Compass Group USA announced a commitment to reduce 25 percent of its food waste by 2020 from a 2016 baseline. This commitment is made in an effort to combat the negative environmental, social, and financial effects of food waste. According to The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) an estimated 40 percent of food in the U.S. goes uneaten. In partnership with Celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio and Unilever, Compass launched a dynamic platform to raise awareness and promote food waste solutions.
On April 28, 2017, Compass Group cafés across the country will celebrate the first National Stop Food Waste Day as part of Earth Month showcasing:
- Imperfectly Delicious Produce (IDP)—2 million pounds of rescued produce nationwide
- Waste Not—an internal tracking tool to measure waste
- Save the Food marketing and root-to-stem recipes
“Compass says ‘enough is enough.’ We serve 9.4 million meals a day and are in a position to make some real change,” says Amy Keister, VP of Consumer Engagement. “Let’s take our national love affair with food and work together to find a solution to stop food waste.”
Building off Compass’ Envision2020 strategy, the food waste reduction plan provides: training and tools to reduce surplus at the source, food recovery partnerships to donate excess to the community, and marketing materials to educate the public on ways to save at home.
