and Resorts will host a webinar on 12th December 13:00 GMT and welcome the industry to join them in celebrating this report and discussing next steps and action. To join the meeting click here.

For all things Iberostar, visit iberostaragents.com/ukor to read its whitepaper in full, click here.

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