Africa-Press – Mauritius. The importance to address food wastage at all levels from production to consumption, was highlighted by the Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security and Attorney General, Mr Maneesh Gobin, today, at La Pirogue hotel, in Flic-en Flac.
He was speaking at a ceremony to award ten first restaurants for having reached the international certification and benchmarking standard The PLEDGETM after following the Food Prevention Waste Programme to cut on food waste, reduce unnecessary costs and negative environmental impacts.
The Chairperson of the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) and the Chief Executive Officer of Business Mauritius, Mr Kevin Ramkalaon, and other personalities were present at the event.
The Food Waste Prevention Programme is an initiative of the Business Mauritius, co-funded by the HRDC, implemented by the LightBlue Environmental Consulting Co. Ltd with the collaboration of Living Labs Federation and The PLEDGETM on food waste.
The restaurants are from the following organisations: Mauritius Commercial Bank, Constance Belle Mare Plage, Preskil Island Resort, Victoria Beachcomber Resort & Spa, La Pirogue, LUX* Le Morne Resort, LUX* Belle Mare Resort & Villas, Heritage Awali Golf & Spa Resort, and Veranda Tamarin Hotel & Spa.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Gobin expressed satisfaction to this laudable initiative. He pointed out that the situation has become even more alarming with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia and Ukraine war.
According to the statistics published in the 2021 Report of the United Nations Environment Programme on food waste, he said, food waste for Mauritius per year amounts to 118 632 tons.
He therefore called upon the collaboration of the public and private sector to address this alarming issue while emphasising on the need for local production and recycling. Mr Balnock dwelt on the importance of managing food waste.
Working collaboratively by sharing knowldege to achieve the set targets in food waste and food loss management while putting into practice what have been learnt through the programme is essential, he added.
For his part, Mr Ramkalaon spoke of the sustainable and inclusive development of the country adding that such programmes have as objectives to providing opportunities and creating awareness on food waste.
He further stated that the programme is part of the Business Mauritius sustainable and inclusive development pact “SigneNatir” which is a community initiative to ensure that the business community adheres and engages in sustainable consumption and production.
The PLEDGETM on Food Waste is a Singapore-based third-party certification and benchmarking system which allows restaurants, hotel outlets and canteens to reduce food waste, cut on costs, get recognised, and nurture the local ecosystem of solution providers.
The restaurants have received technical training to implement an advanced food waste monitoring system in their kitchen, using LightBlue’s FIT technology.
They have been trained on the 95 criteria and changes required to be certified The PLEDGETM bronze, silver, gold or all-star, while embarking on a journey to reach Zero Food Waste to Landfill.
The awards are listed as follows: LUX* Le Morne Resort – Certified All Star, 100% Heritage Awali Golf & Spa Resort – Certified All Star, 100% La Pirogue hotel – Gold Award, 96%
Mauritius Commercial Bank – Gold Award, 94% Veranda Tamarin Hotel & Spa – Gold Award, 90% LUX* Belle Mare Resort & Villas – Silver Award, 88% Victoria Beachcomber Resort & Spa – Silver Award, 88% Preskil Island Resort – Silver Award, 89% Constance Belle Mare Plage – Silver Award, 83 %
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