Training cooks to adopt correct anti-waste gestures

Elior employees in France receive training on environmental and societal issues related to their profession as caterers. For sales and operational teams, training is focused on the key sustainable-development challenges and the Group's CSR policy, and also gives concrete applications to be used in the kitchen, notably regarding the fight against food waste.

Here are a few restaurant-wide examples:

• Guests are offered the choice of two sizes of meal to suit their appetite (small or large).
•  “It's my last day" labels are displayed on products with an approaching expiry date.
• Bread is placed at the end of the self-service line, or is charged.
• A transparent bin for guests’ uneaten bread is installed at the used-tray area.
• Sliced fruit is provided in school canteens.
• A self-service system is promoted for starters and raw vegetables with the possibility for guests to add sauces on the side.

At Ansamble, employees can go even further and take a special online training course on waste. Available on a dedicated platform to all catering employees, this 6-hour training program enables Ansamble’s teams to become champions in the fight against waste in the company’s restaurants, and gives insight into the causes of waste at each stage in the kitchen, as well as the different types of waste (food, energy, etc.). In this way, employees have access to best practices to reduce waste: communicating with guests, involving customers, making diagnoses, and adapting restocking, etc.