Through a partnership with Artificial Intelligence (AI) based food waste outfit Winnow, students will gain first hand experience of using cutting-edge technology to run a more sustainable kitchen.
19/10/2021 | Lyon, France
Renowned French hospitality school Institut Paul Bocuse (IPB) is championing innovation by training the next generation of chefs to combat food waste with technology. The partnership is announced at Sirha’s event for hotels, restaurants, catering and gastronomy.
- IPB is championing innovation by bringing food waste artificial intelligence into their student kitchens.
- The first step is to install Winnow’s AI solution in IPB’s Michelin star rated restaurant, Saisons, in October. It will be led onsite by Chef Florian Pansin and Chef Arnaud Montrobert.
- The second stage will take place in 2022 where Winnow’s technology will be installed across the IPB campus, deepening the school’s expertise in food and hospitality research.
IPB’s students will get first hand training in how AI can help tackle food waste in the hospitality industry. A recent report from the WWF indicates the magnitude of the issue: food waste accounts for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
The partnership will also involve close collaboration between IPB and Winnow. Students will work with Winnow by providing suggestions and input that will shape future development.
Chef and Strategic Partnerships Manager at IPB, Maxime Moise, says “Deploying Winnow in our kitchens and especially in our Michelin star restaurant shows our commitment to a more sustainable industry. Our students should learn from the best innovative companies as they grow into the future leaders in the restaurant industry. We are proud to fight against food waste and we hope to roll out Winnow in most of our kitchens in 2022.”
CEO of Institut Paul Bocuse, Dominique Giraudier, adds: "We are delighted to collaborate with an innovative technology leader like Winnow. Equipping our students with AI to reduce food waste is another step forward in providing a truly market leading curriculum. A great school must project itself into the future and in innovation to prepare the makers of our industry of tomorrow."
Winnow is a technology scale up that helps chefs combat food waste with analytics. Winnow’s flagship AI product, Winnow Vision, takes photos of wasted food as it's thrown away and, using the images, the machine recognises what has been thrown in the bin. Computer Vision, the technology that enables Winnow Vision, is similar to that used in autonomous vehicles.
Trusted by some of the leading hospitality brands in the world like IHG, Hilton and Accor Hotels, teams receive daily reports which pinpoint wastage and highlight where operational improvements can be made. Typically, kitchens can expect to cut food waste in half while driving food cost reductions of between 2%-8%.
This partnership is the first time that students at IPB will gain experience in using cutting edge food waste technology in the kitchen. As the industry emerges from a difficult period, equipping talented young chefs with cutting edge innovation will ensure the future is in good hands.
Marc Zornes, Winnow CEO and co-founder says “It is a privilege to partner with one of the best culinary schools in the world in Institut Paul Bocuse. As we near COP26, it is clear that collectively we need to do everything we can to tackle climate change. The partnership with Institut Paul Bocuse will ensure that reducing food waste quickly becomes an industry norm”.
About Institut Paul Bocuse
Institut Paul Bocuse trains decision-makers in the Hotel, Restaurant and Culinary Arts Industry. In 30 years it has created a unique ecosystem of higher education, research and professional training. Today, it welcomes 1 200 students of 68 nationalities on 10 international campuses. From Bachelor's to Doctorate level, its teaching is based on an experiential pedagogy centred on project management, Talent empowerment, the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. Its international strategy is based on an educational hub created with the best schools and universities in the world and its network of 4,500 alumni in 80 countries.
It is the first private higher education institution in the Hotel and Restaurant industry to be recognised by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation in France, with four state-approved Bachelors in Management. It is the only school in France to have a Michelin star application restaurant, a 5 stars hotel and a Research Center which, through its scientific work, contributes to the quality of education in a prospective vision of the Hospitality and Culinary Arts Industry. It is the only French school accredited by THE ICE.
About Winnow
Winnow develops cutting-edge digital tools to help chefs run more profitable, sustainable kitchens. Launched in a single staff restaurant in 2013, Winnow is trusted today by thousands of chefs in over 40 countries, where kitchens’ food waste is consistently cut in half. Together Winnow and its partners are saving over 36 million meals a year from the bin: the equivalent of $40 million in food cost savings for its clients.
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