In the heart of southern Gran Canaria, where the sun caresses the Maspalomas dunes and tourism sustains a large part of the local economy, Lopesan Hotel Group has become a benchmark for sustainability and efficiency. With the entry into force, on January 2, 2025, of the new Food Waste Law in Spain—which establishes fines of up to €500.000 for hotels and restaurants that do not properly manage their surplus food—the hospitality sector faces an urgent challenge: reducing and optimizing the food that is served but not consumed.
“This legislation is designed to make us look at food waste in a new light,” says Antonio Álvarez, CEO of Visionary Hospitality, the company behind Buffet Waste. The tool combines artificial intelligence and sustainability, recording every gram of leftover food, identifying consumption patterns, and predicting actual demand. “It’s not just about complying with the law, but about seizing an opportunity to save money, optimize resources, and care for the planet,” Álvarez adds.
In this context, Pancho—the AI behind Buffet Waste—has become the unexpected protagonist of the culinary transformation. Its function goes beyond inventory control: it analyzes data in real time, suggests menu adjustments, and helps plan food purchases and preparation with pinpoint accuracy.
Lopesan has already integrated this technology in several of its establishments, with impressive results. Pablo Lorenzo, the group's Corporate Director of Sustainability, Projects, and Operational Efficiency, explains that "Buffet Waste has become a fundamental tool for reducing food waste in real time." Thanks to the combination of digital weighing and machine vision, Lopesan has reduced its waste by more than 72%, preventing the disposal of 209.000 kilos of food and saving more than €726.000 in operating costs.
In the kitchen of the Lopesan Villa del Conde, Executive Chef Valentín Rodríguez confirms the difference: “At first, we had a waste ratio of 70 grams per guest, and now we're down to just over 20. We also discovered that a lot of leftovers were coming from the end of service, so we adjusted production in that final stretch. It's been a huge change.” Even Pancho's human touch makes a difference: with his attempts at humor and jokes, albeit questionable, the AI helps the team perceive technology not as an enemy, but as an ally in daily operations. In Maspalomas, this combination of innovation, sustainability, and smart tourism positions southern Gran Canaria as a European example of how technology can transform the hospitality industry without losing the human element.
