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The hotel breakfast is one of the “big nightmares” when it comes to food waste, according to renowned chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Addressing a committee of MPs who are investigating food waste, the celebrity chef and TV campaigner said hotel owners must do more to cut down on food waste.
He criticised hotels and their “inexhaustible” displays, which he claimed had to look perfect and are constantly topped up until the last guest has finished eating.
Fearnley-Whittingstall, who runs the three River Cottage restaurants in Axminster, Plymouth and Winchester, said: “The breakfast buffet is one of the big nightmares. It is a bit like a supermarket shelf in that it must always be inexhaustible and full and look perfect.
“It must look like that when the first guests come down at 6.30 in the morning and when the last guest goes on their way. You can imagine what happens to the food, the still perfect looking breakfast buffet, at hotels all over the UK and all over the world, a few minutes after the last person walks away.”
He called for a “cultural change” in the industry, suggesting hotels could tackle the problem by warning guests who do not get up early that the breakfast offering will diminish throughout the morning as part of a policy to reduce food waste.
He referenced the policy in some hotels where guests are asked to reuse their towels if they do not need washing, calling for a similar mindset.
The full committee can be viewed here.
