Brisbane 2032 Is Coming. Is Your Hotel Kitchen Ready?
Deals Colony | Circular Innovation Network
Brisbane 2032 feels far away. It is not. Hotels, cafes, caterers and tourism operators across South East Queensland will be asked more and more how they buy, cook and waste. Councils, chambers and event planners are already asking how businesses are getting ready.
One Brisbane specialist has been asking hotels a very simple question for years: where does your food go?
From training rooms to the hotel kitchen
Sarah Woolmington has spent more than 25 years working with businesses and people in training, coaching, facilitation, business development and change. Along the way she became fascinated by one thing: why a good plan so often does not turn into action.
With a background in business and tourism, she started Impact Dragonfly to close that gap. Her view is simple. Sustainability cannot just sit in a report. People need to understand it, see how it connects to their job, and feel able to act on it.
Today she works with businesses, government, not-for-profits and community groups, from small teams to large organisations, with a special interest in tourism and hospitality.
The question nobody was asking
Picture a busy hotel with a restaurant, a breakfast buffet, a bar, functions and room service. Food costs keep climbing. Ask the team how much food is thrown away, where and why, and most cannot say.
Sarah’s framework starts there. It treats food waste as more than a bin problem. It is also a buying problem, a kitchen problem and a profit problem. The bin is just where it shows up.
Take one small moment: pastries left on the breakfast buffet. Why were so many made? Because the tray has to look full. Why? Because nobody has agreed how much is enough. Why? Because nobody has been measuring. One simple question, asked a few times, points to a small change that has nothing to do with recycling.
What it helps a hotel see
How much food is bought but never eaten.
Who touches it, from the supplier to the kitchen to the guest.
Why it happens, so the fix is about habits and buying, not blame.
Where to start, with prevention first and recovery as the last step.
Why this matters as Brisbane 2032 gets closer
Hospitality and food tourism are part of how a city is remembered. Businesses that understand their costs, their suppliers and their impact are in a stronger position when bigger opportunities and bigger questions arrive, including those building towards Brisbane 2032 and beyond.
For councils, chambers and tourism groups, the question is a practical one: how are local hotels, motels and food businesses getting ready, and who can help them start?
What we are thinking behind the scenes
Deals Colony, with the help of The Circular Innovation Network, is already exploring what we could host together with Sarah to support more hospitality and tourism businesses. That could be workshops, small pilots or story sessions, shaped around what local businesses actually need. Nothing is locked in. We want to hear from the people who would use it.
This sits inside a wider strategic collaboration with Impact Dragonfly. Deals Colony, with the help of The Circular Innovation Network, brings together independent professionals, freelancers, start-ups, small businesses, charities and social enterprises. Members can access shared business support, technology, marketing, partnerships and project delivery while developing their own portfolios, ventures and community projects. The idea is simple: avoid duplicating effort, and reduce wasted skills, time, money, resources and infrastructure.
Ways to get involved
Run a hotel, motel, cafe or tourism business? Book a conversation with Sarah at Impact Dragonfly.
Want to see the thinking behind it? Read Sarah’s hotel food waste case study (PDF).
A council, chamber or tourism group? Connect with Deals Colony and tell us what your local businesses need.
Have your own sustainability story? Share it with us, and it could become the next case study.
Do you want to connect and see what we can build together via the Circular Innovation Network™?
You can start with the free Gift-Economy Exchange subscription to access the details.
About Sarah
Sarah Woolmington is the Founder and Director of Impact Dragonfly. Her work covers sustainability and ESG strategy, operational sustainability, energy, water and waste efficiency, auditing and certification, training, facilitation and behaviour change.
Common Questions
What kind of hotel does this describe?
A 200-room hotel with a restaurant, breakfast buffet, bar, functions and room service, taken from Sarah’s case study framework. It is a representative example, so no hotel is named.
Does Sarah offer food waste audits?
Sarah describes auditing and certification among her services at Impact Dragonfly. Ask her directly what suits your business.
Where does Deals Colony come in?
We love backing skilled people who turn what they know into something that helps others. Deals Colony shares Sarah’s story, brings hospitality and tourism people together, and is exploring workshops and sessions we could host with her, so more businesses can benefit from the sustainability and impact stories being built through the Circular Innovation Network. The expertise and the audits are Sarah’s own. We are here to help the right people find each other.
Good to know
This case study shares a framework and a representative hotel example. Every hotel is different, so the dollar and kilogram figures in the source document will look different in each business. They show how the thinking works, not what any one hotel will find. The best way to see what it could look like for your own business is a conversation with Sarah.
Comments