NAHGAST II - Sustainable Out-of-Home Catering

The joint research project NAHGAST II aims at transformation processes for sustainable production and consumption practices in the out-of-home catering sector. Building on the findings from the prior project NAHGAST I, it supports the concept of a low-carbon, resource efficient and conserving as well as socially inclusive economy. The professional out-of-home catering sector has a great leverage in this: It can contribute significantly to practicable, ethically responsible food systems that are environmentally friendly, health-promoting, facilitate sociocultural diversity and count on a sustainable economy. Therefore, the project NAHGAST II has defined the following goals in order to promote the development of practicable tools and measures for more sustainable meal options as well as transformation processes:

1. Optimisation of the NAHGAST calculator through advancement of the virtual calculator and practical handbook with regard to both practice and research.


2. Making statements on the effectiveness of different interventions and how they support sustainable decisions in meal selection through information and nudging.


3. Designing a communication and transfer concept in order to successfully induce transformation processes in further enterprises and to increase the use of the NAHGAST calculator and practical handbook.

In order to take up a modern sustainability strategy and to support transformation processes, the project is based on the findings of NAHGAST I. It tests and evaluates the user-friendliness and requirements of the online tools NAHGAST calculator and practical handbook in cooperation with over 20 practice partners (WP 1). Additionally, the underlying data will be expanded, e.g. to increase the number of ingredients. For that, datasets from relevant databases as well as in-house calculations and expert dialogues will be used. The practical handbook will be filled with further information in order to extend the recommendations for action for a sustainable out-of-home catering. In the second part of the research project, the focus lies on decision-making processes: with four partners from practice, interventions will be tested that examine the effect of additional information and nudging measures on decision-making processes for a sustainable food selection (WP 2a). Additionally, with further three partners from practice, the effects of information and nudging measures in customer communication in the context of food waste will be examined (WP 2b). Since the case studies are conducted in cooperation with practice partners, they bear relevance for application in further businesses in out-of-home catering. The case studies will be complemented by workshops with practice and affiliated partners. In the third part of the research project, the transfer into practice will be optimised: qualitative interviews and workshops will be conducted in order to involve stakeholders and to develop further criteria for the revision of the tools calculator and handbook. In addition, the need for supportive measures (training, counselling) is to be identified (WP 3).

The research project will be conducted in cooperation with the University of Berlin and the Wuppertal Institute.

In addition to their use in scientific, professional public and public discussions, the results are to be used in teaching as well. Affiliated and practice partners should benefit from the findings obtained and thus be able to contribute to sustainable development. It is to be expected that the results of this project can confirm and deepen the knowledge gained in NAHGAST I.