Measures against Food Loss

Partly triggered by the appointment of Katsuhiro Nakamura, our Honorary Executive Chef, by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a goodwill ambassador for Japan, we launched the “Food Loss Reduction Project” within the company in 2018. In a series of processes from the procurement of foodstuffs to the provision of food, we identified the places where food loss occurred, examined solutions, and verified the effects of the reduction by measuring kitchen waste, implemented the “3010 Campaign” to reduce leftovers at banquets, developed the “Mottainai Menu” to make full use of foodstuffs, and introduced “mottECO” to take leftovers home in April 2022, thereby promoting the reduction of food loss and solving social issues related to food.

1. Reducing food waste through effective use of non-standard vegetables, unused fish and local ingredients
2. Development and deployment of the “Mottainai Menu” to reduce food loss
3. Promotion of the 3010 Campaign and implementation of the food loss reduction cycle
4. Seminar on SDGs for junior high and high school students
5. Introduction of “mottECO” to take leftover food home
6. “mottECO Promotion Consortium”
   received the Minister of Environment Award for promoting the reduction of food waste in 2023
7. “mottECO FESTA 2023,” event aimed at reducing food waste held
8. Received the Chairman’s Award of the Judging Committee for the Food Loss Reduction Promotion Award

Reducing food waste through effective use of non-standard vegetables, unused fish and local ingredients

At Hotel Metropolitan Takasaki, we constantly strive to reduce food waste as a business that handles food. One example is that we directly purchase “non-standard vegetables,” etc. which are discarded at farms for various reasons instead of being sold on the market, from farmers through our own purchasing channels and use them for banquets, etc. This also led to us being consulted by a company that operates a fresh fish e-commerce site for “unused fish,” which have difficulty reaching the market due to low demand despite being caught, and we decided to create a prototype menu for white-edged rockfish from Shibetsu, Hokkaido.

Putting unused fish to good use

Hotel Metropolitan Takasaki has been serving unused fish not only in its regular banquet menus, but also at its own events.
Saute, meunière, simmered, tempura, and more... We prepared approximately 700 kilograms of unused fish during fiscal 2022 using a variety of styles, offering opportunities for general consumers to think about reducing food waste.

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  Citron-flavored bacon wrap made with unused dottyback

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  Tempura made with unused dottyback

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  Bouillabaisse à Marseille made with unused redwing searobin

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  Steamed Japanese radish made with unused flathead sole

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  Reporting on unused fish at an event

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  Poster in lobby with information on unused fish

Development and deployment of the “Mottainai Menu” to reduce food loss

The “Mottainai Menu” is an original menu unique to Hotel Metropolitan Edmont, where Japanese and Western chefs make full use of ingredients and their skills. The fish wastes, which are usually discarded, are used in dashi (Japanese soup stock) or soups that are indispensable in French cuisine, and the skins and leaves of vegetables are made into appetizing delicacies such as finely flavored nutritious Japanese dishes and colorful hors d’oeuvres.
Since 2019, Hotel Metropolitan Edmont has been offering the “Mottainai Menu” as actual party food with the support of the organizer. This has led to the reduction of food loss in hotels and the provision of opportunities for people to think about food loss while eating delicious food.

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  Provence-style fish soup with rouille

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  Lamb hachis parmentier gratin

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  Confit of whole banana

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  Rusks (reused)

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  Agar jelly made with Kyoto carrot skin

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  Tuna collagen meatball teriyaki tempura wrapped in yuzu citrus skin

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  Bread pudding made from bread dough edges

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We also provide recipes for the “Mottainai Menu” that can be enjoyed at home, and hold online seminars to familiarize more people with tackling food loss and environmental issues.

Introduction of “Mottainai Menu” items that can be done at home

Katsuhiro Nakamura, our Honorary Executive Chef, held an online seminar on “Mottainai Menu” items that can be enjoyed at home (October 2020)

SDGs action while enjoying full-course French cuisine

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  Pain perdu with onions and bacon [Reduced Food Loss] [Mottainai Menu]

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  Poiret of Shinshu deer with Porto sauce [Ecosystem Maintenance] [Satoyama Conservation] [Healthy Ingredients]

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  Ostrich tartar and wasabi mousse [Global Warming Countermeasures] [Hunger Eradication] [Efficient Use of Food Crops]

At the Hotel Metropolitan Edmont, guests can enjoy a full course of authentic French cuisine prepared with sustainable food, providing opportunities to become familiar with sustainable ingredients and to deepen their understanding of such issues, leading to new awareness in daily life.

Participation in Saitama City’s efforts to reduce food loss

“Team Eat All” is a food loss reduction initiative undertaken by Saitama City involving business operators. Cafe Cross Yard, which is directly managed by Hotel Metropolitan Saitama-Shintoshin, is participating in this initiative.
The leftovers are cooled and reheated the next morning to use as ingredients for the breakfast buffet quiche. In addition, we are working to reduce food loss, while remaining particular about the taste, by mixing leftover seasonings and developing dressings.

• Food loss countermeasure menu quiche

• Food loss prevention menu doria

Promotion of the 3010 Campaign and implementation of the food loss reduction cycle

According to the Restaurant Survey of the Food Loss Statistical Survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, about 4% of all meals served in Japan are left over in eating places and restaurants, while about 14% of banquet meals are left over, 3.5 times that for eating places and restaurants. Nippon Hotel Co., Ltd. is actively promoting the “3010 Campaign” to reduce leftovers at banquets in all hotels with banquet halls. The “3010 Campaign” is to set up an “eat-it-up time” 30 minutes after a toast and 10 minutes before the end of the meal, so that customers can fully enjoy the meal without leaving leftovers.
In addition, by repeatedly repeating the food loss reduction cycle from the pre-meeting stage before the banquet to the day of the event and after the event, we are also able to increase the completion rate of banquet dishes.

Seminar on SDGs for junior high and high school students

At Hotel Metropolitan Edmont, we developed a hands-on learning curriculum (food loss lectures, taste classes, table manners classes) for junior and senior high school students on SDGs. In March 2022, approximately 1,200 junior and senior high school students in Chiyoda City, where the hotel is located, attended the course.
In addition to explaining the current situation and issues of food loss in the world and Japan in an easy-to-understand manner, we introduced specific examples of Hotel Metropolitan Edmont’s efforts to reduce food loss, as well as what each and every one of us can do to reduce food loss in our daily lives. Through real information from hotel food businesses, we were able to deepen their understanding of food loss.
In addition, a hotel chef serves as a lecturer in the taste class, where participants learned about the five tastes including four basic elements of taste such as saltiness, sourness, bitterness, and sweetness, plus umami, which is said to be the fifth taste. Hands-on food education classes were held, for example, tasting and comparing different dashi and pork, which cultivated an interest in food and nurtured their zest for living.

• Lecture on food loss

• The original text was used to deepen understanding

• Lecture on taste (Hotel Metropolitan Edmont Executive Chef Hitoshi Iwasaki)

• Students learned while enjoying tasting and comparing different kinds of dashi

Introduction of “mottECO” to take leftover food home

As part of its efforts to reduce food loss, Nippon Hotel Co., Ltd. has been implementing the “mottECO” initiative at nine hotels since April 1, 2022.
If customers who use the hotel restaurants or banquet halls are unable to finish their meal, they will be provided with eco-friendly certified paper containers upon request. By allowing customers to take home food at their own risk, we will work to reduce food loss and waste, and promote the “culture of taking home leftovers by themselves.”

In May 2022, four companies consisting of Nippon Hotel Co., Ltd., Seven & i Food Systems Co., Ltd., Royal Holdings Co., Ltd., and SRS Holdings Co., Ltd. were jointly adopted by the Ministry of the Environment as one of the “model projects for introducing mottECO initiative.”
The title of the project adopted is “Increase of businesses introducing mottECO initiative and creation of a tool dissemination scheme under a partnership, and promotion of further dissemination of mottECO initiative through awareness-raising activities in collaboration among the industry, local governments, and educational institutions.” The project addresses the major social issue of food loss reduction under a partnership that transcends competition through the introduction and expansion of mottECO initiative.
By participating in the model projects for mottECO initiative, we will contribute to the spread of this among food-related businesses and promote changes in the awareness of businesses and consumer behavior in cooperation with three companies in different industries.

In May 2023, with the participation of Keio Plaza Hotel Co., Ltd. and Aleph Inc., who have endorsed this initiative, as well as Suginami Ward, Tokyo, which is making efforts to promote mottECO at restaurants in the region, the project was jointly adopted as a "model project for introducing mottECO" by the Ministry of the Environment.

By participating in the mottECO model project, we will contribute to the spread and expansion of the program among food-related businesses, and will collaborate with other industries to promote changes in awareness and consumer behavior on the part of businesses.

“mottECO Promotion Consortium”
received the Minister of Environment Award for promoting the reduction of food waste in 2023

The “Project for the Introduction and Promotion of mottECO through Cooperation with Local Governments and Businesses,” a food waste reduction initiative jointly promoted by seven organizations including NIPPON HOTEL Co., Ltd., received the Minister of Environment Award, the top award among the 2023 Food Loss and Waste Reduction Promotion Awards sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment and the Consumer Affairs Agency, for which there were 93 applications.
The award ceremony for promoting food loss and waste reduction in 2023 was held by the Consumer Affairs Agency and the Ministry of the Environment at the “7th Food Loss and Waste Reduction National Convention in Kanazawa” on October 30, 2023. We set up a booth as part of the mottECO Promotion Consortium to introduce our initiatives.

“mottECO FESTA 2023,” event aimed at reducing food waste held

mottECO FESTA 2023, an event aimed at reducing food waste organized by the mottECO Promotion Consortium 2023, in which NIPPON HOTEL Co., Ltd. participates, was held on Monday, July 24, 2023 at Hotel Metropolitan Edmont Tokyo. More than 30 organizations engaged in efforts to reduce food waste, including central and local government offices, companies and universities, gathered and set up exhibition booths to introduce their respective initiatives.

The event was attended by approximately 400 people and saw various proposals and lively exchanges of opinions on initiatives to reduce food waste. It turned out to be a great opportunity to promote mottECO while further strengthening cooperation among businesses.

Wins Judgment Committee Chairperson’s Award for the Promotion of Food Waste Reduction

Four companies consisting of Nippon Hotel Co., Ltd., Seven & i Food Systems Co., Ltd., Royal Holdings Co., Ltd., and SRS Holdings Co., Ltd. received the Chairman’s Award of the Judging Committee for the Food Loss Reduction Promotion Award for their joint effort to reduce food loss, the mottECO project. Awarded by the Ministry of the Environment and the Consumer Affairs Agency at the National Conference on Reducing Food Loss held on Sunday, October 30, the award is expected to spread widely among consumers and have an effective ripple effect on the reduction of food loss.

Nippon Hotel Co. Special Advisor Executive Chef Emeritus Katsuhiro Nakamura

Katsuhiro Nakamura, the first Japan person to receive a Michelin star, is engaged in a variety of activities as a leading figure in the Japan French culinary world, not only nurturing the next generation, but also promoting food education and contributing to society through French cuisine. In 2017, I was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for Japan at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and I am working tirelessly to achieve the SDGs, such as reducing food loss and eradicating hunger.

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  As soon as he became the grand chef at a little-known restaurant in Paris, La Bourdonnais, in 1979, he made the restaurant well-known and became the first Japanese to receive a Michelin star.

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  As the executive chef at the 2008 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, he supervised the cooking of all dishes, including those served to dignitaries and attendants from around the world.

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  In 2003, he was awarded the “Chevalier” (Knight) of the Order of Agricultural Merit of the French Republic. In 2010, he was awarded the title of “Officier” (Officer) and in 2016, the highest rank of “Commandeur” (Commander).

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  In 2017, he was appointed as a goodwill ambassador for Japan by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (From left: Katsuhiro Nakamura, FAO Director-General Graziano da Silva, and Ms. Hiroko Kuniya)

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  He also worked actively to promote children’s dietary education, and in 2009 published Chef Katsuhiro Nakamura’s School of Taste for Children (three volumes in total). He is also offering classes at elementary schools.

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  A lecture was held on efforts to reduce food loss and its significance. Based on many FAO data, he explained the current situation of world hunger and food loss in Japan.

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