Having your Little Caesars pizza "Hot-N-Ready" comes with a price. A dumpster diver showed the alarming consequences after checking out the bin behind one of its locations.
What's happening?
A Reddit post in r/Anticonsumption highlighted how a location in Lisbon, Portugal, allegedly discards uneaten pizzas.
The images revealed trash cans featuring full, seemingly untouched pizza pies. The poster revealed this wasn't a one-off incident.
"Two days in a row, I checked their bins out of curiosity," they wrote. "Can't say I was surprised."
Posters shared their own stories of working at Little Caesars and its food waste. Some said employees had free rein to save and give away uneaten food. Others said that their bosses actively discouraged that, going so far as to forbid it.
Frustratingly, these pizzas were thrown away out of their boxes, which means even a savvy dumpster diver couldn't save them and get some future meals out of them.
Why is global food waste important?
Globally, over 1 billion tons of food are wasted annually, according to United Nations Climate Change. Meanwhile, uneaten food and waste contribute to an estimated 8%-10% of global pollution, with significant impacts on water and land resources.
Making the situation even more frustrating is that food insecurity is a continuing concern for people all over the globe. As extreme weather batters crops and communities, being more efficient with food resources and production is a must.
Instead, it seems there are inconsistent policies that hinder getting perfectly good food to customers who might need it most in the form of donations. Rather than becoming a meal for someone in need, these full Little Caesars pies could instead become a contributor to planet-heating landfills.
Is Little Caesars doing anything about this?
It doesn't appear that there is a ton of concerted movement to address waste that is an inevitability of Little Caesars' business model. There is bound to be human or machine error at times with a system that tries to provide the customer with immediately ready-to-consume food on demand.
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Heck yes 👍 The track record in dealing with overages isn't positive, based on other locations and anecdotes from employees. Little Caesars does have some restaurants that participate in Too Good To Go, an anti-food-waste company.
Little Caesars also has its Love Kitchen initiative that serves those in need with pizza delivered from a food truck.
What's being done about food waste more broadly?
It's crucial to remember that donating food requires ensuring it is safe for human consumption. That being said, many restaurants and grocery stores work to donate as much as possible. Governments can crack down on wasteful grocery stores and restaurants.
Consumers can also do their part by composting food scraps to reduce waste, taking leftovers home from restaurants, planning meals to avoid overbuying, and giving away extra food to those in need.
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