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Food is central to the hotel experience and can be pivotal to a hotel’s success. Yet managing food well is a complex operation. Many hotels provide three meals a day, prepared on site and covering a much wider range of guest needs and expectations than most other food service operations.
Mounting external pressures, such as risks to supply and rising costs, are adding even greater complexity to hotel food operations and posing risks to business continuity. Hotels can be particularly exposed to these risks compared to other food system actors.
At the same time, sustainability is a growing challenge to hotel food systems and to the world’s food systems in general. Today’s food systems are responsible for one quarter of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are also depleting biodiversity – crucial for producing food – at an alarming rate.1, 2 Much of this damage arises from growing demand for resource- and emissions- intensive foods, particularly meat, unsustainable farming techniques, and high levels of food loss and waste. Letting these trends and practices continue makes climate change worse and food systems increasingly fragile and unreliable.
While these issues are not specific to hotel food systems, hotels have a disproportionate impact on the global food system relative to the number of meals they serve. Although hotel meals account for less than 0.5% of all meals consumed worldwide, they contribute 1% of global food-related emissions and 3% of global food waste.
This is largely because of the higher emissions intensity of typical hotel meals, high rates of food waste in hotels and their inefficient use of resources overall. Analysis for this paper found that hotel food systems today generate 185 million tons of CO2e emissions a year. That means if hotel food was a country, it would be in the top 25% of nations ranked by their emissions. Food sourcing accounts for by far the largest share of hotel food system emissions at over 60% of the total. Other sources are food waste, plastic packaging for food, and energy used in kitchens.
These combined challenges are straining the viability of current hotel food systems. But they also present significant and exciting opportunities for improvement. Reshaping food offerings in hotels will not only reduce emissions but also boost hotels’ business resilience and broader environmental sustainability. Decisions about sourcing, menus, and food preparation can have far-reaching effects on nature (including saving water), reduce costs, improve guest satisfaction, and enhance the reputation of brands.
Implementing solutions can help hotels continue to serve plentiful, high-quality meals and avoid unnecessary costs. There are many readily available solutions that hotels can put in place today, several with attractive business cases. A majority of actions are operational changes rather than technological, achievable through behaviour shifts in teams. Some solutions pay for themselves through efficiency gains, while others have longer-term sustainability payoffs.
Making food systems sustainable helps foster connections with guests. It also makes a hotel business more resilient, as well as helping companies meet their climate and nature goals.
This report sets out a pathway to reduce aggregate GHG emissions from hotel food by 30% by 2030, cutting nearly 70 million tons a year from the sector’s footprint as well as delivering benefits for nature and communities.
Over half these potential emissions reductions come from food sourcing. Action on sustainable sourcing is by far the most urgent, as it could yield more than half of the total potential reduction in emissions. The actions are not necessarily technologically complex, but do require behaviour changes for teams. Training will play an important role here.
Rethinking food in hotels can also inspire wider change in global food systems. Hotels can use their combined significant procurement muscle to bring solutions to a larger scale. Encouraging more sustainable eating habits among their guests can inspire more environmentally friendly choices that continue well beyond each hotel stay, and even extend to choices beyond food.
Hotels have an opportunity to position their industry as a pioneer driving positive systemic change toward a sustainable future. This report sets out the tools hotels need to succeed.
Food is central to the hotel experience and can be pivotal to a hotel’s success. Yet managing food well is a complex operation. Many hotels provide three meals a day, prepared on site and covering a much wider range of guest needs and expectations than most other food service operations.
Mounting external pressures, such as risks to supply and rising costs, are adding even greater complexity to hotel food operations and posing risks to business continuity. Hotels can be particularly exposed to these risks compared to other food system actors.
At the same time, sustainability is a growing challenge to hotel food systems and to the world’s food systems in general. Today’s food systems are responsible for one quarter of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are also depleting biodiversity – crucial for producing food – at an alarming rate.1, 2 Much of this damage arises from growing demand for resource- and emissions- intensive foods, particularly meat, unsustainable farming techniques, and high levels of food loss and waste. Letting these trends and practices continue makes climate change worse and food systems increasingly fragile and unreliable.
While these issues are not specific to hotel food systems, hotels have a disproportionate impact on the global food system relative to the number of meals they serve. Although hotel meals account for less than 0.5% of all meals consumed worldwide, they contribute 1% of global food-related emissions and 3% of global food waste.
This is largely because of the higher emissions intensity of typical hotel meals, high rates of food waste in hotels and their inefficient use of resources overall. Analysis for this paper found that hotel food systems today generate 185 million tons of CO2e emissions a year. That means if hotel food was a country, it would be in the top 25% of nations ranked by their emissions. Food sourcing accounts for by far the largest share of hotel food system emissions at over 60% of the total. Other sources are food waste, plastic packaging for food, and energy used in kitchens.
These combined challenges are straining the viability of current hotel food systems. But they also present significant and exciting opportunities for improvement. Reshaping food offerings in hotels will not only reduce emissions but also boost hotels’ business resilience and broader environmental sustainability. Decisions about sourcing, menus, and food preparation can have far-reaching effects on nature (including saving water), reduce costs, improve guest satisfaction, and enhance the reputation of brands.
Implementing solutions can help hotels continue to serve plentiful, high-quality meals and avoid unnecessary costs. There are many readily available solutions that hotels can put in place today, several with attractive business cases. A majority of actions are operational changes rather than technological, achievable through behaviour shifts in teams. Some solutions pay for themselves through efficiency gains, while others have longer-term sustainability payoffs.
Making food systems sustainable helps foster connections with guests. It also makes a hotel business more resilient, as well as helping companies meet their climate and nature goals.
This report sets out a pathway to reduce aggregate GHG emissions from hotel food by 30% by 2030, cutting nearly 70 million tons a year from the sector’s footprint as well as delivering benefits for nature and communities.
Over half these potential emissions reductions come from food sourcing. Action on sustainable sourcing is by far the most urgent, as it could yield more than half of the total potential reduction in emissions. The actions are not necessarily technologically complex, but do require behaviour changes for teams. Training will play an important role here.
Rethinking food in hotels can also inspire wider change in global food systems. Hotels can use their combined significant procurement muscle to bring solutions to a larger scale. Encouraging more sustainable eating habits among their guests can inspire more environmentally friendly choices that continue well beyond each hotel stay, and even extend to choices beyond food.
Hotels have an opportunity to position their industry as a pioneer driving positive systemic change toward a sustainable future. This report sets out the tools hotels need to succeed.
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