Foch Hospital: 37% less food waste in two years
In a healthcare facility, catering must meet a dual requirement: feeding staff with demanding schedules and offering high-quality food, all while controlling costs and environmental impact. At Foch Hospital in Suresnes, the teams have chosen to make the fight against food waste a true collective project.
With the support of Kikleo, Foch Hospital leveraged measurement and artificial intelligence, both in the staff cafeteria and on patient tray returns, to better understand what was being wasted, identify the causes of waste, and implement concrete actions. Two years later, the results are clear: waste has decreased by 37%, and €150,000 in savings have allowed for improvements in meal quality.
Reducing food waste by 1200 meals per day
Foch Hospital is a private, non-profit healthcare facility located in Suresnes, in the Hauts-de-Seine department. The staff restaurant operates with an on-site kitchen and serves approximately 1200 diners per day.
In this context of high customer traffic, every adjustment counts. A slightly oversized portion, an unpopular product, or an excessive amount prepared at the end of service can represent, when multiplied by several hundred meals, significant volumes of waste.
Quantify waste to better reduce it
Before the launch of Kikleo, average food waste reached 82 grams per diner. The analysis revealed two main causes:
- The quantities served were sometimes too large compared to the actual appetite of the diners
- certain ingredients and recipes generate more leftovers than others
This quantification allowed the teams to go beyond general observations. They were able to objectively assess the losses, compare different periods, and prioritize the actions to be taken.
Tools installed in the kitchen and upon return of trays
Several Kikleo tools have been deployed on the site:
- The conveyor scanner, installed at the tray return point, automatically measures the food leftovers by diners.
- The Kitchen Terminal, designed to monitor losses related to preparation and overproduction
- the Convive Terminal, for analyzing waste from patient trays
- the Kikleo platform, which centralizes data and allows teams to track indicators, identify the most wasted food and measure progress.
Thanks to the 3D camera and artificial intelligence, the measurement is performed automatically in less than a second. This provides teams with regular data without adding to their daily workload.
Concrete actions on food production, service and supply
Based on the data collected, Foch Hospital was able to develop its food offering.
Half-portions were introduced for the most wasted foods; for example, half a pizza was now served as a quarter pizza. Plate sizes were also reduced.
These adjustments allow us to better adapt the quantities served to the appetite of the guests and to limit the amount of food left on the plates.
37% less waste, and €150,000 saved
After two years of support, the average waste has decreased from 82 to 52 grams per diner, representing an overall reduction of 37% in the staff cafeteria.
In total, the facility has saved €150,000 since February 2024.These savings have been reinvested in the quality of the food offered. For Laurent Fourrier, catering director at Elior's Foch Hospital, this approach has made it possible to purchase more fresh produce and offer higher-quality food, which is not common in institutional catering: "It's a real advantage."
Making data a lever for continuous improvement
At Foch Hospital, the approach is based on a simple method: measure waste to obtain reliable data, analyze this data to identify the main sources of loss, then reduce food waste through targeted actions.
By transforming food waste into actionable data, the establishment was able to make targeted operational decisions, reduce costs, and improve meal quality. This sustainable approach benefits diners, catering staff, and the environment.
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