Courtesy of Four Seasons Peninsula Papagayo; Alyssa Powell/ BI
AI is quietly becoming part of restaurant operations, often in ways diners never see. Many are adopting the technology to handle reservations and even create menus — and a growing number of chefs are turning to AI to combat the No. 1 problem in the kitchen: food waste.
The restaurant and hospitality industry loses over $100 billion a year in food waste. And ReFED’s 2025 report on food waste in the US found that in 2023, businesses were left with surplus food equivalent to $108 billion in revenue. Of course, the issue isn’t just costing companies money — it also hurts the environment, making up 8% of the world’s carbon emissions.
But there’s reason to be optimistic about how AI could support the industry. The tech could help chefs and restauranters cut costs, manage the amount of food they make, and even inspire them to repurpose scraps into menu items.
AI is making it easier to right-size output
In 2022, Costa Rica’s Four Seasons Peninsula Papagayo turned to Winnow, an AI-enabled food-waste management solution, to better plan for the hotel’s breakfast buffet. Used by chefs in over 90 countries, Winnow’s system includes a scale to determine how much waste is thrown in the trash, and a motion-sensor camera that can detect over 1,000 types of food; it then delivers this data to users in real time on a screen and in the form of daily and weekly reports.
While Winnow has emerged as a leader in the space, other tech companies are also using AI to address food waste. Startups like Orbisk, for example, require users to hold food up to a scanner before throwing it away. And Leanpath offers training services for clients and uses AI to share recommendations for eliminating food waste.
Eight months after installing Winnow’s systems in two kitchens and its staff break room, the Four Seasons Peninsula Papagayo slashed its food waste by 50%, Emiliano Rabia Sottil, the resort’s executive chef, told Business Insider. In addition to adjusting the amount of food served at breakfast, Sottil said it helps his team minimize waste in other ways. For example, they reserve vegetable trimmings for stock, and donate meals from the staff canteen to a food bank.
Ashford Castle and The Lodge at Ashford Castle, two Red Carnation hotels in Ireland’s County Mayo, have also reported success using Winnow. Both properties significantly decreased waste across their restaurants since they began using the tech in 2019. A representative from Red Carnation told Business Insider that Ashford Castle cut its trash by 69% in 2024, while The Lodge saw a 90% drop in waste from food trimmings and a 58% total waste reduction that same year.
After identifying the food items generating the most waste, chefs at the hotels have found creative ways to add them back to the menu. For instance, surplus sourdough becomes crackers, and extra croissants are incorporated into bread-and-butter pudding for the staff meal. Chefs also work fruit and vegetable trimmings into kombucha, vinegars, and chutney, and blitz carrot tops into pesto.
Meat that doesn’t get served is used, too: chicken-skin crackers serve as an amuse bouche; pork skin makes a perfect bar snack as scratchings; and fat is rendered down for cooking. Beef trim also gets minced and used for various dishes, including a bobotie spring roll served with plum chutney and pickled garden vegetables — a bestseller at Cullen’s, a restaurant at Ashford Castle.
“It’s brought about a lot more awareness on our waste,” Liam Finnegan, executive head chef at Ashford Castle, said of Winnow in an email to Business Insider. It’s also challenged chefs to make delicious food “out of what historically would have been deemed worthless,” he added.
Staff are optimistic about the tech
Jonathan Keane, executive head chef at The Lodge, said staff have been amenable to working with the AI system, particularly the younger members of his team. “It’s very tangible and engaging for young people,” he said. “I find with training the younger team, they are a lot more invested with the app and technology.”
Similarly, at the Four Seasons, the tech has become embedded in the everyday workflow. At first, there was some concern that implementing Winnow’s system in the kitchen would be complicated. But, in practice, it’s simply “part of the basic daily operation,” Sottil said. Carolina Fernandez, ESG manager of the Four Seasons property, told Business Insider that the tech is part of the resort’s overall focus on sustainability. The hotel’s environmental initiative involves working with local suppliers and composting waste on-site.
As Rabia Sottil and his team prepare for the festive season, they’re building a breakfast buffet that includes beloved classics with smart tech to cut leftovers.
At the heart of it all is building more mindful dining practices. “The idea is to create that culture,” he said.
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