chartwells, food service, food waste,
June 26, 2023
Three Oakland University dining halls, managed by food service provider Chartwells, Alchemi, Johnny’s Speakeasy, Sylvan Table, and Folk Detroit have received international food waste prevention certifications from The PLEDGE™ on Food Waste. Detroit-based nonprofit Make Food Not Waste piloted the program in Southeast Michigan with financial support from US EPA Region 5. As a result of the pilot, the seven sites have realized financial and environmental benefits.
The PLEDGE™ is a global, third-party verified certification tackling food waste by motivating food service businesses to monitor and reduce waste, generate buy-in with employees and customers, implement new procedures to improve efficiency, and establish new standards of excellence to differentiate their restaurant from the competition. The PLEDGE™ includes 95 criteria and changes required to be certified bronze, silver, gold or all-star, so that food waste prevention strategies are adopted for the long term.
“We brought The PLEDGE™ to Detroit because the program takes a preventative approach to food waste,” said Danielle Todd, Executive Director of Make Food Not Waste. “If you want to see the greatest impact on your bottom line and the environment, you have to focus on preventing food waste from happening in the first place.”
As a result of taking The PLEDGE™, the seven sites are not sending any food to landfills. One restaurant saw a 4% drop in food costs. Another repurposed previously unused trimmings into a new appetizer that generated $6k in the first quarter. All sites reported a dramatic increase in employee engagement, demonstrating that staff members are highly receptive to incorporating new sustainability practices.
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| Three Oakland University dining halls, managed by food service provider Chartwells, have received international food waste prevention certifications from The PLEDGE™ on Food Waste |
Learn more about The PLEDGE™ and Make Food Not Waste by visiting: https://makefoodnotwaste.org/
About Make Food Not Waste
Make Food Not Waste is a Detroit-based nonprofit founded in 2017 to keep food out of landfills and slow climate change by reducing food waste in the food service and household sectors and processing edible, nutritious food into community meals. Make Food Not Waste is a leader in Michigan in building awareness and providing technical training around food loss and waste reduction. For more information, visit www.makefoodnotwaste.org.
About The PLEDGE™ on Food Waste
The PLEDGE™ is a Singapore-based third-party certification and benchmarking system which allows restaurants, hotels, and cafeterias to reduce food waste, reduce costs, gain recognition, and nurture the local ecosystem of solution providers. www.thepledgeonfoodwaste.org