Milan, February 6, 2018- Costa Cruises has presented its 4GOODFOOD, whose purpose is to halve food waste on board the Italian company's ships by 2020.
The project's starting point is recognizing the value of food. The culinary experience is a fundamental part of a cruise and boasts astonishing figures: Costa's fleet members prepare around 54 million meals a year. Through 4GOODFOOD, Costa has decided to completely review all its food service processes and reform them using an integrated, sustainability-based system that ensures the proactive commitment of passengers and crew.
The Italian company does not work alone in 4GOODFOOD, in fact, it has the collaboration of Italian and international partners, all of them with a recognized track record, such as: Fondaziones Banco Alimentare ONLUS, Cittadinanzattiva, Foundation Slow Food for Biodiversity, the Università degli Studi di Scienza Gastronomiche di Pollenzo and Winnow.
The pilot project was successfully developed and tested on the company's flagship, the Costa Diadema, in 2016. Currently, 4GOODFOOD is being implemented across the company's entire fleet. During the experimental phase on board the Costa Diadema, the program achieved impressive results with a reduction in food waste of over 50% in 11 months: this is equivalent to saving 1,189 metric tons of CO2, or a year's worth of emissions from 231 motor vehicles.
In any case, Costa Cruises ships have always been well-positioned in terms of food waste management. According to the report entitled “Overview of Waste in the UK Food & Hospitality Sector ” developed by WRAP ( Waste & Resources Action Programme – global leaders in helping organizations achieve greater resource efficiency), the average food waste generated by a restaurant located on the coast amounts to 284 grams of food per person per meal, a figure that can be compared to the 216 grams measured on the Costa fleet before the start of the 4GOODFOOD project.
Neil Palomba, CEO of Costa Crociere SpA, commented: “We have thoroughly assessed the value of food and responsible consumption and proposed practical solutions. 4GOODFOOD is unprecedented in the international cruise industry: with this program, we aim to halve food waste on our ships by 2020, ten years ahead of the deadline set by the United Nations' 2030 Agenda. We have set a benchmark in the industry by promoting a more sustainable model of food preparation and consumption on board, without in any way affecting the quality of the cruise experience. Even so, the most important aspect – and one of our top priorities – is that the project will involve some two million passengers a year, as well as 19,000 of our crew members, meaning it will also have a significant positive impact on land.”
Food waste is a global problem: the UN's 2030 Agenda has established 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including the aim of halving the global per capita rate of food waste by 2030. According to the FAO – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – about a third of the food produced globally in a year – approximately 1.3 billion metric tons – ends up being lost or wasted.
Peter Baker, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBSCD), stated: “Today, one-third of all food produced is never eaten. Nearly 800 million people suffer from malnutrition and food insecurity worldwide, and this situation simply cannot continue. As a global voice on sustainable business, WBSCD is leading a number of projects that aim to transform food systems globally, from farm to table. Business action is urgently needed to address the problem of food waste and work towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
“This initiative demonstrates the importance of corporate commitment to achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ,” emphasized Enrico Giovannini , spokesperson for the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS). “Companies like Costa Cruises, which interact with millions of people each year, can leverage these awareness-raising initiatives to accelerate the cultural shift needed to improve lifestyles and provide the impetus for a more sustainable future. Only through partnerships between different types of stakeholders can we successfully address a range of closely interconnected global challenges. Food expenditure,” Giovannini added , “is linked to other key issues such as climate change, water and food security, and migration, all of which must be addressed using an integrated approach. The 2030 Agenda framework offers an extraordinary platform for building and sharing forward-looking programs that can lead to a fairer, more resilient, and inclusive society.”
4GOODFOOD is a far-reaching project that considers every aspect of food preparation and consumption on board, offering tangible and measurable solutions. In collaboration with the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo (University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo), Costa began by revamping its food and wine offerings based on sustainability and a rigorous selection of high-quality products and ingredients, prioritizing seasonal availability and sourcing local produce. This includes the introduction of 572 regional and local dishes that reflect the unparalleled heritage of Italian cuisine and the Mediterranean Diet.
Together with Winnow, specialists in optimizing processes in professional kitchens, Costa has installed scales in all its kitchens and maintained a centralized record that allows for the mapping, quantification, and analysis of waste produced during food processing and preparation. This system has enabled the gradual implementation of integrated improvement measures on board the ships and is already being used on more than half of the fleet. Key to this success has been the training of nearly 2,400 kitchen staff, who have been instructed on how to reduce waste and implement more sustainable processes.
At the same time, the Taste Don't Waste awareness campaign is designed to directly engage passengers, encouraging responsible behavior and proactive participation, especially in the buffet area. In this phase of the project, Costa Cruises is working with the citizens' and consumers' rights group Cittadinanzattiva, which has helped monitor the effectiveness of the call to action on the Costa Diadema. The results of the first trial were excellent: nearly 90% of guests perceived the campaign favorably, and the amount of food wasted by passengers in the buffet was reduced by almost 20%.
Following the introduction of Law No. 166/2016 on food waste, promoted by Italian MP Maria Chiara Gadda, Costa Cruises partnered with the charity Banco Alimentare Foundation to launch a food surplus donation program. As a pioneer among cruise lines worldwide, Costa can now recover and donate ready-to-eat meals that have been cooked on board but never served in the ship's restaurants. The initiative began on the Costa Diadema in Savona in July 2017 and has since expanded to include the Port of Civitavecchia (Rome), where, in just six months and through local organizations, some 16,000 meals were distributed to people in need.
In 2018, the company plans to expand this program to include other Mediterranean ports, including Barcelona, Palermo, Cagliari, Bari and Venice in Italy, as well as Marseille, Athens and Valletta.
Guest participation will have another positive effect. Costa Cruises has decided to support the network of food gardens in Africa promoted by the Slow Food for Biodiversity. The Italian company will provide ongoing financial support to the organization, with the annual contribution directly linked to the reduction of food waste by guests at the buffet. The aim is to ensure the future growth of the network by returning food resources to the community.
Prior to the launch of 4GOODFOOD, Costa put his commitment into action by providing Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, with funding to create 50 new food gardens in Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania.
The presentation of the 4GOODFOOD program took place on Monday in Milan under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy .
