CONFERENCES, MEETINGS & WORKSHOPS | AASTMT, SMART VILLAGE, CAIRO
Food Waste Conference: CSR Hospitality Sponsorship & Keynote
A two-day CSR engagement on 11–12 October 2022 combining complimentary conference hospitality with Sherif Hussein’s keynote on the food-waste practices LOriental was applying inside its own operations.
- DATES: 11–12 OCT 2022
- CONFERENCE: ACCELERATING STOP FOOD LOSS & WASTE FOR A NET-ZERO FUTURE
- VENUE: AASTMT, SMART VILLAGE, CAIRO
- LORIENTAL ROLE: HOSPITALITY SPONSOR + KEYNOTE
- CLASSIFICATION: CSR / SUSTAINABILITY
A sustainability conference connected directly to food service
On 11–12 October 2022, the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport hosted the second International Conference on Accelerating Stop Food Loss and Waste for a Net-Zero Future at Smart Village. The programme brought together food-system, sustainability and waste-management stakeholders in the run-up to COP27.
For LOriental, the subject was unusually close to the company’s daily operating reality. Food waste is not an abstract issue for a caterer: it sits inside purchasing, production, portioning, buffet service and the decisions made before, during and after an event.
Hospitality contributed as sponsorship
LOriental supported the conference by providing the hospitality at no charge as part of its corporate social responsibility activity. The food service was an in-kind sponsorship.
That distinction shaped the value of the participation. The company was not simply attaching its name to a sustainability event; it was contributing through the service it actually delivers as a food business.
Putting operating experience on stage
The second part of LOriental’s role came through Sherif Hussein, Cofounder & CEO, who participated as a keynote speaker. His contribution focused on how LOriental was approaching food waste inside its own operations and the processes the business had developed to manage it.
The discussion included LOriental’s practical approach to reducing avoidable waste, including the particular challenges created by buffet-style service.
Why the pairing mattered
The hospitality sponsorship and keynote were two different contributions, but they reinforced the same point. LOriental supported the conference with food while also sharing what it had learned from producing and serving food in real operating conditions.
For a conference centred on food loss and waste, that made the participation relevant to the subject itself. The company’s role sat at the intersection of hospitality delivery and practitioner knowledge rather than functioning as a generic event sponsorship.
From policy discussion to catering decisions
Food-waste conversations can stay at the level of targets and policy. A catering operation has to translate those ambitions into everyday choices: how much to prepare, when to replenish, what can be controlled before service and where waste is created by the service format itself.
The conference gave LOriental a platform to connect those operational questions to a wider sustainability discussion and to share food-service experience with an audience focused on waste reduction.
A different kind of institutional case
The distinctive value of the engagement came from combining service delivery with a speaker contribution drawn from the same operating environment. Across two days at AASTMT, the hospitality sponsorship and keynote addressed the conference theme from two practical angles.
That combination makes the case relevant for purpose-led conferences, CSR programmes and organisations looking for suppliers whose contribution can connect meaningfully to the subject of the event.
What this case demonstrates
The Food Waste Conference shows LOriental supporting a sustainability-focused institutional event in two clearly defined ways: through in-kind hospitality and through first-hand operating knowledge on reducing food waste in catering.
The engagement shows how LOriental can contribute to purpose-led institutional events through both hospitality and operating knowledge tied directly to its field.
