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Food dWastePreven ntionCaseStudy y:

Int elC Corp orat nsC s tion Caf

CityofHillsboro C OregonD O Departm mentof Environm E mentalQ Quality

Printedon n100%recycled dpaper

FoodWastePreventionCaseStudy:IntelCorporationsCafs

SUMMARY
FoodservicestaffattwoIntelbusiness diningfacilitiesinHillsboro,Oregon (operatedbyBonAppetitManagement Company)trackedallpreconsumerfood wasteonadailybasisforoneyearusing computerizedfoodwastetrackingsystems andsoftware 1 .Thegoalwastopreventand minimizefoodwastebyraisingstaff awareness,focusingbehavior,andproviding informationtodiagnosethecausesofwaste. TheinitiativewaslaunchedinApril2009and thisreportsummarizesdatacollected throughApril2010.

WHYFOODWASTEPREVENTION MATTERS
Foodwastecostscommercialandretailfoodservice operations $3040 billion per year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, data from LeanPath, a national provider of automated food waste tracking systems, shows that 410% of the food purchased in highvolume food service operations is discarded as waste before ever reachingacustomersplate(duetooverproduction, trim waste, spoilage, and expiration). Beyond these significant economic implications, there are compelling environmental reasons to prevent food waste.

Duringthisperiodofdailywaste tracking,thesitescollectivelyreduced preconsumerfoodwasteby47%by weightandreducedfoodcostspermeal by13.2%.Thisreductioninfoodwaste, overthecourseofafullyear,reduces greenhousegasemissionsby approximately100metrictonsof greenhousegases(MTC02e).Thesites requirednoadditionallabortosupport thetrackingeffort.
Theseresultshaveimplicationsforother foodserviceoperationsinOregonand beyond,illustratingthatdailyfoodwaste trackingisabestpracticeforminimizing foodwaste,therebyreducingoperating costswhilemitigatingadverseupstreamand downstreamenvironmentalimpacts associatedwithfoodwaste.

FoodWasteUpstream EnvironmentalImpact
Upstream, the production of food uses tremendous energy, water, and land resources, and is a major sourceofpollution.Reducingthewasteoffoodisan easy way to reduce these environmental impacts. The upstream chain begins at the farm where extensive fresh water and fossil fuels (for example, artificial fertilizers and pesticides) are used in the production of food and continues through environmental impacts associated with transportation, processing, packaging, storage, and preparation.

FoodWasteDownstream EnvironmentalImpact
Downstream, the transportation of food waste generates diesel emissions from hauling vehicles. Most food waste in the U.S. is landfilled, and when fooddecomposesinalandfill,itproducesmethane, a greenhouse gas approximately 20+ times more potentthancarbondioxideinwarmingpotential.

Preconsumerwaste(i.e.kitchenwaste)isfood thatgoestowastewhileunderthecontrolofthe foodserviceoperator.Thiswastecomesinthe formsofoverproduction,spoilage,expiration, trimmingsandhandlingissues(burned,dropped, etc.)

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FoodWastePreventionCaseStudy:IntelCorporationsCafs

THECHALLENGE:REDUCEPRECONSUMERFOODWASTEATINTELSCAFS
Intels employee cafs Jones Farm 5 and Ronler Acres 3 serve approximately 12,000 meals per week and offer a diverse, high quality menu to meet the expectations of employees and visitor. Despite focusing on foodwastecontrolovermanyyears,thesetwo cafs were producing over 2,900 lbs of pre consumerfoodwasteperweek(primarilyfrom overproduction, spoilage, expiration and trim waste) at the start of the tracking initiative (April2009). This was an important issue for Intel, Bon Appetit Management Company, Oregons Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), andtheCityofHillsboroduetothecostsand environmental impacts food waste generates both upstream and downstream from a food serviceorrestaurantoperation.

Thechallenge:HowcouldIntelandBonAppetit reducepreconsumerfoodwastesignificantly whilecontinuingtomaintainthegreatfoodand servicequalityprovidedbytheIntelcafes?

StartingPoint:WhyIsTherePreConsumerFoodWasteToBeginWith? Preconsumer food waste is a challenge throughout the food service industry and no operationisimmune. At Intel, Bon Appetit chefs work diligently to estimate customer demand and produce accordingly. Additionally, managers work to ensure dozens of culinary workers follow the menu plan and use food as efficiently as possible, avoiding excessive trim waste when cuttingfreshmeat,fruitandvegetables. However, it is challenging to develop 100% accurate forecasts due to changes in the number of customers and menu choices. As a result, there is a significant volume of pre consumerfoodwastegeneratedinthekitchen as a result of overproduction or over purchasing which results in expiration and spoilageoffoodproducts. Bon Appetit faces the additional challenge of aligningproductionrealitieswiththeforecast. For example, if a forecast calls for a limited numberofturkeyportionsitsstillnecessaryto produceanentireturkeybreastataminimum, whetherornottheentirebreastisneededto meetportionforecasts.

TheSolution:ImplementDailyFoodWasteTrackingandStaffTraininginBest ManagementPracticestoReduceWaste

Wemanagethethingswemeasure

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FoodWastePrevention nCaseStudy:In ntelCorporatio onsCafs

WithsupportfromanO OregonDEQSolidWaste e Program g grant and matching f funds from m LeanPath & Bon Appet the City of Hillsboro & tit, o sponsored a project to reduce pr o reconsumer r food waste at Intels Jones Farm Caf 5 and J d RonlerAcresCaf3. The goal w to redu preconsumer food was uce d waste by 50% throu ugh daily f food waste e monitoring, staff training, and staff f involvement in brainstorm ming and d implementa ation of creative solutions. . Monitoring relied on a compute erized food d

waste tracking system from LeanPath. The expe ectation wa that tra as acking wast data te wou raise sta awarene focus behavior, uld aff ess, and provide information to diagno ose the caus sesofwaste e.Bywatchin ngtrendsov vertime, this data could be used to target inter rvention entpractices s. andimproveme he Hillsboro wa anted to Additionally, th City of H deve elopbestma anagementpracticesthatcould be shared with other res h staurants an food nd serv vice operatio to help them redu pre ons p uce cons sumerfoodwaste.

THETRAC CKINGSY YSTEM

Employeetr rainingwasdoneviabriefinservice e sessions demonstratin how to use the ng o e equipment and the rationale fo tracking. or . dmanagers explainedthatthiswas s Trainersand apositive,e employeedriveninitiati iveandthat t no employe would be disciplined due to the ee e d e amount of waste rec corded even if it was n s deemed to be excess o sive. By rec cording this s data,staffm memberswe erepartoft thesolution n and their e efforts wou be reco uld ognized and d rewarded. was duction area a The scale w placed in the prod near the p path that kitchen wast naturally te y followeden nroutetorev viewandcomposting.
Eachcaftrack E kedpreconsum merwasteusin ngone Va aluWasteTrack kertouchscree enterminalan ndscale fromLeanPa ath.

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FoodWastePrevention nCaseStudy:In ntelCorporatio onsCafs

TheTrac kingProc cess

Food waste items were weighe prior to e ed o disposal,do onation,orco omposting. Employeesu usedthetou uchscreenin nterfaceto recordthef fooditem,th hereasonfo orloss,the containerty ype(containerweightissubtracted byt the soft tware),the sen ndingstation n and demployee nam me.The soft tware automatically recordedthe date,timeand ightofthe wei item mand com mputedits esti imated valu ue.

The weighing p process typically requir red less than 4 minutes per emplo n s oyee per we eek. Bon Appetit did no have to add any labor to ot acco omplish this and accor s rding to Ke Dale, en District Manage the effo may hav even er, ort ve redu uced labor by preve enting was ste and ther reby avoiding excess production In a n. hypo othetical op peration (w with average hourly e wag of $10 and a staff of 40 FTEs), total ges f labo orcostfortr rackingwou uldbelessthan$30 per weekandw wouldbeacc complished without addingadditionalhoursord dollars. This tracking system is currently u used in hosp pitals, colleg ges, corpora dining f ate facilities, and casino/hote els.Thereportingsoftw warecan alsobepairedw withpapertrackingtoprovidea softw wareonly solution for lowervolume restaurants, cof ffee shops, convenience stores e andfoodservice eoperations s.

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FoodWastePrevention nCaseStudy:In ntelCorporatio onsCafs

Creating Reports
BonApptit talsoinstalle edreporting gsoftware(V ValuWasteA Advantagefr romLeanPat th)togenera ate wasterepor rtsandseep progressove ertime.Data awasmoved dfromtheT TrackertotheAdvantage e softwareon nceweeklyu usingaUSBd drive.

UsingDa atatoDri iveChang ge

Eachsiteap ppointeditsE ExecutiveCh heftoleadthe wastepreve entionprogr ramwhothe enassembled dStop WasteActio onTeams(SW WAT)towor rkwiththem m.The SWATteamsmetonar regularbasis storeviewd data andsetgoalsforimprov vement.Goa alsweredef fined veryspecific cally(e.g.R Reducesoupwasteby50 0%). Chefssolicit tedideasfro omallstaffm membersand d discussedw wasteinregu ularemploye eepreshift meetings.Le eanPathalso oprovideda acoachwho workedwith htheChefsa andteamsa ateachsitet to understandtheirdataa anddeployb bestpractice es learnedino otheroperations.

Summar ryofWee eklyWas ste Tr rackingI tems

1. Tracka allpreconsu umerfoodw waste usingt touchscreen ns/scales. 2. Printandpostwas stereports y. weekly 3. HoldaweeklySWA ATteammeeting andsetspecificgo oalsfor improv vement. 4. Workm methodically ythroughea ach goalbe eforesetting ganewgoal l.

Fi igure1.RA 3Top5F FoodDetail lJan.4to oCurrent

Chili/Soup/Sce Free Fruit Show Plate Pizza Vegetables V $0 $667 $513 $4 415 $500 0 $1,000 0 Waste ($) $1,500 $2,000 $1 1,496 $1 1,495

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FoodWastePreventionCaseStudy:IntelCorporationsCafs n n o

Figure e2.WasteT TrendRepo ortforMon nth

5000 4500 4000 3500 Weight, lbs 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 04 03 02 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 5 04
339 lb 2948 lb 3510 lb 3 3091 lb 2426 lb lb 2381 lb 2453 l 2398 lb 2384 lb 4164 lb 4591 lb

2207 lb b

Month

RESULTS
WasteRe eduction
Thecombinedprecons sumerfoodw wasteatthe e two cafes was reduced by 47% when n ne of , comparing the baselin week o April 20, 2 us k , s 2009 versu the week of April 5, 2010. This approachco omparestw womoments intimethe e sameseasonalperiod,y yearoverye ear.
2

Met tric
Total lPreConsume erFoodWaste collected Wast teBaselineWe eek(4/20/2009 9) Repo ortPeriodEndingWeek (4/05 5/2010) Perce entageChange einlbs.

Tota al
92,920 0lbs. 2933 3lbs. 1562 2lbs. 47%

Ther are other assessmen models a re nt available whic also show strong w ch w waste reduct tion. For exam mple:
In co omparing the final six weeks of the st e tudy (the weeksbeginning March1Apr ril5,2010)ve ersusthe base eline (April 2 2009), th cafs exp 20, he perienced totalwastereduc ctionof49%v versusbaselin ne:
6

LeanPathper rsonnelmonito oredthebaselinedata collectiontoe ensurehighcap ptureratesand danaccurate initialbaseline e,althoughsom meundercaptu ureofdata waspossible.A Allsubsequent ttrackingwasself monitoredand dmayincludesomeamountof undercapture. .Undercapture eddatahasno otbeen estimatedinthiscasestudy. .

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FoodWastePreventionCaseStudy:IntelCorporationsCafs

LastSixWeeks Baseline Change PercentageChange

1,496 2,933 1,437 49%

ProfileofPreConsumerFood WasteTracked

Using the same baseline (2933 lbs per week) and projectingmonthlyanticipatedwastetotalsforthe period, waste should be 152,935 lbs. Actual recorded waste was 91,358 lbs, indicating reductionof61,577lbsor40%.

FoodCostReductionResults
The two cafs reduced their food cost per meal served (FCPM) by a blended rate of 13.2%intheyearofthetrackingeffortversus theprioryear. To place this in perspective, for every $1,000,000 spent on food purchases, the operatorwouldyielda$132,000savings.Inan industry with modest margins wherein food cost averages 3040% of total revenue, this savingsreflectsasignificanteconomicgain.

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FoodWastePreventionCaseStudy:IntelCorporationsCafs

BESTMANAGEMENTPRACTICES
(Note:AllBMPsrequireandassumefullcompliancewithallapplicablefoodsafetyprotocols.Theyalsoassumestrict adherencetoqualitystandards;leftoversrefertooverproduceditemsheldcorrectlyattimeandtemperature)

VegetableTrimWaste
Chef reviews trimming practices, and reuse opportunities for trim in creating stock as a baseforsoupandsauceproduction.

Starches
Redress leftover potato products and use at the utilization station. Puree certain starches and use as thickeners and texture enhancers forsoupsandentrees.

Fruit
Unused fruit can be reworked into chutney andsaucethatisusedindailyofferingsatcaf stations.

Coffee
Coffee is offered for free at these sites and brewedthroughouttheday.Coffeeproduction was curtailed in the afternoon as demand diminishes in order to lessen the amount discarded.Anyleftovercoffeeissaved,chilled and mixed with ice and transferred to the flavored water station as an iced coffee beverage.

PizzaStation
Move to a batchoriented production model throughout meal periods allowing for lower upfront production of each variety. Utilize unusedcalzonesinproductssuchassoups.

Soup
Use tracking data to establish leftover amounts. Review customer flow, seasonal preferencesandweathertoreduceinitialsoup production levels per day. Change procedures at the soup station to create opportunities to reuseleftoversoup(plannedreuse).

CoffeeMixers
Dairyitemspreppedforthecoffeestationmay beusedasingredientswhenmakingchowder.

DeliStation
Historically was selfserve, but subsequently convertedtoastaffedstation.Thisstaffingled to a reduction in daily usage and post consumer leftovers since each sandwich is made by a staff member leading to better portioncontrol.Also,sincedeliitems arenow in a controlled environment (behind the counter)thereismoreopportunityforsafere usesincethereisnoexposuretothepublic.

Chili
Utilize leftover chili the following day as a toppingforcertainentrees.

SecondaryUseStation
Review all leftovers daily and discuss reuse opportunities among culinary team. Create a special station where leftovers can be safely redressedintonewmenuofferings.

SaladBar
Reviewed vessel sizes and waste by item. Changed layout of salad bar and moved to smaller display bowls; maintained variety withouthavingexcessiveleftovers.

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FoodWastePreventionCaseStudy:IntelCorporationsCafs

CONCLUSION
Iwassurprisedatthesteadyloweringofwasteas itwasprojectedoverthedurationoftheprogram. Itisstillgoingdown,whichmakesmewonder wherethebottomwillbezerowaste?
ExecutiveChefMicahCavolofromJonesFarm5

Preconsumer food waste was a significant challenge for Intel at the two participating cafs, with more than 1 ton produced per week. After implementing continuous daily food waste tracking and staff training and involvement,thesites: Reducedpreconsumerwasteby47%. Combinedwithotherinitiatives, reducedfoodcostspermealby13.2%. Achievedenvironmentalbenefits includingapproximately100ormore metrictonsofavoidedC02equivalent greenhousegases(MTC02e), annualized,splitbetweenupstream anddownstreambenefits(see Appendix). Createdtheseresultswithoutadding anylaborfortrackingorexpendingany incrementallabordollars.

Along the way, the team identified numerous bestpracticeswhichwillbecontinuedandcan serve as a resource for other Chefs and food servicemanagers. 3

Whilethiseffortfocusedonwasteprevention,the trackingprocessandtrainingalsovalidatedexisting practicesandcatalyzednewprogressacrossothertiers ofthefoodwastediversionhierarchy.Forexample,by theconclusionoftheproject,bothcafsweresending preconsumerfruitandvegetabletrimwastetoalocal farmerforcompostingwhereasonlyonesitehaddone sopreviously.Thesitespurchasedfoodfromthis farmer,therebyclosingthefarmtotableloop.Both cafeshadalsoimplementedBokashicompostingof postconsumerfoodwaste,whereasonlyonehad implementedthispriortotheproject. 9

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FoodWastePreventionCaseStudy:IntelCorporationsCafs

APPENDICES
APPENDIXAGREENHOUSEGASREDUCTIONIMPACT
In addition to considering food waste reductionandcostreductionresults,thestudy also evaluated avoided greenhouse gas emissionsrelatedtofoodwasteprevention. The cumulative totals for each item were calculated for consecutive periods ranging from182to294daysperitem.Theamountof wasteduringthefirstweekforeachitemwas comparedtotheendweekinthedataset. Theweeklyavertedwastetotalsforeachitem wereannualizedtorepresenta52weekyear. This waste value was then adjusted by removing an allowance for wholesale and distribution costs (assumed to be 19% of the food service operators purchase price) in ordertoarriveatthewastevalueexpressedin producerprices. The value was further adjusted to convert to 2002dollars,theinputrequiredbytheEIOLCA 2002dataset. ThedatawasthenprocessedthroughtheEIO LCA tool to develop estimates of upstream metric ton carbon dioxide equivalent (MTC02e)avoidedforeachitem. Additionally,downstreamlandfillimpactswere also estimated. These assumed that all food waste would be disposed of as mixed solid waste (not composting), using average disposal conditions for the Portland metropolitan area. Although the sites actually send their food waste to be composted, the emissions profile of composting is not well understood, and this case study modeled disposal as being more representative of a typicalfoodwastegenerator.Coffeewasnot includedasitwouldnormallybedisposedofas wastewater.The"dairy"categorywasincluded
A1

Methodology
Sevenfoodtypeswereselectedamongallthe waste items tracked at Intel for further investigationofgreenhousegasavoidance: Bread/bakery(311810) Coffee(311920) Dairy(31151A) Fish(311700) Fruit/vegetables(1113A0) Poultry(311615) Beef(31161A)

Each of these was selected because upstream lifecycle data could be obtained for that item through the Carnegie Mellon Economic Input Output Life Cycle Assessment EIOLCA database. The number in parenthesis represents the EIOLCA series code for that item. It should be noted that the EIOLCA database does not account for indirect land use changes associated with increased or decreasedagriculturalproduction. Each food waste item was assigned a value based on its net weight (the gross weight on the scale less the weight of the vessel containing the food) multiplied by an estimatedcostperpoundperitemwhichwas reviewedbyBonAppetit.

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FoodWastePreventionCaseStudy:IntelCorporationsCafs

becauseitiscomposedprimarilyofsolidfoods (cheese,yogurt)asopposedtofluidmilk. Avoided "downstream" emissions include reductions in fugitive methane emissions at landfills, incinerator nitrous oxide emissions, energy recovery offsets, and landfill carbon storage, consistent with the US EPAs Waste ReductionModel(WARM)tool.

The analysis focused only on greenhouse gas avoidance associated with the seven items identifiedabove.Sincethefoodwastestream included many other items, it is highly likely there are incremental avoided GHG savings beyondthosedescribedhere.

AvoidedGreenhouseGasEmissions,Annualized
ForSelectedItems
Upstream Annualsavings(to Operator),2009$ UpstreamGHG reductions,MTCO2e Downstream Annualpoundsofwaste prevented Annualtonsof "counting"waste prevented DownstreamGHG reductions,MTCO2e* TotalAnnualGHG Reductions,MTCO2e/year

Bread/ Bakery
$5,512 3.35 2,704 1.35

Coffee

Dairy

Fish

Fruit/ Veg

Poultry

Beef

Total

$5,928 3.68

$4,680 9.21

$1,456 1.25

$16,692 15.6

$10,504 $14,976 10.7 41.7

$59,748 85.49

12,636 0

1,560 0.78

312 0.16

30,888 15.44

8,892 4.45

4,940 2.47

61,932 24.65

0.62 3.97

3.68

0.36 9.57

0.07 1.32

7.12 22.72

2.05 12.75

1.14 42.84

11.36 96.85

August2010

A2

ThankstotheCityofHillsboroandOregonDepartmentofEnvironmentalQualityfor projectmanagement,Intelfortheuseofitscafes,LeanPathandBonApptitfor projectimplementation,andMetroforprojectreviewandcomment.

CityofHillsboro,Oregon
CommittedtoaSustainableHometownForOurFuture 150E.MainStreet Hillsboro,OR97123 5036815204phone sustainability@ci.hillsboro.or.usemail www.ci.hillsboro.or.us