Climate and environmental measures in our canteens

The association has defined three focus areas to be able to work concretely and purposefully for a better climate and environment in our outlets:

• Reducing the climate footprint of food

• Reducing the use of single-use packaging and disposable products

• Reducing food waste

We have also set ourselves specific internal goals and indicators for each focus area, so that we can monitor our development.

Food products have different climate footprints depending on production and transport, with red meat having the highest footprint, while vegetables have the lowest. The footprint also varies within each product group.

We know this and want to adjust our food production to the lowest possible climate footprint. At the same time, we adhere to the Norwegian Directorate of Health's dietary advice and offer a varied selection of dishes.

In short, this means less red meat and more fish and vegetables on our menus. Good for the climate and for your health!

Extensive use of disposable packaging leads to unnecessary use of resources, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, and creates a lot of waste. We do not want to contribute to this. That is why we work to minimize the use of disposable packaging and disposable products in our restaurants. How do we do it?

• We motivate the use of porcelain over disposable packaging through information to customers, and placement, where porcelain stands out as a natural choice. On smaller campuses, you must ask the staff to get disposable packaging.

• We encourage our customers to use their own cup for hot drinks. If you do not have a cup, you can buy our eco-cup that keeps your coffee warm. Did you know that you get a discount when using your cup?

In addition to reducing the use of disposable packaging and disposable products, we are conscious of choosing environmentally friendly and recyclable packaging. Did you know that the windows on our baguette bags are made of corn starch and that the entire bag can be sorted like paper?

Around one-third of the food produced worldwide is thrown away. This means unnecessary use of resources, loss of nature, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. We must do something about this!

• From January 2025 we started weighing food waste at four of our dining venues. This gives us valuable information for finding the right measures to reduce food waste in our production and serving. We plan to introduce weighing food waste at all our serviced canteens in the near future.

• In our canteens, we sell both hot and cold dishes (the lunch bar) by weight, which gives great freedom of choice with both type and quantity of food, which in turn helps reduce food waste.

• We refill less food in the buffets, but more often (this also applies to catering). This prevents food from sitting out and going bad and having to be thrown away.

• Leftovers from the lunch bar are reused in other dishes as far as possible. There is also minimal replenishment of the lunch bar late in the day to avoid food waste.

• The food that is made must be eaten! Grut sells surplus baked goods at a reduced price the next day. Sandwiches made in our canteens that are not sold in due time are sold at a reduced price.

• We have Too Good To Go at the MIX kiosk in Tromsø

• Our chefs have extensive experience in calculating the correct purchase quantities so that we avoid overflowing warehouses with products that may expire. We have strict routines to ensure that new products are placed at the back so that products with the shortest shelf life are used first.

• We also cooperate internally with the canteens to avoid food waste. Products that are approaching their expiration date are moved to other outlets that can use them.

• We regularly test new methods of using raw materials that are about to expire to avoid food waste.

• Menu planning for catering is adapted to the durability and heat resistance of the raw materials.

• We have reduced the use of ultra-processed food, and use as many “clean” raw materials as possible in our production. In addition to health benefits, clean products can withstand more heat treatment than ultra-processed food and can be used several times in different dishes.

• We are also conscious of utilizing the entire raw material. For example, the stalk of broccoli becomes an oven-baked dish in the lunch bar, tomato tops, and the like are used in tomato sauce, and leftover bread is made into croutons and breadcrumbs.

We are part of SiN (Students' Associations in Norway)'s purchasing cooperation together with ten other student associations. SIN focuses on sustainability when choosing suppliers and products, and has the following goals, among others:

• less consumption, reduction of resources in production, transport, and storage of products throughout the value chain

• less purchasing and use of packaging and plastic

• stimulate members to reduce food waste

• set requirements for suppliers to deliver certified products

• reduce transport needs

• reduce purchasing of products with a high CO2 footprint

• more use of climate-smart packaging