"Germany saves food" campaign week: H-Hotels Group focuses on even more sustainability

The employees of the H-Hotels Group are committed to avoiding food waste. 25 of the hotels in Germany have received an award from the “United Against Waste” (UAW) association. To mark the “Germany saves food” campaign week, the H-Hotels Group announced that a further 14 hotels will be taking part in the initiative next year. The hotel group with six brands was the first in Germany to take part in the initiative.

The United Against Waste (UAW) association is coordinated and managed by the Competence Center for Out-of-Home Catering. This in turn checks that the requirements are met and that the measures associated with the award are effective. The KAHV also evaluates the results and issues the certificates on behalf of the ministry. “Producing food for the garbage can is a waste of resources, working time and life. That's why our employees are very motivated to save food,” says Thomas Haas, CEO of the H-Hotels Group.

The employees of the company from Bad Arolsen in Hesse have been involved in UAW since 2016. The kitchen teams now use a waste tracker to measure and document all food waste at least twice a year for four weeks. The effort of a maximum of 15 minutes a day is manageable, but the success is clear to see. “During the 2023-2024 measurement period, we saved 17.1 tons of food waste, 5.7 million liters of water and 58 tons of CO2. The positive reactions from our guests motivate our team and underline the great team effort,” says Thomas Haas. 

Another advantage: whether it's a Franzbrötchen in Hamburg, Eierschecke in Dresden, smaller bread rolls or croissants, the H-Hotels Group's Food and Beverage team has reduced many food portions. “As a result, our guests enjoy the greater variety at our buffets. They can also try more, especially compared to their meals at home,” explains Jürgen Schmieder, Corporate Director of Food at the H-Hotels Group. The trained chef has implemented the initiative in the hotels. In workshops, he and his colleagues identified and continuously developed measures to reduce food waste. The team had already received the UAW award for this in the previous measurement period.

From around 9.30 a.m., guests of the H-Hotels Group are served scrambled eggs to order instead of at the buffet, for example. Experience has shown that deep plates for soups and muesli as well as ladles invite guests to fill up too much. Now there are small bowls at the buffet and large spoons are available for filling up. The hosts now arrange sausage, cheese, vegan cold cuts and fruit on smaller plates, which they replenish as needed. “Every guest is invited to go to the buffet several times,” says Jürgen Schmieder. “Our set screws seem trivial. We were amazed ourselves at what a big impact they have,” says the professional chef.

In addition, the employees of the H-Hotels Group are gradually switching to Fairtrade-certified coffee and espresso in the hotels by the end of the year. The range of drinks in PET bottles in the self-service hubs of the budget- friendly design hotels under the H2 Hotels brand has also been completely replaced with a range of glass bottles. The company has also recently started using products with the highest Nordic Ecolabel certification for washing-up liquid and rinse aid. This means 95 percent less packaging and 70 percent less transportation for washing-up liquid. The rinse aid also meets the highest ecological requirements for packaging and raw materials.

The positive effects of the commitment to UAW and sustainability are enormous: guests can try more, the commitment conserves resources, it is economical, promotes a good feeling and team spirit. In addition, the H-Hotels Group is also involved in a dialog forum of the Competence Center for Out-of-Home Catering to ensure that “United Against Waste” continues to set a precedent.