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Dubai / WAM
The Middle East’s Food and Beverage (F&B), industry needs to actively embrace technology to fight increasing food waste in the region, according to experts.
Ahead of the first-ever Gulfood Innovation Conference in Dubai next month, to be held at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), from February 18-20, two leading experts on food waste have urged the region’s F&B players to consider disrupting traditional working and operational practices to combat the problem.
Michael Ellis, Chief Culinary Officer of hospitality giant Jumeirah Group, and Michael Barsties, Head of Food Waste Heroes Programme of the ground-breaking Olio mobile app for food-sharing, made the observation. The pair will join a summit panel on “Foodtech in the Kitchen.”
The advent of the “smart” kitchen will go a long way in improving industry efficiency, affirmed Ellis. “Smart kitchens can make an enormous impact in two areas: firstly, by reducing the amount of repetitive manual labour during food preparation, and secondly by reducing food waste, a recurring problem in most kitchens today. Technological innovations can be made both in kitchen equipment and data mining, through which chefs can anticipate the number of a particular dish that would be ordered on a given day based on historical trends,” he said.
Ellis, who works across Jumeirah’s international portfolio of 23 hotels, stressed that widespread hi-tech adoption in smart kitchens will help the region achieve zero waste. “At Jumeirah, we are looking closely at all aspects of kitchen and raw materials management. With the scale of our operations and the commitment to excellence we give to each and every dish, this is a major area of interest for us.
Whether it is inventory control, HAACP (hazard analysis and critical control points) implementation, or JIT (just-in-time) ordering, food tech is the key to more efficient and quality food operations,” he added.
Barsties asserted that advanced kitchen technology is no longer an option. “Technology helps us discover and eliminate inefficiencies, which often mean a waste of resources. Given these are finite on our planet, we should start using them more wisely this also includes the land we use to grow food that is never eaten, roughly the size of Mexico,” he noted.