In 2017, Armani Hotel Dubai was awarded the prestigious Green Globe Certification underlining its commitment to be a socially and environmentally responsible hotel operator. Advancing its sustainability initiatives, the ultraluxury hotel, located in the iconic Burj Khalifa, has partnered with tech-firm Winnow to limit the amount of food that is wasted. With the help of the technology, the hotel’s culinary team is now able to automatically measure what gets thrown away and receive actionable data that help chefs reduce overproduction.
- The team reduced their food waste by 80% – 47% by using Winnow’s smart scales only and through other measures including composting
- This is equivalent of saving 117,000 meals from the bin
- Curbing food waste has also positively impacted the hotel’s bottom line: the estimated yearly savings are of AED 148,000
The Winnow system comprises a set of digital scales and tablet which is connected to the cloud making it quick and easy for chefs to measure food waste. Teams then receive daily reports highlighting where waste is occurring thereby providing insight to make their operations more efficient and sustainable.
Armani Hotel Dubai prioritised tackling the problem of food waste in line with the UAE’s commitment to cut food waste by 50% by 2030, encouraging food businesses to pledge to save 3 million meals by the end of 2020. The hotel has already achieved its target of reducing food wastage by 80% through a well-structured programme, that apart from using Winnow’s technology, includes composting and food donations to the UAE Food Bank.
The system is now used in 12 Emaar properties since February 2018 to help them leverage data analytics to reduce food waste, whereby the teams have successfully cut food waste by 56% saving over AED1.5 million annually.
