Circular principles and daily measurement: how Bluestone cut food waste to save £77,000 annually

Return on investment is strong because these changes required minimal capital investment – primarily process and culture shifts – yet delivered tangible financial and environmental benefits during peak season.​

Nick Bolwell, Deputy Head of Food and Beverage  

Problem

Operating seven restaurants and cafés, Bluestone faced multiple challenges common with other hospitality and food service businesses: spoilage, plate and preparation waste, seasonal fluctuations, and high guest expectations. Rising food costs and staff attrition posed significant challenges, with internal barriers to change including staff engagement, measurement systems and space constraints in kitchens.

Bluestone aimed to leverage sustainability as a point of difference, and doing so authentically required extending sustainable practice to all business areas.

Solution

Although Bluestone began working with WRAP in 2013, the business formally joined the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap in 2022. It provided Bluestone with a structured framework for improvement, enabling the business to benchmark progress, engage teams, and integrate food waste reduction into their ESG strategy.

A key step was to embed the Target–Measure–Act approach using Guardians of Grub resources across all outlet, which offered practical tools and training to support the sector in tackling food waste.

Key actions:

• Tracking: Daily separation and weighing of plate, spoilage, and prep waste, embedded in daily operations including manager handovers.

• Targeting: Setting the business a 5% year-on-year food waste reduction target until 2030.

• Training: Training over 20 staff formally, with all new hires completing sustainability induction.

• Taking action: Outlet-owned action plans, data-driven menu planning to reduce high-waste items, and redistribution of food nearing expiry in the shop to staff and community partners.

• Circular practices: Food waste is diverted to anaerobic digestion; kitchens are powered by BioLPG made from food waste and 20 tonnes of used cooking oil is converted to biodiesel annually.

• Guest engagement: Providing containers and instructions for separating food waste in all self-catering accommodation.

• Supplier partnerships: Engaging suppliers with aligned sustainability values, such as their seafood supplier Car y Mor who capture crab shells for agricultural soil additives, reducing waste upstream.

Impact

WRAP provided the platform for action through the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap and Guardians of Grub resources, and Bluestone were able to implement quick wins alongside cultural and operational changes to reduce food waste by 36%, save £77,000 annual and avoid 71 tonnes of CO₂e emissions.

But the impact goes beyond numbers:

• Annual 5% reduction target keeps ambitions high year after year

• New managers are trained to lead change as Food Waste Champions

• Action plans are owned and displayed in each outlet, enabling colleagues to share a common goal and ownership for finding solutions.

• Front and back of house teams share best practices and celebrate successes.

To support their ambition in contributing to the Circular Economy, Bluestone now power their kitchens by BioLPG made from food waste, convert 20 tonnes of used cooking oil to biodiesel annually and divert approximately 12 tonnes of used coffee grounds to local farms for fertiliser. They’re also working with a product design business Ty Syml who will begin taking the grounds for mycelium production from next year.

We’re proud of embedding circular principles into everyday operations and seeing measurable impact. Cultural change happened once teams understood the link between waste and climate. Beyond numbers, this journey has inspired guests, proving sustainability enhances experience and resilience.

Nick Bolwell, Deputy Head of Food and Beverage