During Ramadan, the spirit of hospitality and generosity is abundant, as households open up to family and friends to break their fast. It is during festive periods such as the holy month that there is a surge in food waste, but experts say there is a way to reduce the problem.
Thierry Dezenclos, UAE chief executive of waste management firm Veolia, told The National that food waste can increase by as much as 50 per cent in some countries during the fasting month.
"This pattern often results from our caring instinct to ensure abundant hospitality," said Mr Dezenclos. "We tend to overestimate portion sizes, prepare extra dishes 'just in case' and offer multiple menu options for variety. These practices, while rooted in generosity, present opportunities for thoughtful planning and mindful preparation."
Food waste is an issue around the world. The UN estimates that every year $1 trillion worth is wasted. Yet more than 700 million people face chronic hunger. In the UAE, according to a report by the country's food loss and waste initiative Ne'ma published in 2023, nearly 40 per cent of food is wasted at a cost of Dh6 billion ($1.63 billion) annually.
Sustainable behaviour
Khuloud Hasan Al Nowais, secretary general of the steering committee at Ne'ma, said consumer behaviour is shifting, and the programme has been working with hotels and households to support community efforts to consume more mindfully.
Ms Al Nowais told The National that meal planning, plate sizes and using leftovers are all changes that can be made in our daily lives to prevent food waste.
"The other aspect is around the notion that, after the person has been fasting, they need to have a big plate. It is actually the contrary," she said. "You need to start eating small portions because after a full day of fasting, you don't want to hit your system with a lot of food all in one go."
Ne’ma’s first national household survey, conducted in 2022 questioned 6,083 residents, revealed households account for 61 per cent of the nation's total food waste. The study highlighted that reducing food waste at home is challenging, as it requires changing deeply ingrained daily habits.
Ms Al Nowais revealed that Ne'ma is working on research to show how much food is being wasted per person in the UAE.
Celebrating Ramadan sustainably
Hotels, too, have their sights set on more sustainable offerings this Ramadan, without compromising on quality. The Conrad in Dubai introduced an AI waste-management system in its kitchen three years ago. This has helped the business to track and monitor what is being thrown away.
This has enabled bosses to understand which dishes guests prefer and which are wasted during iftar. The hotel's signature "Green Ramadan", a project now in its third year, has cut food waste by 20 per cent since it was launched.
"The system gives us daily reports," said Ilias Doulamis, the hotel's executive chef. "From there we can really identify what has been overproduced, which recipe has not been liked by the guests, and then maybe we need to make changes, or totally remove it and do something different."
Mr Doulamis told The National that beyond waste, the drive seeks to help guests understand the importance of portion sizes. When the hotel started the project in 2023, patrons were wasting 289g per person but that number has been reduced sharply to only 40g.
The initiative has come full cycle, and food waste is now composted, according to Linda Mwaffak, commercial director at Conrad Dubai. "Last year, we had 769kg of food waste. All of this was turned into compost. So in reality, it's zero waste for last year."
The hotel has a partnership with Dubai-based firm, The WasteLab, under which food scraps are converted into organic fertiliser. The hotel has also launched an aquaponic farm on its premises, which produces 10kg of vegetables daily, complementing the domestically sourced offerings provided by the culinary team.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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