Can Egypt’s hospitality sector help decrease the vast food waste in the country by reducing the size of plates by one-third? According to the Egyptian Food Bank, an initiative that aims to end hunger in the country by 2020, it can indeed create a major impact if more organizations in the industry adopt this as a general rule.

Moez El Shohdi, the founder and CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank, told Al-Monitor that the bank has been working with the Egyptian Hotel Associations to train the staff in hotels and restaurants to save daily food loss from buffets, particularly during festivities and big events.

The cooperation between the Egyptian Food Bank and the Egyptian Hotel Associations started in 2006, with the hospitality industry donating its surplus food to the people who need a meal, Shohdi said, adding, “Hotels and restaurants that we work with have donated 15.5 million meals in 2014 alone.”

“The food bank worked closely with hotels to convince them to reduce the size of their plates by one-third and help reduce food waste at buffet tables,” Shohdi said, explaining that most buffet customers have the habit of piling their plates, only to have the remains thrown to the waste bin at the end of events. Once on the plate, the food is thrown away, but what remains on the buffet table can be recycled or donated.