Spotlight on Preventing Waste: Leanpath – Pioneering Food ...

The Leanpath culture is a low ego environment and is centered around six core values: excellence, drive, productivity, humility, fairness, ... 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Leanpathunderstandsthatwhatgetsmeasuredgetsmanaged,andwhatgetsmanagedgetsimproved. Traditionally,foodwasteinhigh-productionkitchenswas“invisible.”Itwouldbethrownawaythroughoutthedaywithnooneawareofitsaccumulatedweightandcost.Foodwasteneededtobemeasuredsokitchenscouldmanageitandimproveit.So,theycouldfinally“see”it.Buthowtomakethattrackingeasy?LeanpathCEOAndrewShakmanaskedthatquestion16yearsago. Theanswerwasatechnologysuiteintroducedin2004that,today,representsacompletefoodwastepreventionplatformconsistingofin-kitchentrackingdevices,analyticssoftwarethatcrunchesfoodwastedata,andcoachingprogramsthathelpkitchensunderstandtheirdataandactonittopreventfoodwaste. Leanpathcutsitsclients’foodwasteby50%ormore.Since2014alone,workingwiththousandsofkitchensacross40countries--withclientsincludingGoogle,IKEA,AramarkandSodexo--Leanpathhasempoweredculinaryteamstopreventover55millionpoundsoffoodfrombeingwasted. The“Problem” About1/3oftheworld’sfoodproductiongoestowasteatthesametimeover800millionpeoplegohungry.Ifthatfoodwastewereacountry,itwouldrankthirdingreenhousegasemissions. Foodwasteisalsoabigdragonakitchen’sbottomline.AccordingtoLeanpathdata,atypicalkitchenwillwastebetween4and10percentofitsfoodpurchases.Thatwastealsoleadstoinefficientlabor--staffpreparingfoodthatjustgetstossed--andunnecessaryhaulingfeestotruckawaythatfoodwaste. Leanpathworksprimarilywith“non-commercial”andhospitalityfoodservice.Thisincludescollegesanduniversities,healthcarefoodservice,corporatedining,andhotels.Thecommonalityamongtheseisthatoftentheyareoftenproducinglargeamountsoffoodwithuncertainnumbersofdiners.Becauseofthis,overproductioniscommonandthelargestsourceoffoodwaste. Atitsmostbasic,foodwastetrackingallowstheseoperationstosee,forinstance,thattheywasteapanofscrambledeggsatbreakfasteverymorning.Theyarethenabletoadjustproductiondown,whilestillbeingconfidenttheyareproducingenoughtomeettheircustomer’sneeds. Butfoodwastetrackingalsoallowskitchenstounderstandwhatisbeingwastedbecauseofpoorinventorymanagementthatleadstospoilageorexpirationwaste,forinstance.AndbecauseLeanpathtrackersareequippedwithcameras,theyevenseethingslikeunnecessarywastefromtrimmingproduce.Toomuchmelonleftontherind?Timetoretrainstaffonknifeskills. InspirationfromManagementScience Leanpathdrawsinspirationfromprovenmanagementsciencetechniquesinmanufacturing(LeanandSixSigma)toovercomethisproblem.Theyapproachwastereductionusingtheperspectivethatkitchensarefactoriesandshouldbemanagedassuch.Theimpactofthesemeasuresextendspastfoodwastecostsonsocialandenvironmentalimplications. Leanpathintroduceskitchenstothesamedata-drivendiscoveryandteam-basedproblem-solvingtechniquesthatworksowellinmanufacturing. Additionally,theycanhaveapositiveeffectonemployeemorale  ThePathForward WhenLeanpathbegan16yearsago,AndrewShakmanwasgoingkitchentokitcheneducatingculinaryteamsonfoodwaste.InMayoflastyear,hesatonthestageatVivaTechinPariswiththeCEOofSodexoDenisMachuel,asMachuelannouncedtherolloutofLeanpathto3,000ofitsglobalsites, thelargestcommitmenttoautomatedfoodwastetechnologyinhistory. Nearlytwodecadesofworkarepayingoff,butthereisstillmuchworktodo.Shakmanunderstandsthatchangeisdifficult,andittakesaclearvisiontoalterhabitsandbehaviors.Leanpath’sfocusissingular–reducefoodwaste.Theyaregoingtodevotealltheirtimeandenergytosavingbillionsofmealsovertimebyleadingthechargeonmarketexpansionand,ultimately,findingwaystomakeitmoreaffordablesomorefoodservicebusinessescanbenefit.Whenthathappens,Leanpathwillhaveempoweredeventhesmallestoperationstobecomechangemakerstohaveapositiveimpactontheenvironmentandsociety. IncreasedGlobalAwarenessAroundFoodWaste WhileLeanpathwaspoundingthepavementtocreateandshapeawholenewcategory,theworldwaswakingupaswell. Awarenessaroundclimatechangeincreased,leadingmuchoftheworldtorealizethatit’strulyanexistentialthreatthatmustbeaddressed.Theunderstandingthatfoodsystemsareacriticalcomponenttosolvingtheclimateproblembecauseofthecorrelationtogreenhousegaseshasbecomemorewidelyadoptedaswell.Recentstudiesindicatethatfoodwasterepresents8%ofglobalgreenhousegases.PaulHawken,theauthorofDrawdown,workedwithresearcherstorankapproximately200solutionsforsolvingtheclimatechangeproblem.Hedeclaredthatreducingfoodwastewasthethird-bestlevertosolveclimatechange. Also,accordingtorecentpopulationprojections,by2050,theplanetisgoingtohave9.6billionpeoplethatwillneedtobefed.Iftheworldcontinueslosingathirdofitsfoodtowaste,effortstofeedthosepeoplearegoingtobeworkingagainsttheclimateproblem,orpeoplearen'tgoingtohavefood. Source:Wikipedia Climateandincreasingfoodresourceneedsarethetwofundamentaldriversthathavebroughtattentiontofoodwastepreventioninrecentyears. In2015theUNsetasustainabledevelopmentgoalofcuttingfoodwasteinhalfby2030.Afterward,theUSadoptedthegoalaswell,andtheEUfollowedsuit.Thisbipartisanissuehastrulybecomeaworldwideeffort,withregionsjoiningforcesaroundtheworldtocoordinateefforts.Socialnormsaroundfoodwastemaynothavechangedentirelyyet,buttheyarecertainlyshifting.GloballeaderslikePopeFrancisaredoingtheirparttohelpdrivechangeaswellbyimploringpeopletostopwastingfood. Atthesametime,peoplerecognizethatfoodwasteismoneyinthegarbage.Minimumwageincreaseshaveputadditionalpressureonfoodservicebusinesses,whichalreadyhaveverythinmargins,makingcostsavingsmoreimportantthaneverbefore.Primecost(whichiscalculatedbyaddingfoodcoststolaborcosts)inthefoodindustrynecessitatesthatbusinessesbemoreproductivewithfoodaslaborcostscontinuetorise. Increasedglobalawarenesshashelpedpeopletounderstandthatfoodwastereductionisgoodforbusinesses,goodfortheplanet,andtherightthingtodoforsocietyatlarge. BuildingaCompanyofConsequence WhileLeanpathiscertainlyfocusedonfightingfoodwaste,they’reconcentratingonanotherobjectiveaswell–drivingchangeintherightway.Theirgoalistobuildwhattheycalla“companyofconsequence.” Theystrivetocreateaculturewherepeoplewanttoworkbecausewhattheydohasmeaning,andthereisanopportunityforindividualgrowthanddevelopment.Simplyput,they’refocusedondoingthingstherightway.Leanpathreliesonastrongmissiontodrawpeoplein,andthenfosteracultureofdedicationandcommitment. CreatingaCoreCulture TheLeanpathcultureisalowegoenvironmentandiscenteredaroundsixcorevalues:excellence,drive,productivity,humility,fairness,kindness,andteamwork.Theystrivetoconsistentlybebetter,respecteveryonetheyworkwith,andlearnfromeachothertoimproveconsistently.Tothisend,theyruntheEOS(EntrepreneurialOperatingSystem)andusetheOKRs(ObjectivesandKeyResults)systempioneeredbyGoogle.EachemployeehasanOKRinthecompanythatismappedagainstcompany-widegoalstobuildaculturewhereeveryoneiscontributingindividuallytoachieveoveralleffectiveness.TheseOKRsalsoallowLeanpathtoalignclarityandperspectiveacrossbroadergoals. Additionally,theyhaveaweekly15Fiveprogramwhereeverycolleaguetakes15minutestoreflectontheirweekandwhat’sahead,andthentheirmanagertakes5minutestorespond.EveryoneateverylevelofLeanpathparticipates,allthewayuptotheCEO.ItcreatesacultureofregularfeedbackthatisevidentintheworkthattheydoastheycoordinateemployeesbetweentheUSandUKofficestoservecustomersin40countries. Succeeding,ButNotYet“Successful” Notsuccessful? AccordingtoAndrewShakman,Leathpath’sCEO,they’vehadsuccess,buthewouldn’tconsiderthecompany“successful”inawaythatmakesitseemsasiftheirworkisdone.  Instead,hepaintsapictureofacompanythathadsuccessesalongitsjourneyduetoperseveranceandpatience.Heunderstandsthatchangeisdifficult,andittakesaclearvisiontoalterhabitsandbehaviors.Leanpath’sfocusissingular–reducefoodwaste.They’regoingtodevotealltheirtimeandenergytosavingbillionsofmealsovertimebyleadingthechargeonmarketexpansionand,ultimately,findingwaystomakeitmoreaffordablesomorefoodservicebusinessescanbenefit.Whenthathappens,Leanpathwillhaveempoweredeventhesmallestoperationstobecomechangemakerstohaveapositiveimpactontheenvironmentandsociety. 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