Shibuya introduces Shiburan ratings to reduce restaurant food waste

Do you know that there are about 6.43 million tons of food loss produced in Japan a year? Among the number, as much as 1.33 million ton is produced at restaurants. With the Food Loss Reduction Promotion Act passed last year, various measures for reducing food loss is urgently required.

Under such circumstances, Tokyo’s Shibuya City has started a system to authenticate restaurants that are putting effort into reducing food loss, cleaning up the local environment and reducing garbage. Since the city started the system in June last year, approximately 40 restaurants have received certification called “Shiburan Three Star Restaurant.” Once the restaurants are selected, they receive “Shiburan” labels with designs of “hachiko” — the famous dog that has become known as the symbol of Shibuya — which they can display at their restaurants. In addition, the city will also publicize their approaches on their homepage.

Upon certification, the stores are judged on their efforts to completely use all its ingredients and leave no leftovers, thereby reducing food loss. Some restaurants provide “doggy bags” like in Western countries so that people can take home if any food should remain. Also, the restaurants are tested on their efforts to clean the environment. This includes properly separating garbage, as well as reducing garbage altogether by avoiding the use of disposable containers, etc.

Among the restaurants that have been selected, is a Chinese cuisine restaurant that uses leftover ingredients to make lunch for its staff. They also provide menus with small amounts option so as not to produce leftovers. For example, instead of the large banquet dishes that are often served at parties celebrating the year-end and the New Year, which often produce large amounts of leftovers, they decided to offer small amounts, serving one dish per person.

Takeshi Ishiwatari, the chef of this restaurant Keisasai has been certified as a “Shiburan” said, “As a chef, I’m most happy when my plates are eaten completely with no leftovers. I would like to continue my effort to providing food without producing any food loss.”

The local government is also involved in selecting the restaurants through this “Shiburan” concept.

Although the term “ethical consumption” has attracted attention these few years on the way personal consumption is reviewed, it is still hard to thoroughly examine which restaurants are putting effort to reducing food loss, and which restaurants are not. But now with this approach, people who are conscious about the environment can identify these restaurants by simply looking at the list of “Shiburan 3 Star Restaurants.”

Recent years has seen many apps that focus on food sharing to reduce food loss. This “Shiburan” effort will hopefully urge restaurants to become more conscious about food loss and the environment.