HOW important is food and drink in tourism? In 2022, seven million people visited Ireland from overseas alone, and there were 13.3 million domestic trips taken around Ireland. In total, it’s estimated the value of tourism spend in that year was €2.9 billion (IOTA). According to Fáilte Ireland for every Euro of that tourism spend, 35% is spent on food and drink.
The short answer to the question, then, is that food and drink is incredibly important to Ireland’s tourism sector, and conversely tourism is valuable to our restaurant and hospitality industry.
But there is a huge opportunity for increase the value of what tourists spend with almost zero cost to food businesses, and in doing so provide eco-minded tourists with another reason to visit Ireland – specifically, Cork.
How? By reducing the amount of food waste generated in our restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, pubs, food trucks and takeaways.
A report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) detailing food waste statistics for Ireland, stated the restaurant and food service sector generated 189,000 tonnes of waste in 2021, the third highest sector. The cost of this waste was valued at €300 million, and of the total amount of waste generated 66% was avoidable food waste, i.e. food that was edible but thrown away anyway.
At a recent conference at the newly established Fota Education and Training Centre hosted by Visit Cork, the body responsible for promoting tourism across the city and county, how to tackle food waste in the tourism sector was on the menu.
A variety of speakers from across the tourism spectrum, including hoteliers, chefs, innovators and tourism experts all lead the call for action on food waste as a win for all.
Keelin Tobin of MTUs Clean Technology Unit supports businesses by identifying food waste streams, quantifying it, and proposing simple solutions for improving waste segregation. A series of Waste Characterisation Studies carried out at different types of food businesses showed 33% of all commercial waste is organic and most is food waste. But almost a quarter of that food waste finds its way into general waste streams meaning no chance for it to be diverted and converted into other by-products such as compost and biogas.
At a basic level, being sure the right kind of waste is going into the right bin means businesses can more accurately know how much of what kind of waste is being generated, and what that is then costing in terms of disposal and lost revenue.
Segregation alone can achieve huge results. The Commodore Hotel in Cobh was part of a My Waste Green Hub Initiative, and by improving their waste systems with better signage and staff training, reduced their overall food waste by 25% in just 12 months.
Jenny De Saulles is the Director of Sector Development for Fáilte Ireland. She says that although Ireland is doing well to position itself as a sustainable tourism destination (currently ranked 26th in the world), “we’re not there yet, and we must be careful not to over-claim.”
To support businesses who benefit from tourism directly or indirectly, Fáilte Ireland have launched a new Climate Action Division, a one-stop-shop for tourism businesses offering unbiased expert advice on everything from measuring carbon footprints to action planning and access to financial supports, such as SEAI grants.
Alex Petit is Group Executive Chef of Cork’s Trigon Hotels, which includes The Metropole and Cork International Airport Hotel. Since joining the group in 2022, he has been working to implement a major sustainability drive of the food and drink offering across all three properties.
Alex cites implementation of something called menu engineering. It goes beyond standard menu planning to incorporate flexibility and cost control actions that protect margins while still creating dishes and menus that enable chefs to demonstrate creative flair, excite diners, and make the most of local and seasonal produce.
Trigon Hotels has recently launched a new Food Charter 2024 for working towards a sustainable food system. It includes a list of ten commitments for how to achieve this, and how.
The charter includes a commitment to reduce food waste by 20% through monitoring food waste and where or how it is being generated.
Supporting a cohort of 25 local food suppliers and actively looking to engage with other producers within the locality and using seasonality as inspiration for their quarterly menu change.
They have also committed to offer No Waste dishes by engineering out anything unnecessary such as unseasonal garnishes or any item that doesn’t add something to the dish. Plus, a commitment to increase the use of more beans and pulses as alternative sources of meat-based protein, a goal no doubt inspired by the #BeansIsHow campaign to double global consumption of beans and pulses by 2030.
Orla McAndrew explained how she eradicated all kinds of food waste entirely from her high-end wedding catering business by simply doing the maths and getting to grips with portion control. By offering a unique zero waste wedding service, she diverts a significant amount of food waste before cooking a single thing by removing the potential for waste from food producers she supports. These zero waste weddings make up 30% of her business; the other 70% of her business creates no food waste at all.
Information is power, so, if segregation of avoidable food waste can lead to a greater understanding of how much is being created, where and why, and that leads to better purchasing, clever menu engineering so food waste is greatly reduced overall, why should we also be interested in what MyGug have to offer?
Fiona Kelleher is the CEO of MyGug, an innovative biotech company that has created a perfect system for handling all forms of food waste: not just fresh, b hours MyGug turns the waste into fertiliser for growing more crops and a biogas which can be used for cooking.
It’s the ideal system for tackling unavoidable food waste such as plate scrapings that can’t be repurposed into anything else edible but can be converted into two new outputs, effectively for free, while also reducing costs of waste and energy.
So, what does all this have to do with tourism?
The work of Visit Cork is categorised under one of four pillars, the third of which is SMART and where sustainable tourism initiatives live. If Cork can become a world-leading sustainable tourism destination, that means more visitors and more spend happening within Cork’s many fine hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars.
Cllr. Frank O’Flynn said of the Waste Not Want Not sustainable tourism conference that “It will be an opportunity for businesses in Cork’s vibrant tourism sector to speak to local support agencies and experts about their broader sustainability plans and ambitions, so they can better understand how they can play their part in supporting the circular economy and a more sustainable future.”
Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy said: “The conference underscores the shared commitment of Visit Cork and Cork’s two local authorities to champion sustainable tourism practices. It also sets the stage for future collaborations and endeavours that link to Cork’s goal to become net zero in its carbon emissions. A key part of that journey is the delivery of responsible waste management strategies across many elements of society including sustainable tourism practices.”
If you’re a food business in Cork looking to find out more about how to improve food waste and become part of the sustainable tourism future for Cork, visit the resources below or contact your Local Enterprise Office.
Also see:
www.mywaste.ie
www.supports.failteireland.ie/climate-action
www.purecork.com
www.corkconventionbureau.com
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