Trim Trax is a simple initiative from Compass Group UK & Ireland to target food waste. It allows their catering teams to measure how much waste is produced in their kitchens and to then take steps to reduce it. The initiative can minimise both the environmental and operational cost of food waste within a catering facility. It targets not only food waste, but also wastage in the production process itself, through overproduction, incorrectly ordered or out-of-date stock.
Trim Trax works by giving each member of the food production team their own individual Trim Trax food waste bin. Everything thrown away is recorded by volume, categorised and assigned a value each day. Results are then entered online. These are tracked and at the end of the week a report is generated, allowing them to easily monitor the waste reduction.
The reports are accessible through an online portal and help the catering team identify actions and set targets to reduce wastage to save money and to protect the environment. The best performers can be recognised and rewarded appropriately.
Trim Trax, which was developed in the United States, helps reduce in-unit food wastage, focusing on the most frequent reasons identified for production loss – overproduction, out-of-date inventory and wastage in the food preparation process.
Entering the information online enables the food production team to measure wastage across the whole company. Over time the company aims to be able look at trends and how they can improve wastage overall, ultimately building up to their goal to eliminate waste to landfill.
The Trim Trax programme provides some very simple, visible ways to reinforce the message about reducing waste for our in-unit teams. It is a simple, high impact tool to raise awareness of the issue of wastage with our teams and embed the disciplines necessary to reduce it.
“As a leading foodservice and support services provider, Compass is continually looking at ways to further reduce its environmental impact and we fully support WRAP’s Hospitality and Foodservice Agreement. We have already made significant achievements across our business to increase recycling rates and reduce waste and we are committed to taking this further, working with our suppliers, clients and customers to meet the Agreement’s targets.”
Ian Sarson, Group Managing Director, Compass Group UK & Ireland
