Focus on Food Waste

Data and history have become a regular part of the menu at the Dana Cup. With data and numbers, it is possible to eliminate food waste from a football tournament, where 12,000-15,000 players and managers eat three meals every day. 

'With our experience, we know almost exactly how much each person here eats at each meal, and based on that experience we prepare the amount of food. But, at the same time, we adjust the cooking all the time, because there may be fewer people in to eat if the weather is good with bright sunshine, and there may be more if it rains and players and managers are tempted to stay a little longer and maybe eat more. With a preparation time of one hour per meal, we are able to constantly optimise the quantities, so that there is almost nothing left over when the last person has left the dining hall', explains Hanne Brusgaard and adds that there was practically no food left over the other evening. Only six small buckets were collected by a charity. 

'In addition to numbers and history, we base our choices on simple observations. In the most literal sense, we lift the lid on the bins and see what our guests throw in. In this way, we can partly ascertain how much is being thrown away, and partly what is being thrown away. The latter indicates whether the participants like the food. If there is an extraordinary amount of food thrown in the bin one night, it suggests that the participants may not have liked the food, and then we will adjust the recipe. We have also started serving smaller portions. Not to save, because you can always get more. Nobody should leave here hungry', Hanne Brusgaard emphasises. 

'Hopefully, next year we will do even better to eliminate food waste', she smiles.

Photo: Hans Ravn.