Abstract

This study revealed food waste management practices in the hospitality industry with case study Hotel Presidentials & Suites. It was inspired by four research objectives: to determine the main food waste causes, to understand the current management, to analyze the success of those implemented and to understand the challenges faced in their implementation. A descriptive survey research design was used and the data were collected using of structured questionnaires administered to 100 respondents drawn from various departments such as the kitchen, restaurant, housekeeping and administration units. Descriptive statistical methods such as frequency distribution and percentage were applied in analyzing the collected data while the Chi-square (\(\chi^2\)) statistical method was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that the three key drivers of food waste were food overproduction, inappropriate inventory management and customer’s preference for large food portions. The study also confirmed that a number of waste management practices are implemented in hospitality organizations such as inventory control, reusing and recycling of leftovers, employee training and monitoring systems. The results also showed that effective portion control and systematic monitoring can help to cut down food waste. However, lack of staff training and training costs, and customer behaviour were identified as major barriers to good food waste management. The results of the hypothesis testing showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the food waste management practices and the reduction of food waste in the hospitality sector. The researchers found that sustainable management of food waste relies on the efficiency of the operation, staff skills, customer awareness, and management commitment. As a result, it recommended better management of inventory systems, regular training of staff, integration of waste monitoring technologies and organising awareness campaigns to encourage sustainable food waste management in the hospitality sector as a whole.