The restaurant charging diners who don’t eat up
Restaurant pushes healthy eating message with threat of ‘gluttony’ levy
A restaurant is levying a Dh50 charge for customers who fail to finish their meals.
In an attempt to combat food waste, the Gulou Hotpot in Al Barsha, Dubai, introduced the policy when it opened its doors in September.
Owner Ming Yang, 50, said she had to enforce the food fee only on “very rare occasions”. She is keen to encourage a healthier approach to eating in the UAE and discourage the food waste seen at brunches across the emirate.
Ms Ming said the scheme has gone down well with her customers.
“We want to show people a healthier approach to food than they are maybe used to here in Dubai,” she said. “You see a lot of food being thrown out and wasted at brunches so we wanted to show there was another way.”
Dubai has long had an image of excess when it came to culinary events including brunches.
The average UAE resident produces 2.7 kilograms of waste food and packaging a day, Dubai Carbon says. It is also estimated that about Dh13 billion worth of food is wasted by businesses and consumers in the country.
For many hotels and restaurants, particularly in Dubai, lavish brunches are a selling point, but that is not the case for Ms Ming and her team.
“We have customers from many nationalities who have told me they think it’s a great idea. Customers can eat as much as they like, but we want to educate them on the nutritional value of eating healthy amounts of good food.”
The Dh50 fee also applies to customers who stay for more than two hours at their tables.
While the Gulou Hotpot was one of the first restaurants in the region to introduce such a scheme, the practice is common in other parts of the world.
“I got the idea from restaurants in Hong Kong that have similar charges for customers,” Ms Ming said. “We wanted to give people an authentic Chinese restaurant experience of good healthy food in sensible portions.”
The scheme has been lauded by food industry professionals. Ghassen El Kesti, 46, who runs a theme park in Umm Al Quwain, was so impressed that he is considering a similar strategy at his restaurants.
“When you go to a buffet in the UAE there is a lot of abuse,” Mr El Kesti said. “People don’t think twice about taking more than they can eat and depriving others of food.”
He said that mentality set a bad example to future generations. “Children are growing up seeing people filling their plates as high as they can with food.
“They grow up thinking that is normal practice. People should not be taking more food than they can eat,” the Lebanese national said.
Mr El Kesti said that if more restaurants followed the lead of the Gulou Hotpot it would teach people to behave better.
“I have never eaten at the Gulou Hotpot but I would definitely be encouraged to eat there from what I have heard.”
Mr El Kesti said that many restaurants are under financial pressure from people taking so much food at buffets.
“I think this could be like introducing no-smoking signs, once one restaurant introduces it, more will follow,” he said.
Ms Ming’s stance was also welcomed by Amruta Kshemkalyani, a sustainability consultant in Dubai.
“Food waste is a major issue in this region,” Ms Kshemkalyani said. “There is also a culture of people availing of two-forone offers here when they don’t need to. It is just pure excess.”
She said that UAE restaurants should follow Ms Ming’s lead: “I want to applaud the restaurant for introducing this as the industry needs to show more restraint when it comes to food preparation.”