Airport Experience News Fall 2022

BEFORE YOU TAKE OFF

SEEING IS BELIEVING New Areas Effort Reduces Food Waste

BY C AROL WARD

new trial program undertaken by Areas USA is proving that food waste is reduced if chefs, cooks and other kitchen staff can see what is being thrown away. In a pilot program at Cook and the Ox at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), kitchen workers put food waste into a clear plastic bin rather than typical non-transparent kitchen trash bags. The clear bins serve as a reminder to minimize waste whenever possible. Having the visual cue is resulting in a “significant saving in waste,” according to Steve Byrne, vice president of concepts and standards. Byrne first saw the approach when working for another restaurant company, and recently brought it forth at Areas. “When I first started this, it wasn’t to save money, it was to make the staff, the managers, myself, more responsible with A

regard to what we’re doing,” he says. “It just seems criminal to throw food out needlessly if we can help it. This has worked out very well for us and there’s going to be a fairly decent food cost saving.” Byrne estimates food cost savings at about three-tenths of one percent, but given the scale of Areas’ operations, the result is “quite a large number.” In trash bag savings alone, the company could save up to $50,000 annually, Areas said. The pilot program, which Byrne says he expects to roll out across Areas USA’s more than 140 restaurants in North America, is just one way the company is seeking to minimize waste. “There’s a lot we can do to save,” he says. “For example, we don’t peel potatoes, we don’t peel carrots. We wash them and scrub them. [Otherwise] it’s mindlessly throwing food away instead of trying to think about how we can use it differently.” Byrne is also focusing some attention on the supply chain, working with produce suppliers to minimize deliveries in boxes and instead using plastic bins. In his plan, Areas staff would empty the bins during delivery and return them to the supplier for the next shipment. The elimination of box deliveries would reduce the amount of cardboard being recycled and reduce the number of employee trips to the garbage room for disposals. “In some of our airports, it’s two floors down or along those lines, he says. “[The team member] might be gone for 30 minutes.” Airport-wide cooperation on such initiatives is the ultimate goal. “How cool would that be if we can pull that off?,” Byrne asks. “But someone has to start, someone has to give it a shot, and I guess it’s me.”

Above: Steve Byrne, vice president of concepts and standards, Areas USA Below: Clear bins capture food waste in the kitchen of Cook and the Ox at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

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