Food and drink waste sparks staff concern

06-Oct-2021 - Last updated on 06-Oct-2021 at 09:34 GMT

Staff concern: survey reveals the consequences of pub food waste (image: Getty/vladm)

The majority of pub employees worry about food and drink waste, a new survey commissioned by the anti-food waste app Too Good To Go suggests.

Some 70% of respondents of the survey of 250 staff said they were concerned about the impact wasting food and drink had on their team morale.

Furthermore, 86% of employees expressed worry about the environmental impact of wasting food and drink, with 84% concerned on a financial level.

UK Managing Director of Too Good To Go Paschalis Loucaides said: “Our research has shown UK pubs care deeply about not wasting food and drink but current practises in the sector are seemingly taking their toll.

“Throwing away food and drink not only costs businesses time and resources, but it also affects staff morale and of course it’s impacting our planet too- food waste contributes 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.”

The causes of food waste

The survey revealed that under half of UK pubs have stock management systems in place to reduce food and drink waste.

Also, only 48% of respondents considered beer and cider as food waste, despite it being the most likely item to go to waste. Moreover, 54% respondents admitted to throwing away surplus beer and cider.

Almost half of pub employees agreed the short shelf life of products to be the main reason for food and drink waste in pubs, with spoilage is the second biggest reason for waste. Unpredictable fluctuations in customer footfall is the third highest cause, impacting over a quarter of businesses in the sector.

An optimistic future

However, more than two thirds of pubs do allow their staff to take home surplus food and drink in a bid to reduce waste.

Furthermore, the findings showed three quarters of UK pubs would be likely to implement a solution that allowed them to reduce food and drink waste, while recovering costs and meeting new customers.

Loucaides said: “By introducing food and drink waste strategies into operation guidelines, adopting new training programmes, and implementing technology solutions to minimise both food and drink waste, the UK pub sector can make a huge difference to reducing our nation’s food waste footprint.”