10 January, 2018

Compass Group tackles food waste

Fresh bio-waste and compost in the garden with white roses

Australia’s largest food services provider, Compass Group Australia is taking action against food waste and has joined forces with food rescue organisation OzHarvest.

At the recent Food Waste Summit, the Federal Government placed the issue of food waste on the national agenda.

Within the commercial and industry food sector alone, it is estimated around 3 million tonnes of food is wasted every year.

Compass operates 480 sites across Australia supplying food and services to a wide range of industries from manufacturing through to education.

In the mining and resources sector where Compass operates in some of Australia’s most remote and sensitive environments, the business works closely with clients and suppliers to plan food consumption and minimise waste.

This year Compass’ Urban sites launched the ‘Stop Food Waste’ campaign, drawing on the Company’s successful experience in overseas markets.

This campaign will see Compass sites measure food waste across 3 categories:

food scraps,
perished food and
good food that is not going to be used.

This daily tally will provide a clear view of how much food is being wasted and a series of ‘food sustainability’ tools will equip Compass sites to reduce food wastage.

These include:

improved food ordering guides
menu planning guides and
creative ideas on ways to repurpose ‘good food’

Compass Group Australia Managing Director Shelley Roberts says Compass is committed to reducing food waste and is delighted to work alongside OzHarvest to improve food sustainability practices.

“Compass Group Australia purchases around 50,000 tonnes of fresh food every year.

By managing food sustainably and reducing waste, we can help our clients save money, help those in the community who are in need, and conserve valuable agricultural resources for future generations,” Roberts said.

“We are proud to be OzHarvest’s First and Major National Food Service Donor and to have OzHarvest CEO Ronni Kahn share her passion for food conservation with our people.

Wherever possible, any food that is surplus will be offered to OzHarvest.

“Compass also supports OzHarvest events including the CEO Cook-off, community fundraising and selling OzHarvest merchandise at participating Compass retail venues.

“Our Chefs enjoy the opportunity to visit the OzHarvest kitchens to learn more about conserving food and how they can ensure any surplus food from Compass Group sites is donated to OzHarvest so that it can be redistributed to Australians in need,” Roberts said.

OzHarvest Founder and CEO, Ronni Kahn said fighting food waste is a big job and requires collective action, working with national organisations like Compass is key to influencing change.

“We are proud Compass Group has come on board as a national food service donor, sharing our vision for a world with zero waste and free of hunger.

“In addition to donating surplus food, Compass has committed to providing funding that will help us provide 200,000 meals per year,” Kahn said.

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australia compass group food waste Ozharvest