SUSTAINABILITY - WINNOW: "FOOD WASTE IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST RESOURCE CHALLENGES GLOBALLY"
In a world where luxury hospitality strives for excellence, Marc Zornes and Chef Vojtech Vegh are revolutionising kitchen operations by turning food waste into culinary opportunities. |
|
SUSTAINABILITY - WINNOW: "FOOD WASTE IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST RESOURCE CHALLENGES GLOBALLY"
In a world where luxury hospitality strives for excellence, Marc Zornes and Chef Vojtech Vegh are revolutionising kitchen operations by turning food waste into culinary opportunities. |
Catégorie : Monde - Économie du secteur
- Interviews et portraits
- Produits et Fournisseurs
- Tendances, avis d'expert - Fournisseurs - Interviews
Interview de Sonia Taourghi le 20-02-2025
 Marc Zornes, Founder, Winnow
Crédit photo © Winnow
The journey took an exciting turn when Chef Vojtech Vegh, a passionate advocate for zero-waste cooking, joined forces with Winnow. As their Zero Waste Culinary Advisor, Vegh brought a chef's perspective to the technological solution. His approach was revolutionary in its simplicity: rather than focusing solely on what to do with waste once it's created, he emphasised prevention at the menu development stage. This philosophy perfectly complemented Winnow's AI-powered tracking system, creating a comprehensive approach to waste reduction that doesn't compromise on quality or creativity. "Once we stop seeing it as a 'recycling activity' and start seeing it as a culinary opportunity to maximise the flavours, we will be in a much better place," Vegh explains, embodying the innovative spirit that drives their collaboration.
Their partnership has already yielded impressive results, perhaps most notably with Red Carnation Hotels, where they achieved a 40% reduction in trimming waste across seven properties. But beyond the numbers, their work is changing kitchen culture in luxury hospitality. Through workshops and training sessions, they're showing chefs that zero-waste cooking isn't just about sustainability; it's about culinary excellence. The results speak for themselves: kitchens are now creating innovative products like house-made treacle from ingredients that would have once been discarded, proving that sustainability and luxury can not only coexist but enhance each other. As luxury hospitality evolves, Zornes and Vegh's collaboration demonstrates that the future of high-end dining lies not just in exquisite presentation and flavour but in thoughtful, sustainable preparation that honours every ingredient.
Journal des Palaces: How did Winnow start?
Marc Zornes: In my previous career as a consultant, I realised food waste was one of the biggest global resource challenges – yet almost nothing was being done about it. I founded Winnow in 2013 to change that, seeing an opportunity to use AI-powered technology to help the hospitality industry cut waste and improve profitability. Today, Winnow is in over 90 countries, helping brands like Hilton, Marriott, and Mandarin Oriental cut food waste in half. I’m proud that we’re already helping our customers save over $80 million annually - and there’s still so much more to be done.
How is Winnow Solutions tailoring its offerings to specifically address the unique challenges and needs of the luxury hospitality sector in reducing food waste?
Luxury hotels require solutions that align with their high standards of guest experience and operational efficiency. Winnow’s AI-driven tools provide detailed waste insights, helping chefs maintain exceptional quality while cutting costs. I think what’s most valuable in the luxury sector is the potential to use these insights to better understand what the customer wants.
Hilton pioneered an amazing campaign called Green Breakfast, where they sought to reduce waste from the breakfast buffet in 13 UAE hotels. One of the most interesting findings from Winnow’s data was that plate waste (the food being left on the customers’ plates) largely consisted of pastries - as much as 60% of the total plate waste. Guests clearly loved the choice of pastries available but weren’t able to finish them. So Hilton calculated the optimum size for a pastry - allowing them to still offer guests that abundance of choice, but in a form that resulted in less waste. The hotels reduced total food waste by 62% in the four months of the campaign.
Could you discuss any recent innovations or strategic initiatives that have significantly reduced waste in your partner hotels and how these could set trends in the wider industry?
We’re always looking at ways to refine our solutions and make food waste management easier and more efficient for kitchens worldwide. An important recent innovation is our ‘Throw & Go’ technology, which streamlines waste recording by allowing kitchen teams to discard and track food waste without any manual input. Using advanced AI and computer vision, the system automatically and accurately identifies discarded food items.
Our collaboration with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is a good example of how innovation drives impact at scale. Following a successful pilot across flagship hotels in London, Hong Kong, Miami, and Dubai – where food waste was cut by 36% – Mandarin Oriental is rolling out Winnow’s technology across all 40 of its properties by the close of 2025. This partnership is exciting for me, reinforcing the shift toward sustainable operations as the new standard in luxury hospitality.
In what ways does Winnow Solutions engage with luxury hospitality clients to ensure tailored solutions that align with their brand values and operational requirements?
Luxury hotels pride themselves on culinary excellence, and we believe that food waste reduction should enhance – not limit – chefs' creativity. That’s not a belief unique to Winnow - I’ve been thrilled to see more and more Michelin-starred kitchens experiment with zero-waste cooking. The importance of empowering that creativity is also why we’ve partnered with Vojtech Vegh, a leading zero-waste chef and author, to help kitchen teams reimagine waste. Through our collaboration, we provide workshops and training that help chefs turn surplus ingredients into innovative, sustainable dishes without compromising on quality.
Our engagement is also built on deep partnerships. We work closely with chefs, sustainability leaders, and F&B teams to ensure our solutions seamlessly integrate into their operations and deliver the best results.
What is your long-term vision for Winnow Solutions in transforming the hospitality industry's sustainability and waste management approach?
Our goal is to make food waste prevention a standard practice across the hospitality industry. By leveraging AI and data, we aim to empower businesses to operate more sustainably while improving profitability. As regulations tighten and sustainability expectations grow, we envision a future where kitchens worldwide use technology to eliminate waste before it happens.
Journal des Palaces: Chef Vojtech Vegh, what drew you to Winnow’s mission? What other actions or partnerships have been part of?
Chef Vojtech Vegh: Winnow is the only company I have an official partnership with at the moment. We are on the same mission, so it makes sense for us to work together. What I love about Winnow is that their food waste focus does not stop at overproduction waste, but they are also looking at other types of food waste, such as trimming waste, which creates a lot of food waste in kitchens around the world.
How does your Zero Waste Culinary Advisor role influence the culinary operations and sustainability practices within luxury restaurants and hotels?
As a Zero Waste Culinary Advisor, I get to train Winnow’s customer success team members, who are helping chefs to directly reduce their food waste, so they can support chefs with better advice and more practical steps. I also share my knowledge on food waste prevention with chefs at luxury properties through webinars so they can better understand the best ways to eliminate food waste and incorporate sustainability into their operations, and they can also opt for additional food waste training. All of this helps them not only understand how to embed sustainable practices into culinary operations but also gives them plenty of practical takeaways.
What strategies or programs have you implemented to encourage chefs in luxury kitchens to adopt zero-waste practices, and what has been the response?
As part of my workshops and training, the first thing I encourage after measurement is to start small and only focus on one thing at a time. This takes away the pressure of having to focus on everything and chefs are able to test out an idea before moving on to the next thing. My strategy is to always focus on prevention rather than reduction - this means focusing on the potential food waste before it’s created rather than trying to upcycle byproducts that are already created. This shifts the focus from the prep table back into the chef’s office, where the menu is being written, as the menu development process is the most important step in food waste prevention. There is usually a bit of scepticism from chefs, especially in luxury properties, but once they get to see that zero-waste cooking does not lower the quality or value of the dish (in fact, it’s often the opposite), they become very enthusiastic.
Can you share a success story of a luxury hospitality venue where your zero-waste initiatives significantly impacted reducing waste and enhancing sustainability?
Our program with Red Carnation Hotels was very successful: utilising Winnow’s technology and guidance from my workshops, they achieved a 40% reduction in trimming waste across 7 hotels. The chefs started eliminating unnecessary trimmings, maximising the use of every ingredient in their kitchen and turning their byproducts into new valuable products, such as homemade treacle that they were previously buying from their supplier. This has, of course, not only reduced their costs but also made their kitchens more sustainable.
What future trends do you foresee in culinary practices that could further drive the zero-waste movement in high-end dining experiences?
The normalisation of zero-waste cooking. The biggest shift that needs to happen is a mindset shift in the kitchen. So many upcycling techniques come from high-end kitchens, as they want to make the most of their high-quality ingredients, so zero-waste cooking is not a new concept in luxury restaurants. We will be in a much better place once we stop looking at it as a "recycling activity" and start seeing it as a culinary opportunity to maximise the flavours.
 Chef Vojtech Vegh appointed Winnow’s Zero Waste Culinary Advisor
Crédit photo © gastronomixsprod
|
|
