Located in the heart of Budapest's vibrant city center, Hampton by Hilton Budapest serves as a model for food waste reduction within Hilton's focused service segment. With 219 rooms and over 400 daily breakfast covers in peak season, operational efficiency in breakfast service is essential. Under the leadership of General Manager Andrzej Lejman, the team implemented Winnow Foresight to drive transformation. Since introducing Winnow Foresight, the team has reduced overproduction by 69% in 6 months at breakfast.
I'm extremely happy with the accuracy - we are able to forecast the amount of food we have to order and later prepare.
Results
The Breakfast Challenge
When Andrzej joined the hotel, he identified overproduction and inexperience within the kitchen team as primary challenges. “Breakfast is always included at Hampton, and here it's an extensive operation. But our team isn't very experienced. We were overproducing daily.” says Andrzej Lejman, General Manager.
Motivation for Change
As a former executive chef with over 20 years of experience, Andrzej's operational instinct was to tackle waste through more accurate forecasting. “The number one and the priority will be the forecast. If the forecast can be done properly, this will lead to reduced food waste and menu optimization.” says Lejman. This led to implementation of Winnow Foresight in December 2024.
What is Winnow Foresight?
Winnow Foresight is an AI-powered food waste tracking and production planning tool designed to help focused service hotels optimize food production. Fully accessible on mobile, the system eliminates the guesswork from food production by creating precise, data-driven food forecasts.
Improved Ordering
One of the earliest benefits observed since implementing Winnow Foresight was in ordering practices. Insights into most popular dishes meant ordering was adjusted to avoid stock outs. Items such as chicken sausages and fresh vegetables began arriving in smaller, more frequent shipments, improving freshness, avoiding stockouts and cutting waste.
Top Reductions in Overproduction
- 74% reduction in Pepper
- 77% reduction in Chicken Ham
- 64% reduction in Croissants
Menu Rotation
Winnow Foresight also offered insights into guest preferences enabling smarter menu rotations and designs. Croissants, which proved unpopular among the hotel's leisure clientele from Italy, Romania, and Croatia, were replaced by more resonant dishes. Meanwhile, the addition of rice-based options and congee met the preferences of the growing number of Asian guests.
Team Engagement
Winnow helped foster independence and responsibility among the junior kitchen team. “For the team it's just the routine already. They are able to plan the production for the next day without real supervision… it's a huge support.” says Andrzej. Forecasting became routine, enabling chefs to prep precise quantities of mis-en-place and adjust according to guest type, especially important during family-heavy weekends.
Financial and Guest Improvement
The introduction of Winnow Foresight also led to measurable financial benefits including a 10% reduction in breakfast cover cost. Breakfast satisfaction score also increased from 83% to 87% with online review scores also rising from 8.2 to 8.6 on Tripadvisor.
Final Reflections
Hampton by Hilton Budapest demonstrates that with the right leadership and tools, even kitchens with limited experience can become models of efficiency and sustainability. “Don't be scared of these kinds of systems. They work only for good. It's more fun when you're not worrying about waste. You can be creative.”
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