Waste away: weighing technology reduces food waste

Winnow, a London-based company, has developed a ‘smart-scale’ technology to help companies measure, monitor and reduce their food waste. Users identify the food they are disposing of using a touch screen tablet and the scale records the weight of the food and calculates the environmental and monetary costs.

The smart weighing meter technology is placed under a regular bin, allowing kitchens to continue to dispose of food in their usual manner. Connected to cloud software, the technology provides both real-time and regular reporting, which highlight the value of the items being thrown away so companies can become more aware of their wasteful habits.

“The system is really easy to read and understand, it gives us an accurate view of waste on-site. For me, being able to see with detail which products are being wasted is incredible,” stated Ramiro Pujol, Head Chef, HSBC.

After seeing the value of these items, it encourages users to change their behaviour to food waste, and daily reports are sent to individuals demonstrating opportunities to cut waste, benchmark multiple sites and track performance.

“This gives chefs the information necessary to drive improvements in their production processes to cut food waste in half, saving money and reducing their environmental footprint at the same time,” said Marc Zornes, Winnow co-founder.

Approximately 2600 tonnes of food have been prevented from going to landfill sites, which is the equivalent of 6.5 million meals, but by reducing waste, users can save 3–8% on food cost. The hospitality sector wastes about 600,000 tonnes of food every year, and Zornes suggested the key problem preventing companies from improving their sustainability is their lack of awareness about the issue.

“When we first founded Winnow, a number of clients were unaware that they had a problem with food waste and that a technology solution would allow them to prevent food waste and generate improvements to their bottom line,” said Zornes. “To overcome this, we worked with our early clients to demonstrate the opportunity in a small but representative scale. We spent significant time with our clients to understand their business and adjusted our approach to be fit for purpose for how they work.”

Currently used in Europe and Asia, the company claims its weighing technology has improved the profitability of kitchens, saving its 400 customers over US$8 million due to process improvements. One of its customers is Sweden-based retailer IKEA, whose Food is Precious initiative aims to drastically reduce food waste and encourage others to become more sustainable. The smart-scale technology is currently used in 70 of its stores and, according to Winnow, this has saved 79,200 kg of food waste so far. Ikea plans to expand its use in 400 stores within two years.

“We understand that food waste will require a holistic approach that covers the entire supply chain. Through working together with other organisations and companies, we believe we can make a positive change — not only at Ikea but with other food businesses globally,” said Ylva Magnusson, a spokesperson for IKEA Food Services.

Zornes explained that Winnow’s ultimate goal was to prevent the amount of food waste by creating technology that is easy to use and providing users with actionable data and reports that highlight ways to increase profits and sustainability.

“Our role is to help provide intelligence for chefs to make better decisions and prevent food waste from happening in the first place,” explained Zornes.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/laboko