Positive messages reduce food waste on the breakfast buffet

The UN's International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste is observed on September 29th. The day was established to draw attention to the fact that one-third of all food is wasted. Strawberry is participating in the EU-funded CHORIZO project, which is in line with its goal of halving food waste by 2030. Part of the project has investigated how different messages at the breakfast buffet affect guests' behavior - and the results show that the right communication can make a big difference in the fight against food waste.

As a leading Nordic food and beverage company, Strawberry plays an important role in both communicating and acting to halve food waste by 2030, in line with the UN's global food waste goals. In 2024, Strawberry implemented eSmiley's smart scales and software to accurately track and categorize food waste. By focusing on reducing edible waste, the system provides insights that enable effective and targeted actions.

Strawberry is also contributing to the EU project CHORIZO, which has been investigating how social norms affect food waste in different countries and industries since 2022. With participants from 15 organizations in 9 EU countries, the project aims to fill knowledge gaps and help actors effectively reduce food waste. Strawberry contributed insights from the hotel industry by conducting a study at eight hotels, where different messages about food waste were tested at the breakfast buffet.

– Strawberry has an ambitious sustainability program with the goal of halving our food waste by 2030. We focus a lot on internal measures, but to really address food waste, it is crucial to collaborate with our guests and share the insights we gather," says Harald Bjugstad-Holm, Sustainability Manager at Strawberry.

The messages were divided into two groups: positive and encouraging, and more provocative. Signs with these messages were placed around the breakfast buffet, and the effect was measured by weighing the food waste from the plates. Positive messages such as "Please don't take more than you can eat" and "We care for the environment. Help us waste less food" reduced food waste by 11% among weekend guests. However, food waste increased by 20% when guests were met with more provocative messages such as "Every time you waste food, you're wasting a part of the planet." Weekend guests were also found to throw away 23% more food than business travelers, who were barely affected by the messages.

– For us at Strawberry, these insights are crucial - they not only show the importance of talking about food waste, but how we can do it in the right way to create a behavioral change together," says Sigve Eliassen, Executive Head Chef at Clarion Hotel and responsible for the collaboration.

To make use of the daily generated food waste from hotel and conference operations, Strawberry is in a partnership with Too Good To Go in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

About the study

Eight Strawberry hotels representing different price categories participated in the project between March and August 2023. The two types of messages and a control group were tested separately, while daily waste data from the breakfast buffets was weighed and reported. A total of 1428 valid observations were recorded.

About Chorizo

Chorizo (Changing practices and Habits through Open, Responsible, and social Innovation towards ZerΟ fοod waste) is a European project that aims to deepen the understanding of the links between social norms, consumer behavior, and economic actors' decisions in relation to food waste and waste generation (FLW). The project brings together actors from across the EU and the food chain to fill existing research gaps and use the results to promote innovations that help actors more effectively engage in efforts to prevent and reduce food waste.

Get the latest news on the Chorizo project here: https://chorizoproject.eu/