<p>The effectiveness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as a framework for achieving the aims of Agenda 2030 has been subject to increasing critique and analysis. As 2030 approaches and deliberations emerge about a potential successor to the SDGs, there is a need to consider how to better enrol, account and support a wider range of organisations beyond nation-states and international bodies. Key to this is translating goals and targets conceived at the global level through national governments into the highly complex arenas of domestic business environments. This paper seeks to contribute to this burgeoning debate by examining business practices associated with the SDG target metric to halve global food waste by 2030. A case study approach is adopted to explore the management of food waste by hospitality and food service businesses in the Colombian city of Medellín and potential connections with SDG related national policy. A mixed methods approach was adopted, combining a business survey and interviews, alongside a desk review of key policy processes and evidence. The study finds that hospitality and food service businesses routinely address food waste at an operational level. Moreover, the study suggests significant opportunities to support a wider adoption of effective managerial practice. Measures related to food surplus prevention and reuse, combined with better monitoring and reporting within the sector can contribute towards national commitments to meet the SDG target to halve per capita global food waste. The nature of organic waste as a substantive challenge for the hospitality and food service sector is also set out.</p>