The pioneering campaign – in partnership with UNEP West Asia and Winnow – serves as a foundation for future food waste reduction efforts.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates- Hilton today unveiled the results of its Green Ramadan campaign. A global first for Hilton in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, the collaboration combined Hilton’s Travel with Purpose strategy and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) West Asia’s ‘Recipe of Change’ Sustainable Ramadan campaign with Winnow’s artificial intelligence technology, allowing for digitally led tracking of waste from production to plate.
To measure, manage, and mitigate food waste across key markets in the Middle East, the Green Ramadan initiative was implemented in three of Hilton’s hotels: Waldorf Astoria Lusail Doha, Conrad Dubai, and Hilton Riyadh Hotel & Residences. The first week of the campaign served to create a data baseline, after which additional behavioural interventions were incorporated into the buffet and dining areas – including visual prompts and key messages from UNEP West Asia’s ‘Recipe of Change’ Sustainable Ramadan initiative.
Each participating hotel aimed to close the loop across the food value chain by focusing on composting, local sourcing, sustainable gastronomy, and food donations, among others. The hotels also adopted carbon emission labelling across its buffet stations, which encouraged diners to make climate-conscious food choices. By offering smaller portions, live cooking stations, and artfully reduced food displays, the campaign – which served 27,000 guests – was able to break through the food waste awareness barriers with an educational and interactive approach.
Hilton’s pioneering initiative proved effective, seeing a 61 per cent reduction – equating to serving over 8,600 meals, and preventing almost 4.8 tonnes of waste and over 14 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Commenting on the success of the campaign, Emma Banks, vice president, F&B strategy & development, EMEA, said: “The impact of Green Ramadan is a testament to the hospitality sector’s influence over global food waste reduction efforts. The results are underpinned by hard data and real-world behavioural science, serving as a foundation from which we can continue to tackle the challenges of food waste. The campaign has shown great potential in becoming a long-term solution in the region, with the participating hotels already making operational changes to the ways in which food is served in their dining areas.”
“Moving forward, Hilton will continue collaborating with UNEP West Asia and Winnow to release white paper resources and remains committed to driving its Travel with Purpose strategy. There is no denying it – the future of hospitality is sustainability,” she added.
