How We Tackle Food Waste

Food waste is a major challenge within the food system. In 2025, we strengthened our efforts to reduce food waste.

Throughout 2025, we reduced food waste by 30% across our staff restaurants. In the same year, food waste was measured in 92% of our staff restaurants.

At Compass Group, we also mark our global initiative, Stop Food Waste Day, every year with activities that raise awareness of food waste and encourage the sharing of knowledge and experiences across the organisation.

Employees Are at the Heart of Our Food Waste Reduction Efforts

During 2025, we reduced food waste by 30% across our staff restaurants. In the same year, 92% of our kitchens measured their food waste, providing a solid data foundation that enables them to continuously optimise purchasing, menu planning and production based on actual volumes and food waste patterns.

Measuring food waste goes hand in hand with local ownership and professional expertise in our kitchens. Our employees work systematically to reduce production waste, serving waste and plate waste through initiatives such as smarter portion sizes, better utilisation of ingredients and adjustments to menu offerings. Reducing food waste is embedded as a natural part of the kitchens’ daily operations.

Our employees are at the heart of these efforts. Equipped with data, tools and knowledge, they can identify where waste occurs and turn insights into practical actions in their everyday work. This demonstrates how small, day-to-day improvements can drive lasting change over time. Stop Food Waste Day continues to be a key initiative, bringing together employees, guests and customers to highlight the value of food and inspire actions that help reduce food waste both inside and beyond the staff restaurant.

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Food Waste Initiatives in 2025 and 2026

In 2025, we launched the Food Waste Challenge as a joint initiative across our operations to put extra focus on reducing food waste in everyday kitchen operations. The initiative was carried out as part of our global Stop Food Waste Day campaign, which we repeated in 2026.

We have also prioritised knowledge sharing across the organisation. In 2025, we held learning sessions where employees from our operations shared experiences, challenges and solutions from their day-to-day work in the kitchens. The sessions brought together data, practical experience and professional knowledge to strengthen the exchange of insights across our operations.

In collaboration with our operations teams, we also developed a practical guide featuring tips and techniques for reducing food waste. The guide brings together practical solutions from everyday kitchen operations and serves as a shared tool for planning, portion sizes, and making the most of ingredients and leftovers.

Read more about Stop Food Waste Day.

Cookbook with inspiring food waste recipes

We want to inspire our many daily guests to make better use of ingredients when cooking at home.

That is why Compass Group has developed a cookbook filled with ideas for using more parts of each ingredient in everyday cooking.

Cookbook
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