AI Food Waste Scale-Up KITRO Accelerates International Growth Amid New Regulatory Push

Founded by two hospitality professionals determined to tackle food waste, the Swiss company has now supported more than 500 kitchens in over 40 countries with AI-powered waste reduction technology that delivers measurable cost savings and sustainability impact. 

Zurich – Swiss food-tech company KITRO is experiencing strong momentum as new regulations aimed at reducing food waste increase demand for measurement and reduction solutions across the hospitality sector.

For the first time, the European Union has adopted binding food waste reduction targets, requiring retailers, restaurants, hotels and food service operators to reduce per-capita food waste by 30% by 2030. At the same time, countries such as Spain are introducing even stricter national legislation, making food waste management an increasingly important compliance issue. The challenge is significant: about one-third of all food produced globally is wasted, costing the world economy more than USD 1 trillion every year. Food waste is also responsible for up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions - more than the entire aviation industry.  

KITRO helps hospitality operators tackle this challenge through its AI-powered food waste reduction solution, enabling kitchens to automatically measure food waste, identify inefficiencies and reduce costs.

Founded by two female hospitality industry experts, Anastasia Hofmann and Naomi MacKenzie, KITRO was born out of a simple but persistent observation: valuable resources were being thrown away every day. After witnessing food waste firsthand throughout their careers in hotels and food service operations, the two entrepreneurs set out to create a practical solution that would help kitchens understand exactly what was ending up in their bins and why. What began as a startup with a mission to make food waste visible has since evolved into an international scale-up company. Today, KITRO’s technology has been used in more than 500 kitchens across over 40 countries, including hotels, resorts, restaurants, hospitals, universities, large-scale catering operations and cruise ships.

Since its founding, KITRO has helped customers achieve:

• EUR 13 million in cost savings

• 4.1 million meals saved

• 1,860 tonnes of edible food waste prevented

For many years, food waste was seen primarily as a sustainability issue. Today, it is increasingly becoming both a financial and compliance issue. Our mission has always been to make food waste visible and actionable. As regulations evolve and businesses face growing pressure to improve efficiency, we see tremendous demand for data-driven solutions that deliver both environmental and economic benefits. We are delighted that several key pilot projects have evolved into long-term commercial partnerships with leading hospitality brands including Hyatt, Marriott International, Four Seasons and 25hours Hotels

KITRO founders Anastasia Hofmann and Naomi MacKenzie

Demand is growing particularly strongly these days on the Iberian Peninsula. Spain’s new anti-food-waste legislation, Ley 01/25, requires many businesses to implement food waste prevention plans and concrete reduction measures by the end of 2026. Against this backdrop, KITRO recently signed Hyatt Inclusive Collection, which has deployed KITRO’s food waste reduction solution in 26 properties over the last 12 months.  

Existing long-term partnerships continue to demonstrate the strong business impact of food waste reduction. MHP Hotel AG for example has deployed KITRO TARE across nine properties since 2023. At their Hotel Luc Berlin, a member of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, edible food waste was already reduced by 49% within one year, generating cost savings of EUR 72,892.

KITRO’s proprietary TARE combines computer vision and artificial intelligence to identify and classify food waste directly at the point of disposal. The resulting insights are visualized in an intuitive dashboard, helping operators optimize purchasing, production planning and portion sizing. A dedicated team of food waste experts supports KITRO customers in turning data insights into concrete operational improvements. Through regular performance reviews and tailored recommendations, food waste reduction efforts are continuously optimized and results maximized by implementing targeted actions.  Customers can reduce avoidable food waste by up to 60% and typically lower food costs by 2–8% within the first six months, without disrupting daily kitchen operations. 

“We remain strongly focused on international growth across Europe, North America and the Iberian Peninsula,” added the company founders. “By continuously improving our technology, we are helping customers unlock even greater operational and sustainability benefits.” 

Media Contacts

Eva-Maria Panzer

PR Manager [email protected]

Jessica Lock

Head of Marketing [email protected]