The coronavirus crisis led to a reduction in food waste in restaurants across Finland which had to readjust operations to cope with the drop in demand caused by restrictions in spring.
Many restaurants stopped offering canteen buffet-style services when the pandemic peaked in spring. They are some of the biggest contributors to food waste as hungry diners pile their plates high and then throw food away when they're full.
According to data from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), 78 million kilos of food waste is generated annually in food services in Finland — up to 21 percent of all food prepared end up in bins.
"Most of the losses are caused by buffet meals. If the food is served in portions, the proportion of serving loss is smaller,” Luke researcher Kirsi Silvennoinen said.
The amount of food waste fell significantly when buffet services were replaced by table service, restaurateurs said.
"Of course, this requires a lot of human resources, but at the moment it works, and the loss has been kept to a minimum,” Karina Sälting from Joensuun Teatteriravintola.
Sälting however added that lunchtime activity is much slower than it was before restrictions were in place.
Surplus food sold at discounted prices
According to researcher Silvennoinen, restaurants should actively plan how to minimise their food waste and train their staff too.
"It is important to measure and monitor losses on a daily basis, apply the results during food planning and take feedback from customers," Silvennoinen said.
With an increasing number of consumers and restaurant owners becoming aware of the ecological problems posed by food waste, digital services are coming to the rescue.
ResQ Club is a Finnish app that enables restaurants to sell surplus food to consumers.
Currently, food worth 800,000 euros annually is sold through the app. Around 1,700 restaurants use the app every month and 8,000 servings are sold daily.
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"Volumes decreased by about 13 percent in late spring compared to the beginning of the year, but post-summer, activity on the app has gotten back to normal for consumers and restaurants, cafes and grocery stores," CEO of ResQ Club Sauli Böhm said.
This has proved profitable for restaurants like Local Bistro in Joensuu, which sells about five to ten servings through ResQ Club.
"Servings are sold 98 percent in advance. It’s profitable for us because otherwise all that food would just go into bins. Now we can cover the raw material costs of the remaining food," owner Marko Turunen said.
However, not all the surplus food can be sold, according to Mira Flyktman, the shift manager at the Joensuu branch of the Pizza Rax buffet chain. The outlet sells about two 500-gram mixed boxes from its surplus on the app every day.
"Usually all the portions we put up for sale are purchased. However, we cannot sell items that have to be transported at the right temperatures. For instance, pizzas end up in biowaste," Flyktman said.
Eco-friendly approach boosts brand
Apart from being more economically-viable, environment-friendly measures can be good for restaurants’ brand image too, according to ResQ Club CEO Böhm.
"The restaurant industry has a growing understanding of the positive effects of reducing food waste on brand development. This is especially evident in Finland and the Nordic countries," he said.
"I think restaurants have a social responsibility in this matter," he added.