Bridging the Food-Energy Gap: Smarter Efficiency Strategies for the Food Industry

Exergio highlights how outdated systems and tight budgets hinder energy efficiency, urging AI-powered retrofits as food systems consume 30% of global energy.

  exergio.com

Food waste dominates sustainability agendas, but energy efficiency experts for commercial buildings say energy inefficiency in food industry facilities is just as urgent. Solving one without the other, just energy or food, won’t be enough. To meet climate goals and protect margins, both areas need to be tackled together.

Globally, the food sector consumes nearly 30% of the world’s energy, and restaurants, in particular, are energy hotspots. According to ENERGY STAR, a U.S. government-backed program that promotes energy efficiency, dining establishments consume five to seven times more energy per square foot than the average commercial building. In high-volume fast food restaurants, the number can be even 10 times higher.

“Governments and businesses are investing heavily in reducing food waste. But what about the waste no one sees – energy lost daily in kitchens, cold storage, and poorly managed building systems? Until we address that, the food industry’s sustainability strategy will remain incomplete,” said Donatas Karčiauskas, CEO of Exergio, a company developing AI-based tools for real-time energy optimization in commercial buildings.

This concern is gaining momentum not just among energy efficiency experts but also in policy circles. In the EU, energy efficiency regulations are moving forward.

The revised Energy Efficiency Directive, which came into force in 2023, requires Member States to collectively reduce final energy consumption by 11.7% by 2030, with a strong focus on the building sector, including commercial kitchens and food production facilities.

In the United States, however, there’s no binding national target, but several federal and state-level programs are shaping energy efficiency in the food sector. For example, the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings Initiative works with commercial partners, including restaurants, to cut energy use.

One example is CKE Restaurants Holdings, which partnered with the Better Buildings Initiative to improve energy performance across more than 3,000 restaurants. Through upgrades to lighting, HVAC systems, and kitchen equipment, they cut energy use by 23%. But while large chains can often afford such investments, the reality is different for much of the industry.

According to the Environmental and Sustainability Indicators Journal, many food businesses face structural barriers to improving energy performance. These include high energy intensity of operations, the complexity of implementing technical upgrades, and the significant upfront costs – factors that especially burden smaller or independent establishments.

“Most of the energy waste we see in restaurants comes down to three things: outdated equipment, poor operational practices, and limited budgets. Cooking appliances, refrigeration, HVAC, and lighting systems are often run inefficiently or maintained irregularly, and that adds up fast on the energy bill,” continued Karčiauskas.

He adds that while the barriers are real, the solutions don’t always have to be costly or complex.

“Food systems are treated as resource-intensive by default – but they don’t have to be,” explains Karčiauskas. “Unlike food waste, which is messy and complicated to solve, energy waste can often be addressed with minimal investment using digital retrofits and AI-based controls. It’s one of the lowest-hanging fruits in food system decarbonization.”

Exergio uses an AI-driven platform that connects to existing systems – HVAC, refrigeration, and lighting – and uses real-time data to optimize them based on occupancy, indoor climate, and external conditions.

When installed in a building’s energy management system, such platforms continuously run self-diagnostic checks, predictive maintenance alerts, and performance benchmarks. Then, engineers can use the collected data to cut energy waste without disrupting operations. According to Exergio, it reduces energy waste up to 29%.

“The food industry has made progress on reducing food waste – now it’s time to apply that same urgency to energy. Whether you run a single processing plant or a global franchise network, the profit margins depend on how efficiently your facilities run. Digital retrofits do a lot for the climate, but they are also a business-critical infrastructure. They cut operating costs, eliminate energy waste, and strengthen resilience in a volatile market. That’s where the next big gains are hiding,” concluded Karčiauskas.

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