Denver Restaurant Food Waste Challenge

Denver Food Matters Restaurant Challenge

Cut waste. Feed community. Strengthen your business.

40% of the U.S. food supply goes uneaten each year

This takes a significant environmental toll on U.S. water, energy, transportation, and labor resources that go to waste when food is discarded. At the same time, more than 1 in 6 Denver residents are food insecure. By repurposing food that would otherwise be discarded, Denver restaurants can tackle this challenge head-on, ensuring that every bite counts: playing a vital role in meeting our community’s food insecurity challenge and increasing the efficiency of the entire food system.

Take on the Challenge!

In the Denver Department of Public Health’s Food Matters Restaurant Challenge, restaurants become part of the solution. Restaurants will join one of two 12-week cohorts (Summer/Fall 2025 or Winter/spring 2026) focused on food waste prevention, reduction, and donation strategies — all designed to help you give back to your community while adding value to your bottom line.

During the Challenge, you’ll be supported by experts in creative food upcycling, food rescue, and wasted food reduction- along with your peers in neighborhood restaurants. You”ll receive:

Collective Learning

Expert guidance and support to reduce wasted food in your business

One-on One Consultation

One-on-one consultation with Jonathan Deutsch, culinary innovator and hospitality educator of Drexel Food Labs

Training & Best Practices

Training in wasted food tracking, food donation requirements, compost best practices, and more

Publicity boost

Social media and publicity from Challenge partners

How the Challenge Works

Game plan

Participating restaurants commit to implementing one or more wasted food reduction or diversion strategies during the Challenge period. You’ll earn points for demonstrating progress on your chosen strategies, and also contribute toward a shared points goal for all participants. End-of-challenge awards will celebrate Challenge leaders in food donation, wasted food prevention, and more.

The goal?

Maximize your impact. You’ll finish the Challenge as a Denver leader in food waste prevention— and a powerful story of community and sustainability to share with your customers.

Commitment

Each participating restaurant will commit to a 12-week journey of action, learning, and measurable change.

Here’s what that looks like:

Kick Things Off: Send 1–2 team members to a half-day (1.5-hour) training and kickoff event. Ideal participants are staff in leadership or decision-making roles.

Walk Us Through It: Host the Challenge Team on a site visit to your restaurant. Show off your kitchen, share your current practices, and tell us what your food waste challenges are.

Make a Plan: Review customized recommendations and commit to a plan of action with the support and guidance of the Challenge Team.

Take Action: Spend 8 weeks implementing your chosen strategies. A mid-point waste audit and survey will help identify what’s working and what needs tweaking—with plenty of support from the Challenge Team along the way.

Measure and Reflect: Wrap up the Challenge with a final waste audit and results report, followed by a feedback survey to capture learnings and successes.

Best of all?

Participation is completely free, thanks to USDA funding for the Denver Department of Public Health.

Get started today →

Timeline

The timeline for this 12-week Challenge guides restaurants through training, action, and celebration as you work to reduce food waste. Each phase builds on the last, with support from the Challenge Team every step of the way.

Week 0 · Onboarding & Training

Participating restaurants will receive introductory materials and attend an initial training and kick-off event. During this kick-off, participants will set a preliminary collective goal for the cumulative points achieved by all restaurants over the Challenge.

Week 1-2 · Site Visit

Each restaurant will complete one site visit with CET and Diversion Designers. CET will offer customized recommendations and information to inform participant goals.

Week 3–4 · Committing to action

Based on CET recommendations and their own goals, participants will choose which wasted food reduction strategies they will pursue, and set their own individual points goal for the Challenge. CET will provide a step-by-step Action Plan with point assignments to reach these goals.

Week 4-11 · Implementing strategies

Participants will spend 8 weeks actively implementing their chosen strategies with the support of CET and Diversion Designers. A mid-point survey will help restaurants uncover and address challenges as they arise.

Week 12 · Measuring impact

All participants will report on the results of their implemented changes (including required data) and complete a feedback survey. CET will compile these results to determine the overall Challenge winner, collective points achieved, and select superlative awards.

Week 13 · Celebrating and sharing success

Participants will celebrate their achievements at a closing event, and will collaborate with CET to share stories and successes for a media campaign.

Get started today

Go to resources

Our Secret Ingredient: Community-Based Social Marketing

Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) is at the heart of the Denver Restaurant Food Waste Challenge. Unlike waste bans or complicated compliance programs, CBSM focuses on real-world behavior change by:

Engaging directly with restaurant staff and community members

Identifying and removing barriers to sustainable practices

Testing strategies in small settings before expanding

Why It Works?

CBSM helps build lasting habits and strong peer connections. By making food waste reduction fun, practical, and community-driven, we create an environment where restaurants feel supported in trying new things — and inspired to keep doing them.
This approach transforms the challenge into more than just a checklist — it becomes a movement.

Get started today

Explore the Resource Library

Access a curated collection of local policies, research, tools, and partner insights designed to support Denver restaurants in reducing food waste.

An initiative from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment encompassing a variety of programs, including the Denver Food Matters Restaurant Challenge, that promotes the reduction of food waste and the advancement of food systems.

A non-profit that delivers resilient climate solutions for people and businesses through innovative pilot programs and production-scale services. CET will be managing the Challenge and providing technical assistance to the Challenge participants.

A leading food recovery organization in Colorado whose mission is to increase food access and protect the planet. We Don’t Waste will work with the Challenge participants to reduce hunger and food waste by recovering their quality, unused food and delivering it to nonprofit partners.

The US Department of Agriculture provides leadership and funding for programs that advance agriculture-related sciences. The USDA is funding delivery of this Challenge through an award from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Go to Resources →

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