The Victorian hospitality industry now has access to a free program to help reduce commercial food waste, thanks to a funding boost from the Andrews Labor Government.

The Labor Government is investing $500,000 in the Love Food Hate Waste Business pilot program to help hospitality businesses reduce the environmental and financial impact of food waste – Victoria’s largest waste stream.

The free program is available to all Victorian hospitality businesses and provides practical resources like food waste tracking tools, action plans and online support, to help them take meaningful steps towards cutting food waste.

New research from Sustainability Victoria reveals Victorian hospitality business produce an average of 5.6 tonnes of food waste every year and 85 percent of hospitality businesses consider food waste to be a significant issue.

The launch of the program builds on the success of the Love Food Hate Waste’s ‘Love a List’ challenge, with 1,200 households participating in the program to reduce their household food waste.

For more information, visit lovefoodhatewaste.vic.gov.au/business.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio

“This practical program will help Victorian hospitality businesses send less waste to landfill and reduce their operating costs.”

“Reducing food waste saves money and reduces our impact on the environment – this program will help local businesses realise these benefits.”

“We can all take action to help reduce the impacts of food waste – the Victorian hospitality industry can play an important role to help solve this problem.”