The amount of leftover food and unsold food products that are edible but discarded is not decreasing: A government estimate indicates that the equivalent of one bowl of rice per person is thrown away every day.
The restaurant industry is seen as a key player in the battle to reduce food waste, and efforts to tackle the issue have been gradually spreading in the industry.
Daichinrou, a Chinese restaurant in Yokohama's Chinatown, offers an all-you-can-eat course in which one-fifth of the 125 menu items can be ordered individually -- one spring roll, a single serving of Peking duck or one sesame ball, for example.
"The kitchen staff and servers have been busier, but the menu has been popular among elderly people who want to eat small amounts of dishes they like and it's helped to reduce food waste," said restaurant manager Yoshinori Kurihara, 43.
At Hotel Bleston Court in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, guests at wedding receptions held there can choose either Japanese or Western meals on the day of the event. It has also started a system in which servers visit each table so that guests are served only the amount they can eat, which has resulted in a 10 percent reduction in the amount of leftovers.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and the Environment Ministry began in fiscal 2012 to closely estimate the volume of food loss by sending out questionnaires to food makers among others. The amount of waste, which had been declining at the time, took an upward turn in fiscal 2015, increasing by 250,000 tons from the previous fiscal year to 6.46 million tons.
Business operators are responsible for 55 percent of food waste. The restaurant industry, which had been reluctant to reduce food loss because operators cannot tell their customers not to leave food on their plates, has begun to gain attention for its efforts to tackle the problem. The agriculture ministry said it will make a list of example measures that can be implemented and support the efforts of operators.
Smartphone apps have been launched that connect shops and restaurants that want to dispose of unsold dishes and leftover foodstuffs with customers who want to eat cheaply.
One such app, Reduce GO, was launched in April. Participating shops and restaurants can notify app users every evening of food that might be left over and the times the food can be delivered. App users can get deliveries up to twice a day. By paying a monthly fee of 1,980 yen (tax not included), users can receive the food for free every time they order. This helps restaurants reduce food waste, and 59 percent of the total usage fees are distributed to all of the partnering outlets.
About 100 people are currently signed up to use the app. According to the app operator, about 700 dishes from about 30 participating bakeries, bento lunch box shops and delis located in Tokyo have been delivered to its users.
Sosuke Uemura, 40, of the Reduce GO operator said: "Many eateries feel bad about throwing food away. The app helps them cut disposal costs, too. So we want to increase the number of member restaurants and shops."
In the food manufacturing industry, makers have looked at measures including a so-called one-third rule, in which makers do not send their products to retailers if the date of delivery has passed one-third of the period between the manufacturing and best-before dates. They are also considering using years or months on best-before labels rather than dates.
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