
The company which operates more than 100 Iberostar hotels and all-inclusive resorts around the world is installing a high-tech AI system to reduce food waste and eliminate CO2 emissions.
Iberostar serves some five million meals a year to guests. The goal is to reduce food waste by 50 percent in the first year, saving 1,600 tons of food in the first year of operation.
By 2025, the goal is zero waste to landfills, and eliminating 8,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
Iberostar announced its new program on Sept. 30, the United Nations International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.
The technology based on Winnow AI has been installed in five Iberostar hotels, saving 618,000 meals per year and 1,065 tons of CO2e per year. The announcement is to expand it company-wide.
It’s even more important these days as world food supplies are impacted by the war in Ukraine, one of the world’s top supliers of wheat and sunflower oil, and rising prices for everything from fertilizer to fuel for tractors and combines.
The Iberostar Group, the Palma de Mallorca-based hotel and all-inclusive resort company, made the commitment to this zero-waste objective in 2020 with its own 2030 agenda, which also includes being carbon neutral by 2030.
Since 60 percent of Iberostar’s waste is food, reducing food waste is an integral part of achieving this goal.
In addition to being good for the environment, reducing food waste is good for the bottom line, as it is estimated to reduce company food costs by between 8 percent and 20 percent.
Saving the Environment and the Bottom Line
Typically, establishments using Winnow’s technology cut food waste in half in 12 to 24 months.
In Europe, Iberostar will save up to 1.3 million meals, 521 tons of food, and 2,241 tons of CO2.
In America, Iberostar will save around three million meals, 1,118 tons of food and 5,110 tons of CO2 per year.
Iberostar’s financial savings are expected to exceed $7 million per year.
After successful pilot programs at Iberostar hotels in Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America, Iberostar is now rolling out the technology globally.
Commitment to United Nations Climate Change Policies
This commitment is also aligned with the United Nations SDG 12.3, which aims to halve global per capita food waste by 2030.
Food waste accounts for up to 10 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions1 and combating it is necessary to fight climate change.

How the Winnow AI Food Waste System Works
The Winnow AI systems implemented in Iberostar kitchens know exactly what they throw away, what they save, and how they can make smarter decisions based on real data.
The kitchen staff, trained to work with the tool, uses a tablet to identify discarded food, while a camera identifies food items. The camera is programmed to identify up to 600 food items – literally everything from soup to nuts.
A scale measures the weight and sends a message to the chef, indicating the cost, weight, and quantity of food discarded.
All this data is uploaded to the Cloud, where food waste from each day is recorded and analyzed.
With the preparation of daily, weekly, and monthly reports, Iberostar kitchens receive information to promote improvements in their production processes, to save money and reduce the environmental impact of food waste.
It also will make kitchens more efficient, by paying more attention to environmentally conscious materials and innovating with techniques such as slow cooking.
Reducing Food Waste Saves Money and the Environment
Iberostar’s goal is to reduce food waste by 50 percent in the first year the Winnow system is implemented.
In Europe, Iberostar will save up to 1.3 million meals, 521 tons of food, and 2,241 tons of CO2.
In America, Iberostar will save around three million meals, 1,118 tons of food and 5,110 tons of CO2 per year.
In total, with the implementation of this system, Iberostar will stop throwing away almost 5 million meals per year, more than 1,600 tons of food, and will stop emitting almost 8,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Iberostar’s financial savings are expected to exceed $7 million per year. For more information, visit www.iberostar.com.

Statements by Iberostar and Winnow AI Executives
“Reducing food waste is key to meeting our 2030 Agenda goals,” Sabina Fluxá, vice chairman and CEO of Iberostar said in a statement.
“The value of food cannot be underestimated, and, at Iberostar, we want to ensure it is not wasted. In addition to training our employees to address food waste, we have put in place this innovative system to reduce the amount of waste we produce without affecting the guest experience.
We are convinced the use of state-of-the-art technology, training, and innovation dedicated to removing food waste will help us reduce climate impacts, achieve our goals, and contribute to broader global goals that benefit the planet.”
Marc Zornes, CEO and co-founder of Winnow, said, “By understanding, reporting and managing food waste’s very real costs, both the bottom line and the environment benefit. Iberostar hotels already using our AI-technology are seeing food waste reduced by 35 percent or more,”
“While we are proud of this achievement, the recognition belongs to Iberostar employees who are working with our analytics every day. We look forward to working together with them and their colleagues around the world in the future as we scale our impact together.”
For more information, visit www.iberostar.com and/or www.willowai.com
Thanks to the travel trade publication Insider Travel Report for alerting ecoXplorer to this important travel technology development.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 20+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
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