As a chef or a restaurant/cafe owner, do you often wish that there was a simple tech tool that could help you cut your food waste in half and reduce your costs? Well the good news is that the good people at OzHarvest can now help you do just that.
Through their profit-for-purpose social enterprise ForPurposeCo, the country’s leading food rescue charity has partnered with technology innovator, Winnow, the food waste measurement and analytics tool, to help New Zealand and Australian restaurants and cafes minimise food waste. Established in 2013, Winnow, is now used in more than 30 countries and it's partnership with OzHarvest will see it expand it's reach here and across the Tasman.
“We are on a mission to connect the commercial kitchen, create a movement of chefs and inspire others to see that food is too valuable to waste,” says Marc Zornes, co-founder of Winnow. “Collectively our clients are saving themselves $21 million every year while becoming more efficient and doing the right thing for the environment.”
Winnow’s technology helps you monitor, measure, and reduce food waste by providing you with accurate data and analytics that can be used to identify patterns or understand your customers’ ordering preferences so you can adjust your production and prevent food waste.
Here’s exactly how the app works:
- All food waste placed on Winnow’s smart weighing metre technology is tracked and measured, and you can see precisely what you are wasting.
- The app’s simple touchscreen is customised to your menu so you can quickly identify the type of food thrown away and at what stage.
- The cloud software analyses your entire day’s waste and generates daily reports which are sent straight to your inbox. The reports include key opportunities where you can cut your food waste in half.
Now, Winnow won't change your day-to-day way of cooking or your business fundamentals but it will help you transform your kitchen into a sustainable, efficient powerhouse in just a few simple steps. With its regular reporting and real-time measurable data you will be able to identify your problem areas quickly and take immediate action.
Another benefit of the app is it can help you increase your profits. With less food waste, you could save 3-8% on food costs. Not only that, app users see a strong ROI, with Winnow reporting 95% of their clients see a rapid return (around 2 to 10 times on ROI). The app is also really easy to use and you can be trained up and ready to go in just 15 minutes.
“Tackling food waste is a huge opportunity for the hospitality sector and we believe that Winnow has applications in virtually every professional kitchen across Australia and New Zealand,” adds Winnow’s co-founder Marc Zornes.
“Our partnership with ForPurposeCo. as OzHarvest’s innovation arm, allows us to tap into a waste-conscious market with partners who share our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 to halve global food waste by 2030.”
According to OzHarvest’s founder Ronni Kahn the new partnership is an important step to tackling the food waste issue in Australia, which costs our country roughly $20 billion every year.
“While OzHarvest continues to lead the way in saving food waste and providing quality rescued food to vulnerable people, we started ForPurposeCo. to look at other global solutions out there that can drive positive change,” says Kahn.
“Through this important partnership, ForPurposeCo. is now able to promote and provide Winnow’s technology within the Australian and New Zealand market – complementing OzHarvest’s food rescue solution – extending our reach and impact even further.”
Here at Ordermentum we think this is an amazing initiative and we can't wait to see how many restaurants and cafes jump on board and make revolutionary, sustainable decisions to help fight our enormous food waste problem, head on.
If you’d like to learn more about the technology, you can head over to Winnow’s website here.
In the meantime, for more industry news like this, feel free to visit our blog.
