Case study: Saint-Exupéry school complex
For several months, the canteen of the Antoine de Saint Exupéry school complex in Lyon implemented the Kikleo solution to diagnose its food waste and identify actions to be taken to reduce it.
At the national level, Ademe estimates 143g per meal, food waste in the education sector, which includes middle and high schools. Of this total, approximately two-thirds is wasted due to returned trays (95g per meal) and one-third due to overproduction (48g per meal). This represents tens of thousands of euros lost by the end of the year for these institutions and greenhouse gas emissions of several tens of tons of CO2.
Faced with this situation, the school complex (supported by the AURA regionThe company wanted to implement rigorous and regular monitoring of its losses in order to limit its carbon footprint while also saving money. The Kikleo solution also provided the restaurant team with the opportunity to monitor the restaurant's performance and assess customer satisfaction.
Initial diagnosis
For 2 weeksThe smart camera was positioned before the tray sorting area to collect data on waste and thus be able to estimate and quantify the nature of the losses. This allows for a comparison between middle school students and high school studentsThe analysis phase was divided into two parts to study the groups separately. It is important to have a sufficiently long study period to avoid biased results due to certain menus being "very popular" or others "not very popular," and also to have a reasonably sized sample to ensure it is representative of the population.
The students, aware of the stakes and keen to participate in the smooth running of the analysis, played along and did not hesitate to ask questions about waste while explaining their feelings to the team on site.
Once the diagnostic phase was completed, the photos were passed through Kikleo's various AI algorithms in order to provide quantified results and present them to the catering teams.
Observed results
Based on this initial analysis, we observed an overall average in the number of tray returns of 80g per student for the entire establishment (with 92g for middle school students And 68g for high school studentsOf these 80g, 70.5g are avoidable waste and 9.5g are unavoidable waste. In parallel with the Kikleo analysis, a weighing of the overproduction bins made it possible to estimate food waste in the kitchen at 22g per student.
The dashboard This has allowed us to highlight not only the amount of waste but also indicators such as economic losses and environmental impact. Using the analysis platformWe were able to analyze this waste in more detail and observe its distribution across the different categories.
Moreover, the summary sheets The suggestions made following the analysis helped to identify the most wasted foods and dishes and those that generated the most dissatisfaction. The witness photos Each day also allowed the catering teams to realize the significant waste that sometimes occurred with returned trays. The analytics platform makes it possible to extract a wealth of data and therefore adapts to each stage of an establishment's fight against food waste, whether at the outset for a general assessment or in an advanced phase to precisely identify the critical areas that still need to be addressed.
Using these initial results, we were first able to observe that the school complex presented an overall average lower than the national average70.5g per meal compared to 95g per meal. However, in this area, we know that middle school students are bigger wasteful than high school students, which we also observe here with 83g per meal (avoidable waste) for middle school students compared to 59g per meal (avoidable waste) for high school students. The school is therefore performing well compared to the average, but it is still necessary to activate certain levers and work harder in order to reach the level of exemplary schools that are around 10-15g per meal.
A working group has been set up with the Kikleo teamsThe catering team, as well as the students, were consulted to understand and analyze this data and to determine an action plan to reduce waste. Several short-term initiatives were prioritized, including:
- A significant problem with starchy foods emerged during data analysis, with many plates containing leftovers. To address this, a portion control system (small, medium, large) was implemented to satisfy all students.
- Regarding desserts, portions that were too large were revised. Fruits that were frequently wasted, particularly grapefruits, were sliced to improve guest satisfaction.
- Lacking support and content, the catering teams also asked us to implement a customized awareness campaign . Visuals were created and displayed throughout the establishment, as well as published on Pronote and the establishment's Instagram account.
Second diagnosis
Following the implementation of the actions for one month, a second phase of analysis was conducted to identify the initial changes. Overall, we observe a 10% reduction in waste, which is more than 5g less per studentThis decrease represents a reduction in carbon impact of 2500 kg CO2 and a decrease in economic losses of €5000 over one year Obviously, the goal now is to activate longer-term levers to further reduce food waste and succeed in achieving 50%, the national target by 2025.
As we have seen, it is essential to put in place continuous and regular monitoring to effectively combat waste and ensure the right path is taken while constantly implementing corrective actions.
Youth for the climate
Throughout the program, a team of students from the Youth for the Climate association was involved in the initiative, sharing awareness materials with all their classmates and proposing solutions to implement. Thank you to them for their commitment!
For more information about this association: https://youthforclimate.fr/
Implementation from January to March 2021
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