Oakland Coliseum and Alameda County Fairgrounds take lead in reducing food waste.

Spectra by Comcast Spectacor, the provider of Food Services & Hospitality to both Oakland’s O.co Coliseum and the Alameda County Fairgrounds, is now participating in the Smart Kitchen Initiative, a program by Alameda County public agency StopWaste.

A voluntary program to reduce food waste, the Smart Kitchen Initiative measures pre-consumer food waste generated in the kitchen and uses the results to adjust kitchen routines such as food prep, ordering, and production. A key component of the Initiative is the LeanPath smart food waste meter, consisting of an integrated scale, camera and customized touchscreen interface to enable automated food waste data collection.  

“Across many of our Spectra properties we make proactive efforts to maintain sustainability practices in food, lighting, waste, etc.,” said Spectra’s Jay Satenspiel, Regional Vice President. “The Smart Kitchen Initiative will augment our ability to identify and reduce food waste in a focused and data-driven way.”

“Smart Kitchen enables us to analyze and implement the best management practices for reducing food waste,” added Spectra’s Michelle Burrescia, General Manager for Spectra Food Services & Hospitality at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. “Through this initiative we will be able to prevent food waste before it happens by at least 25 percent.”

Launched with a series of pilot sites in 2014, StopWaste’s Smart Kitchen Initiative funds the provision of specialized food waste tracking equipment and training to medium and large-scale institutional kitchens and food service providers in Alameda County. The goal is to help reduce the amount of edible food going to landfill from the county. Besides environmental impacts, wasted food is also a source of significant revenue loss. Pre-consumer food waste alone is estimated to cost the U.S. out-of home restaurant and food service industry $9-23 billion annually.  

The overall goal of the program is a 25 percent reduction in pre-consumer food waste, in addition to participating businesses saving money on food purchases and improving operational efficiency. 

Visit our Smart Kitchen Initiative page for additional information about this program.
For more information about Spectra visit SpectraExperiences.com.