Who are you?
My name is Jason Sheardown, I am the Head Chef of Farm’r Prepared Meals. We are a chef-driven, prepared meals kitchen and delivery service committed to locally sourced ingredients and food sustainability.
Why is it important for you to be an eco-friendly restaurant?
According to a report from the United Nations issued in March, in 2019 households worldwide discarded 11 percent of the food they bought, with food services wasting 5 percent and retail outlets 2 percent. That adds up to a staggering 930 million metric tons of uneaten food. Food waste accounts for 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse emissions, but perhaps most strikingly it occurs against the stark backdrop of hunger, experienced by some 690 million people worldwide. We at Farm’r feel it is our responsibility to do everything we can to help reduce food waste.
What are the top 3 actions you have implemented to be an eco-friendly restaurant?
1. At the point of ideation of every recipe we develop we look for ways to use as close to 100% of every ingredient. Either within that recipe or waste captured within another menu offering.
2. As food waste in our production processes is identified we begin testing ways to utilize it in other applications. This has resulted in the creation of recipes for a pureed soup made from the skin and seeds of squash and a pesto made from herb stems and roots.
3. As a prepared foods delivery service we work with our packaging suppliers to create packaging that minimizes waste. Using only packaging that can be recycled, but more importantly minimal packaging for every food offering.
What are the top 3 actions you have taken to minimize food waste?
1. Developing recipes to minimize the waste generated by our food offerings.
2. Identifying any residual waste and developing recipes to reclaim it within our food offerings.
3. Using excess prepared foods in our staff meals.
All of these actions are part of a larger program we’ve implemented at Farm’r to build a culture around zero food waste. As a result, we have seen a progression from the team needing to be trained to a team bought into a team eagerly contributing to ways we can achieve our goals.
What KPIs are you using to control food costs?
We monitor by weighing our daily food waste output and mapping our progress towards zero. Since the implementation of these processes, we have seen a reduction in food waste by 65%.
Contact us to start your journey to reduce food waste!
Curious to learn how we can help you and/or your business to reduce food waste and improve your bottom line?
Let’s see how we can make it work! Request a free 25-minutes discovery session with Rethink2gether!
