Food and Waste Management in Hospitality - Essay Example

Food and Waste Management in Hospitality (Insert Name of the Student) (Insert Name of the Instructor) (Insert Name of the Course) (Insert Code of the Course) (Insert Submission Date) Introduction The hospitality industry bears one of the greatest impacts on the environment in that they consume high amounts of natural resources as well as expel wastes to the natural environment. The major wastes of the industry are food solid wastes, high water and energy consumption, consumption of non-durable imported and local goods, and emissions into the soil, water and air (Erdogan & Baris, p. 604). A greater challenge for the industry is that wastes are not only generated by the hospitality staff but also by the customers who frequent their facilities. A regular hotel guest per day produces about one kg of wastes (Erdogan & Baris, p. 612). Furthermore, a study conducted in U.K. hotels, indicates that hotels have an average of 15.5% food wastes per dry weight and an average of 17.0% food waste per energy value (Youngs, Nobis & Town, 1983, p.305). This waste is considerably higher compared to a home energy food waste of 6.5%. There has therefore been increasing pressure on the hotels to adapt efficient waste management practices. Effective waste management is a positive sign of a hotel’s commitment to protecting the environment. According to Molina-Azorin, Claver-Cortes, Pereira-Moliner, & Tari (2009, p. 516) such commitment gives the institution a higher competitive advantage and improves performance levels however some scholars question the real benefits accrued with efficient waste management practices. For these reasons, increased pressure to conform to ISO standards, the fact that the consumer is becoming more conscious of a clean environment necessitates the study of waste management in the hospitality industry. This paper explores the benefits and challenges of food and waste management in the hospitality industry and the discussion therein. Benefits of food and waste management Food consumption is alleged to contribute to green house emissions. According to Hille (Gossling et al., 2011, p. 535) food consumption attributes in excess of 20% green house gas emissions in Norway. Tourists are estimated to consume an average of 200 million meals in day. Therefore, good food waste management practices from purchases, preparation and consumption the hospitality industry can reduce green house gas emissions significantly (Gossling et. Al, 2011, p. 35). Efficient food management when preparing food such as in minimal trimmings and serving small food proportions can not only reduce food waste, but also save the establishment money. According to Bender (Young, Nobis & Town, 1983, p. 297) vegetables lose 70% of vitamin C when stored at room temperature for several days in addition to loss of aesthetics. Proper storage of food can therefore reduce significant amount of food thrown away due to quality depletion. One of the benefits of proper waste management is the accreditation of ISO standards. These standards are in internationally accepted among industry stakeholders and form a common basis for operations. The ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) lays out guidance procedures for waste management and is the only standard for environmental management certification. Accreditation means that a company values the quality of its products and services and is therefore used as a benchmarking tool in a competitive environment such as the hospitality industry. Implementation of the standards has several benefits both to the environment in the long term and also to the hotel. Adoption of ISO 14001 by the Shangri-La Hotel Hong Kong as noted by the former General Manager saved the hotel approximately US$ 192,000 in a span of two years. He also adds that the hotel staff morale has increased as well as the company’s sales (Chan & Wong, 2006, p. 483). Adoption of the standards also enhances communication with the community in which the business operates, investors, and consumers who are environmentally conscious. It makes it easier for potential stakeholders to assess the business commitment to environmental management. Since the EMS is internationally accepted, adoption makes it easier for chain hotels to establish in multiple countries without the need to invest more resources for waste management procedures (Chan & Wong, 2006, p. 484). According to Molina-Azorin, Claver-Cortes, Pereira-Moliner and Tari (2009, p. 517) the benefits of waste management can be divided into two; direct and indirect impacts. Direct impacts are those that are accrued internally by the organisation whereas indirect impacts are those beneficial to the consumer. Direct impacts can be achieved through cutting costs on water and energy. A establishment can water costs by ensuring that there are no leaking taps, installing low-flow water sensors that discourage high water flow, recycling of waste water from the washrooms and bathrooms and using it in gardening, flushing toilets, washing corridors, encouraging guests to re-use towels during their stay, and reducing the number of washes for example guest bed sheets to when only necessary.The Hyatt Gainy Ranch Hotel a branch of the Hyatt Hotels has built a private water reclamation centre that recycles water for non-potable uses throughout the hotel and has resulted to higher efficiency levels (Scanlon, 2011, p. 721). As for energy, an establishment can install motion detectors for the lighting system that light up only when there are guests or staff around, energy saving light bulbs, insulation of equipments that use or emit heat, and operating machines such as dishwashers at full load only. The UK department of environment estimate that the hoteliers can save energy up to 20% if they adopted simple low cost waste management procedures (Kirk, 1998, p. 36). As an indirect impact, a study conducted by the WTO shows that perceptions of consumers in the hospitality industry are also influenced by how well an establishment conserves the environment (Molina-Azorin, Claver-Cortes, Pereira-Moliner and Tari, 2009, p. 517). An establishment that invests much into efficient waste management practices ranks high among the consumers. Consumers lately are choosing hotels as per their environmental responsibility (Pereira-Morliner, Clavier-Cortes, Molina-Azorin & Tari, 2012, p.88). According to a study by the Athens Laboratory of Research in Marketing 92% of customers have a positive attitude towards eco-friendly institutions. This implies that an establishment that is considered environmentally friendly will have more sales and profits which are essentially the core concerns of any profit-making enterprise. Challenges of food and waste management According to Young, Nobis and Town (1983, p. 306) there seems to be a misunderstanding of food as expensive in terms of monetary purchases and but once the money is converted to food materials, it is not treated as expensive any more. During preparation there is a lot of wastage in excess trimmings. Chapell’s 1954 study (Young, Nobis and Town, 1983, p. 297) shows that 14.5% of carrot is lost during kitchen preparations. There is also over emphasis of quality presentation of the food to the guest and therefore a lot goes into waste in an effort to maintain aesthetic value especially in desert items. A bruised fruit though having lost little of its nutritive value is discarded than presented to the guest. Most hotels also have elaborate menus and of the a la carte type. This is usually an effort by the establishment to give the consumer a wider variety of choice menu but it also encourages greater food losses. Food service also presents a problem of determining exact amounts of food to pile onto a customer’s plate. In addition, the management has little control over the amount of food that the guest leaves unfinished. For effective adoption of an environmental policy such as the ISO 14001, Kirk (1998, p. 36) stresses that there has to be significant support from the managers. The managers have to take it upon themselves to lead by example for the subordinates to follow otherwise the policy will be a failure. Chan & Wong (2006, p. 487) however assert that environmental management is not considered a key issue in the hospitality industry. The managers therefore would rather invest their resources in increasing revenue and improving customer care than adopting Environmental Management systems. Some staff also find practicability of the ISO standards to be very complex and demanding because it involves a lot of paperwork and preparation which increases their overall workload. The staffs therefore are in a limbo whether to improve customer care or environmental performance. According to a study conducted at ABC Hotel in Hong Kong, the executive managers pointed out that the ISO 14001 EMS requires continual improvement as a company approaches zero waste emission however there lacks innovative ideas to achieve this improvement. There is also a high turnover rate of EMS managers which presents inconsistency in the standards (Chan & Hawkins, 2012, p. 414). Though consumers recognise the appeal of a hotel with efficient waste management, a study conducted on US travellers show that they are not willing to pay more for the services (Kirk, 1998, p. 36). A study carried out by Millar & Mayer (2012, p. 101) indicated that consumers believed that a green hotel should not be priced differently from a non-green one. There is also perception among consumers that hotels with efficient waste management procedures are expensive. This factor drives away potential customers. Some industry experts also assert that the customers frequenting the green lodges believe they should pay less because the company is saving on costs. Some practices like re-use of towels or not washing bed sheets on a daily basis leads the guests to presume that the hotel is making savings of which should be subsequently passed on to them in terms of low pricing. There is also lack of distinct socio-demographic data for the environmentally conscious guest (Millar & Mayer, 2012, p. 102). The lack of such data showing who an environmentally conscious customer is and is not therefore provides a great challenge to the managerial staff in that it is difficult to ascertain their preferences. This also means that they cannot differentiate their products with confidence for a consumer they don’t understand well. According to Dolnicar & Matus (2008, p. 316) the segment that a green customer fits cannot generate enough revenue to warrant profit that a hotel should focus solely on. The hospitality industry also comprises of the fast food industry which is ever expanding as consumers get busier and demand food that they can easily consume on the move. Part of the sales in a fast food restaurant is not consumed on location thus creating a need for packaging material which consists mostly of plastics and paper. This makes the fast food industry one of the major contributors of solid wastes which cannot be directly accounted for. According to a case study conducted by Aarnio & Hamalainen (2008, p. 617) the fast food outlet recovered only 564 tonnes of their packaging wastes annually translating to a mere 29% recovery rate. The outlet would have otherwise recycled about 1795 tonnes of the packaging material they produced annually. There is even more challenge in categorising the wastes whether as industrial wastes, commercial wastes or household wastes. This poses a challenge on how to legislate the fast food wastes. In the US for example, commercial waste is collected by the municipal, its considered under municipality waste legislation but if collected by an independent collector, its treated as industrial waste. This loophole and unclear legislation presents a waste producer with an opportunity to avoid waste management commitment (Aarnio & Hamalainen, 2008, p. 615). Discussion The hospitality industry is a high food, energy and water consumer industry. It also relies heavily on the natural environment to attract customers. Efficient controls put in purchasing of food items such as ensuring suppliers deliver fresh food and of the right amount can greatly reduce the amount of food discarded as waste. Excess supplies should be avoided. Food establishments should introduce creative menus where guests are given the opportunity to give an estimate of the amount of food served. From the study, it is clear that proper waste management has more benefits to the business operators than even to the consumer who is their main target. The implementation of an efficient waste management program may be costly to implement in the short run but long term benefits far outweigh the initial cost. An institution needs not adapt expensive waste management procedures as is evidenced from the examples. Simple actions like switching off lights during day time or reducing the amount of water flow through a tap add no expenses to the establishment. However, reducing water flow to an establishment can be perceived wrongly by the guest. The guest may assume that there are not enough or efficient resources in an establishment and may actually drive him or her away. Therefore even as an establishment is adopting such measures, there needs to be effective communication to the guest. The ISO 14001 Environmental Management System is also a boost to the industry as now there is a standard regulatory body in all countries. An establishment that is ISO certified communicates a positive strong message to the consumer. A consumer can thus book a facility with confidence with a pre-perceived idea of what to expect. Therefore it makes it easier for the establishment to market its services and also for the consumer to demand better quality services. It is a win-win situation for both. However these advantages may be hampered by managerial incompetency to ensure that the standards are implemented as required. This may erode all benefits accrued and hospitality being a brand sensitive industry, the establishment might never recover from bad publicity. Caution also needs to be put on the pricing of the products and services as study indicates consumers do not want to spend more for an environmental friendly institution. The managerial staff should therefore find innovative ways to recover the waste management costs and not put it directly as a service charge. Conclusion In conclusion, it is the opportune time that the hospitality industry should adapt efficient waste management practices to minimise food losses, conserve and improve the natural environment. The advantages accrued through efficient waste management procedures show that the industry has a lot to gain as well as the consumers and the environment. The challenges that arise as an adaptation of the waste management procedures cannot outweigh the benefits and through efficient management they can be eliminated. References Aarnio, T & Hamalainen, A 2008, ‘Challenges in packaging waste management in the fast Food industry’, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 52, pp. 612-621. Chan ESW & Hawkins, R 2012, ‘Application of EMS in a hotel context: a case study’ International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 31, pp. 405-418. Chan, ESW & Wong SCK 2006, ‘Motivations for ISO 14001 in the hotel industry’, Tourism Management, vol. 27, pp. 481-492. Dolnicar, S & Matus, K 2008, ‘Are green tourists a managerial useful target segment?’ Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, vol. 17, no. 3-4, pp. 314-334. Erdogan, N & Baris, E 2007, ‘Environmental protection programs and conservation practices of hotels in Ankara, Turkey’, Tourism Management, Vol. 28, pp 604-614. Kirk, D 1998, ‘Attitudes to environmental management held by a group of hotel managers in Edinburgh’, Hospitality Management, vol. 17, pp. 33-47. Millar, M & Mayer, K 2012, ‘A profile of travellers who are willing to stay in environmentally friendly hotel’, FIU Hospitality Review, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 90-108. Molina-Azorin, JF, Claver-Cortes, E, Pereira-Moliner, J & Tari, JJ 2009, ‘Environmental practices and firm performance; an empirical analysis in the Spanish hotel industry’, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 17, pp 516-524. Pereira-Moliner, J, Clavier-Cortes, E, Molina-Azorin, JF, & Tari, JJ, ‘Quality management, environmental management and firm performance: direct and mediating effects in the hotel industry’, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 37, pp. 82-92. Scanlon, NL 2011, ‘An analysis and assessment of environmental operating practices in hotel and resort properties’, Hospitality Management, vol. 26, pp 711-723. Youngs, AJ, Nobis G & Town, P 1983, ‘Food waste from hotels and restaurants in the U.K’, Waste Management and Research, vol. 1, pp. 295-308. Gossling, S, Garrod, B, Aall, C, Hille, J & Peeters P 2011, ‘Food management in tourism: reducing tourism’s carbon ‘footprint’, vol. 32, pp. 534-543. Read More