05. Amy Keister, Compass Group

Amy Keister is the Global Director of Sustainability at Compass Group. She leads a visionary team shaping the future of foodservice, focusing on business growth, and leveraging strategic partnerships to create positive change throughout the food system. On this episode of “Food Lab Talk,” Michiel speaks with Amy to hear about how “Stop Food Waste Day” went from an idea to a global day of action, how education plays a role in scaling food waste solutions, and Amy’s formula for influencing and building change. 

Amy Keister: “At Compass we are extremely decentralized on purpose and I think that’s why we are able to be the world’s largest. We really pride ourselves on being local and having a customized approach in every single one of our offerings.” 

01:02 Intro to Amy 

03:01 Why Amy went “all in” on sustainability 

04:43 The “purist” versus the “realist” mindset 

06:22 Setting food loss and waste reduction goals 

08:28 Tools and benchmarking against goals 

09:21 The important first step to accelerate progress 

09:57 Incentivizing individuals and leaders to advance a goal 

11:38 Sharing your learnings to inspire others in your organization 

12:42 Turning personal passion into systemic action 

13:51 Balancing consumer demand and building trust 

15:18 How Stop Food Waste Day drives awareness and scales change 

17:40 Overcoming a bias for convenience 

19:00 A case study in choice and consumer behavior 

20:05 Breaking down silos for an integrated sustainability approach 

22:20 Why its important to find people on the opposite side of an issue 

25:05 Embracing the tensions in a system 

27:07 Making the business case for sustainability 

29:16 Amy’s formula for influencing and building change 

Links 

• Learn more about Stop Food Waste Day 
• Stop Food Waste Day Cookbook 
• Compass Global Culinary Council 
• UN Sustainable Development Goals 
• Foodservice Director: Aramark and Compass Group Sign the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment 
• Foodservice Director: Compass Group Partners with Do Good Food to Reduce Food Waste 

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*The views expressed by the guests in this podcast don't necessarily represent the host’s views, nor those of his employer.