Munich hotel saves nearly 49 tonnes of food with AI

Munich hotel Le Meridien has used artificial intelligence to reduce food waste by 48.97 tonnes over nearly three years, BR reported. The savings amount to around 29,000 euros.

The hotel is part of an effort to reduce waste in its kitchen using software that analyses discarded food. A camera mounted above a waste bin photographs food scraps thrown away by waiting staff and kitchen employees, while the scraps are weighed to within 40 grams.

AI analyses kitchen waste

The software analyses the waste according to factors including the products discarded, their purchase prices and whether they can be reused. Kitchen manager Rainer Förnzler can ask the system when and where particular items were thrown away, how much food was used per guest and what average consumption looked like over months or years.

He can also enter recipes and have their cost-effectiveness assessed. The kitchen has tracked its waste using the system for almost three years.

The tracking software is provided by Kitro, a Swiss company. Hans-Peter Hermann, who represents the hotel’s operating company, said the money spent on the analysis had already been recovered.

The company, Munich Hotel Partners, manages 16 upscale hotels in German-speaking countries, all of which now use the kitchen AI. Hermann said that, according to figures from Germany’s Federal Environment Agency, more than 20 percent of food in the country’s restaurant industry is thrown away. In one of the company’s hotels, that would represent about 200,000 euros per year.

Axel Gruner, a tourism professor at Munich University of Applied Sciences, said artificial intelligence was not the ultimate solution to food waste in the restaurant industry. He said it could help improve organisational processes by predicting how much food would be needed, which products should be purchased and how staff could be deployed.

However, Gruner said awareness within businesses remained decisive. A responsible kitchen manager could reduce waste without using AI, he said.

Smaller portions and surprise bags

Förnzler has reduced side dishes based on the data collected by the system. Guests receive 40 grams less chips with currywurst, while the number of dumplings served as a side dish has fallen from three to two.

At the breakfast buffet, the hotel offers only mini croissants, and its meat platters are less extensive. Förnzler has also reduced the size of plates and bowls so guests do not serve themselves as much food at once. He said there had been no complaints.

Guests who want more food at the buffet or with their side dishes can order additional portions free of charge. Food that still remains unsold is packaged and offered through an app as a low-cost surprise bag, which can be collected at the reception of Le Meridien.

The European Union aims to reduce food waste in the restaurant industry by almost one third by 2030.