A city-led program is urging Denver restaurants to cut food waste through a 12-week challenge that offers free help, which could boost tight restaurant profit margins. The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) started the original Denver Restaurant Food 黑料网 Challenge in 2019. The program stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic, but just began again in the fall of 2025. After a huge success with businesses like Restaurant Olivia, they鈥檙e looking for participants for a cohort that begins February 2.
Participants receive on-site technical assistance, operational audits and a customized action plan to reduce waste. The business that accrues the most points by hitting food waste goals throughout the competition wins bragging rights and social media exposure, but every participating business will learn how to reduce food waste as well as business costs.
鈥淲e estimate that about 30% of food that is produced in the U.S. is wasted,鈥� Lesly Baesens, food waste program coordinator for DDPHE, said. 鈥淲e literally go in the restaurants and look at their operations, ask them some questions about, 鈥榳here do they see currently waste occurring?鈥欌��