Food Waste Reduction in Action: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

As someone who writes for Uniworld, it’s great to see facts and figures on our climate action progress, but it’s another thing entirely to get on a trip and see it for yourself.

In the fall of 2022,I had the great pleasure of sailing down the Douro River Valley onboard the S.S. São Gabriel—an absolutely gorgeous ship, by the way, which I’ve had my eye on since it was first announced. Everything about my trip was wonderful, but what I just had to get home and write about were the creative and sustainable cooking practices I found onboard.

I ate creamy pasteis de nata, the famous Portuguese tarts, during a morning cooking demonstration in the lounge, and later discovered a gorgeous display of meringues, soufflés, and cloud-like cakes. Because the tarts require a high quantity of egg yolks, Pastry Chef Liliana found creative ways to not let all of the leftover egg whites go to waste.

Another day, I ordered roasted duck breast for dinner, and the next lunch I found myself going back for seconds of a dish I just can’t get over: a savory rice bake stuffed with shredded duck thighs and onions, topped with lightly spicy Iberian sausage and crispy, melty cheese.

It was heartwarming to see this level of care go into the ingredients I ate on my trip. It really does make your food taste better when those decisions are made day-by-day, according to what’s freshest, in season, and available. That way you know it isn’t being prepared in advance and reheated later, frozen, or shipped long distances.

Now for the numbers….

Fast forward to the beginning of 2024, I received an update on a food waste reduction program I’ve been very excited about. Uniworld began partnering with LeanPath in 2021 to install a comprehensive measuring system in our kitchens that calculates how much food is left over after each meal—and became the only river cruise company to do so. Not only will these numbers give our chefs a clear picture of how to make sure everyone has as much to eat as they desire without the kitchens throwing out excessive leftovers, but it could even give our chefs intuitive feedback on the meals they prepare.

We started our Leanpath trial with six ships in Europe, and already the results were incredible! Though the trial was just meant to be a measuring stage, with the reductions coming after we got a clear idea of how much food waste we were creating, we found that just implementing a measuring system encourages more mindful and less wasteful kitchens. As of the time I’m writing this article, we’ve eliminated over 93,305 meals’ worth of waste, saving approximately 354 metric tons from being emitted into the atmosphere. Now, we’ve officially installed Leanpath on every ship we own. Personally, I can’t wait to see those results improve exponentially in the next few years, as I know it’ll equate to even better dining experiences for our guests and for the environment.

Note: The contents of this article are accurate as of the publication date. Uniworld itineraries and inclusions are subject to change at any time.