Costa Cruises has launched its ‘4GOODFOOD’ programme aimed at halving food waste on board its cruise ships by 2020.
The starting point for the project is recognising the value of food. The food experience is a key part of the cruise and the relevant figures are that some 54 mill meals a year are prepared on board Costa’s fleet.
Using ‘4GOODFOOD’, Costa decided to review all its food service processes and remodel them using an integrated approach based on sustainability, while ensuring the proactive engagement of guests and crew.
The company isundertaken this task in collaboration with Italian and international partners, such as Fondazione Banco Alimentare ONLUS; Cittadinanzattiva, the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity; Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo and Winnow.
A pilot project was successfully developed and tested on the flagship ‘Costa Diadema’ starting in 2016 and as a result, ‘4GOODFOOD’ is now being implemented fleetwide.
During the experimental phase on board ‘Costa Diadema’, the programme yielded impressive results with a more than 50% reduction in food waste in 11 months, equivalent to a saving of 1,189 tonnes of CO2, equal to the emissions of 231 motor vehicles in a year.
According to a report entitled ‘Overview of waste in the UK Hospitality and food sector’ produced by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme), the average shore-based restaurant wastes 284 grams of food per person per meal. This compares to the 216 grams measured on the Costa fleet prior to the launch of the programme.
Costa Cruises President, Neil Palomba, commented: “We’ve taken a good hard look at the value of food and responsible consumption, and come up with practical solutions. 4GOODFOOD is unprecedented in global shipping: thanks to this programme, we intend to cut food waste on our ships by half by 2020, 10 years ahead of the deadline prescribed by the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
“We’ve laid down a marker for the industry by promoting a more sustainable shipboard food preparation and consumption model, without in any way impairing the quality of the cruise experience. But the most important aspect – and this is one of our top priorities – is that this project will engage around two million guests, a year as well as our 19,000 crew members, meaning there’ll be a positive knock-on effect shoreside as well,” he said.
“I am proud to vouch for the progress made by Costa Cruises on the path to food sustainability, while contributing to the cultural change that is taking place vis-à-vis this issue. All of this goes to show that the business world and civil society are taking a firm stand when it comes to tackling food waste. I am in no doubt that a heightened sense of responsibility is the key to spreading the message that the right to food is an inalienable one; therefore, we need to boost our joint commitment so as to create more opportunities for dialogue, thereby engaging the community and fostering best practices, including tangible synergistic actions like the initiative presented here today,” said the Italian Deputy Minister, Andrea Olivero.
