Joyful Collaboration in the Battle Against Food Waste

Stockholm the Capital of Scandinavia

Overview

Food waste is a global challenge that demands locally tailored solutions. The City of Stockholm recognizes the importance of place-based development as a key tool in promoting sustainable urban development. One example of this approach is the city's support for KDI’s work, which serves as a model that can be scaled and implemented across other parts of Stockholm.

Over the last 400 years, the island of Djurgården has been an important hotspot for Stockholm’s hospitality industry, with landmarks such as Gröna Lund, Skansen, Junibacken and the Vasa Museum, as well as more recent attractions like the ABBA Museum. In total, the facilities on Djurgården welcome more than 15 million visitors every year.

Kungliga Djurgårdens Intressenter (KDI) is a membership organization gathering more than 60 stakeholders to collaborate on topics like sustainability, infrastructure, safety and marketing. A sustainable food culture is one of four focus areas under the sustainability umbrella.

Last year they identified food waste as one of the prioritized challenges.

“With more than 30 restaurants, it was clear that many of our members wanted to work with reducing food waste, but they didn’t know where to start. A collaborative approach was needed to boost their efforts”, says Camilla Zedendahl, CEO at KDI.

A year-long project was launched in 2024 together with food waste platform Generation Waste.

23 of the restaurants got access to Generation Waste’s educational program and digital tools, to raise knowledge and start to measure their food waste almost daily in the kitchen.

Key actors

23 of of KDIs restaurants got on board with the project. While collaborating, everyone has been free to implement their own approach to food waste.
Junibacken had started working actively with food waste before the project, and have been able to reduce their food waste by 50 percent. They serve as a great inspiration for their colleagues.
Mackverket nudged their guests by serving smaller portions and offered them to take a refill if they were still hungry. It turned out few did.
Restaurateur Arnault on Strömma’s boat Gustavsberg VII has been an instrumental part of the project. Under his leadership, the kitchen staff have vastly improved their use of leftovers for other applications in the kitchen.

Alignment with EAT-Lancet Commission

The EAT-Lancet Commission acknowledges that reducing food waste is instrumental in tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. The fact that more than a third of our food is lost or wasted is deeply unacceptable for The City of Stockholm and its stakeholders.

In the hospitality industry, where profit margins are often thin, food waste is also an economic issue. Better use of resources makes a lot of sense for business leaders as well, amplifying financial sustainability.

“We see that this project truly has encouraged our members to learn and share best practices with each other, which is the best way to create fundamental long-term impact”, says Camilla Zedendahl.

Lessons learned

The project proves that “what gets measured gets done”, and in some cases it has brought significant sustainable behavior change. Chefs and kitchen staff have started to discuss the topic more, and several initiatives have been launched.

“It has also been a lot of fun along the way”, says Camilla Zedendahl, who adds:

“Another lesson is that you really need to find a dedicated enthusiast in each team that can take the lead and push the others. When people like that take on a challenge, almost nothing can stop them.”

Next steps

The results from the project will be presented at the Big Meet conference during Stockholm ImpACT Days.

While the one-year project is officially over, the hope is that many of the participants will continue to work with food waste in one way or another. Generation Waste will continue their collaboration with those who are interested.

Next on KDIs agenda is to significantly reduce single-use products.

“Djurgården has been an important destination for 400 years. It’s up to us to make it possible to continue over the next 400 years as well”, concludes Camilla Zedendahl.

For more information contact: Jenny Berthling at Jenny.berthling@stockholm.se

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