easyJet holidays has today announced a first of its kind partnership with Winnow, to support hotel partners in reducing food waste, using artificial intelligence tools, and running more sustainable kitchens in destinations where the tour operator offers package holidays to. The partnership will see a pilot programme being launched in Spain, monitoring the reduction of food waste in one of easyJet holidays’ most popular hotels, the Bahia Principe Sunlight Costa Adeje resort.

The pilot is a result of the work the tour operator undertook in a landmark partnership with Oxford University to create the easyJet holidays Sustainable Tourism Programme. The programme was launched to equip students with the transferrable skills needed to lead transformative change in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As the lab’s founding partner, easyJet holidays worked alongside Oxford University students to identify and deliver solutions to help develop sustainable travel, with a focus on Mallorca and Tenerife. Research and reports from the students found that food waste is a sustainability challenge, with 18% of food waste in Tenerife generated by the hospitality sector alone. Winnow technology was identified as a solution for easyJet holidays’ hotel partners having no measure in place to prevent and reduce food waste, or accurately quantify the lack of food waste generated.

Using the same kind of technology you’d find in a driverless car, Winnow’s AI technology learns to ‘see’ the food being wasted. Using a connected terminal with a motion camera, data is collected quickly and stored in the cloud. Teams then receive reports that pinpoint waste, giving them the insight to make operational improvements. Typically, kitchens using Winnow see food waste halved within 12-18 months cutting food purchasing costs by 2%-8%.

Following the success and outcome of the first year of the Sustainable Tourism Programme, Oxford University students are continuing the work started to help make easyJet holidays an industry leader in sustainable tourism.  They will work with a variety of stakeholders, from local businesses to government officials, NGOs and tourist boards to address challenges in specific Mediterranean tourism destinations, as well as working with governments and the United Nations to advance industry-wide progress.

Matt Callaghan, easyJet holidays’ Director of Customer & Operations, said:
“We’re delighted to be launching a food waste reduction pilot in one of our biggest partner hotels, investing in artificial intelligence solutions to hotels cut their food waste in half. We’re the first tour operator to be supporting hotel partners in tracking food waste and offering a real-world solution to a problem faced by our entire industry.

“The brilliant research and recommendations we received from the University of Oxford students has led to this scheme, so we’re really excited to be continuing the easyJet holidays Sustainable Tourism Programme to look at tackling some of the big sustainable tourism challenges.  

“We’re really excited to see what a positive impact a collaboration between a three-year-old holiday business, an 800-year-old academic institution and a revolutionary technology can have.”

Marc Zornes. CEO and Co-Founder of Winnow said:
“Food waste is a massive contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions and the hospitality sector needs to take action. At the same time with food inflation at record levels, there is a strong business case for hotels and resorts to tackle it. Winnow is delighted to partner with easyJet holidays to scale our impact together. “

The partnership comes as easyJet holidays was named as the recipient of the Sustainable Future Award at The Globes Travel Awards 2023. This award recognises the travel company leading the way in planning a sustainable future for its business and the wider industry.

Pablo del Toro, Head of Environment at Grupo Piñero:

"At Grupo Piñero, we are very excited that our hotel division, Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts, is starting with this programme. An initiative that allows us to move forward with circular economy projects that allow us to achieve the goal of reducing 70% of waste to landfill by 2030. This programme is leading us towards the reduction of food waste in buffets and we are complementing it with our community organic waste management programme for composting that we are developing in the south of Tenerife".

 

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Notes to editors:

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About easyJet holidays:

easyJet holidays offers great-value beach, city and lakes holidays to more than 100 destinations across Europe, directly through its website and through over 3000 travel agent partners. The ATOL-protected holidays company combines easyJet’s flexible flight programme, with handpicked hotels and best-in-class technology to provide hassle-free personalised holiday experiences which can be secured with a deposit of just £60 per person. The holidays operator is an ABTA member too, providing additional reassurance to customers under the UK’s most trusted travel scheme. With a range of holiday types, from adult and family to luxury and undiscovered, transfers included on beach holidays, 23kg hold luggage included on all bookings, and over 5,000 hotels, across over 500 resorts, customers can holiday the way they want.

All easyJet holidays are covered by its Protection Promise, an industry leading policy giving customers ultimate flexibility, protection and reassurance and letting them book with total confidence. The Promise offers a refund guarantee, freedom to change a booking, a reduced balance due date, a Best Price Guarantee, and deposit refunds.

In 2021 easyJet holidays launched its inaugural sustainability strategy focusing on three key pillars – create better holiday choices which is about making sustainable travel affordable and accessible to everyone; keep our holidays special which is maximising the benefits and minimising the negative impacts of travel and tourism, and transform travel for everyone which means embedding sustainability into business decisions and behaviours and driving meaningful change in the industry. Through ongoing collaboration with the Travel Foundation, the University of Oxford, and as a member of the GSTC, easyJet holidays is focused on building its research, partnerships and certifications, and taking action to make a positive impact on the people and places that make its destinations so special.

About the Oxford Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Impact Lab

The Oxford Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Impact Lab brings together the research expertise of the University of Oxford with partners across sectors, to address the most pressing challenges of our time. The Lab’s programmes enable talented graduate students from across the world to collaborate with non-academic partners to identify creative, interdisciplinary solutions that advance the UN SDGs. Established in 2021, the Lab is working in partnership with the BMW GROUP (UK), easyJet holidays, and the UN World Tourism Organization, to deliver impactful research. To find out more visit: sdglab.uk

The SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals that are designed to be, ‘a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future’. The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by 2030.

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the seventh year running, and 2 in the QS World Rankings 2022.

About Winnow

Winnow develops Artificial Intelligence tools to help large businesses like retailers, contract caterers, casinos and cruise ships to run more profitable and sustainable kitchens by cutting food waste in half. Winnow’s technology is installed in almost 2,000 locations in 67 countries saving users £34m a year, the equivalent of 36 million meals rescued.

About Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts

Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts is part of Grupo Piñero, a 100% family-owned Spanish tourism company with 40 years of history and whose purpose is to create exciting experiences through responsible management to offer the best experience to customers and employees and to contribute to the economic and social development and environmental preservation of the markets in which it has been present since 2017