Good karma

Food waste is a huge problem in our industry, waste from producers, preparation and from customers. Increasingly strict EHO rules mean that most foods cannot be kept for more than a day and for restaurants that serve fresh, daily menus a slow day, mis ordering or recipe changing can leave you with left-over food at the end of service.  Thankfully due to our size, skilful teams and due to the nature of plant based foods our waste is relatively low. However, there are still some days where we don’t sell all we have of a particular item and we are faced with potential wastage. There are always hungry staff of course to help this issue but it is not a real solution to a problem that needs addressing.

Some scary facts//
 
1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year
 
Yearly CO2 emissions from food waste is equivalent to that of 3 million cars
 
Food waste equals 1 trillion dollars in losses, globally, annually
 
We were so happy this year to meet the people from Karma! Karma is a food app that lets restaurants connect to people looking for a good deal on food that would otherwise go to waste. 

To date Karma has saved 350 tonnes of food, 525 tonnes of cO2 which equates to 41,000 days of car use compensated. We’re proud to join Karma’s 2000+ strong global partners in being part of this mission to lessen the impact food waste has on the planet.  We are launching in all of our restaurants as Kama reaches London wide, the platform is easy to use and helps consumers make more sustainable choices, whilst highlighting this issue.

​We hope that more restaurants will follow suit and realise that waste isn’t just something that affects the GP. We are living in a time of abundance in the west but this will not last forever and whilst British and worldwide business throw away millions of tonnes of food, millions go hungry. If the restaurant industry can start to lead the way in their waste management we hope the food industry as a whole including the supermarkets and producers will also look towards innovative solutions. 

​Trying to ensure that any waste we do have gets used up, ideally sold and ensure that we are using up every bit of our food we work so hard to create.  Karma is an app that restaurants can use when they have surplus food. Surplus items are uploaded to Karma where their 100,000 London users are notified that it’s available for pick up at location. There’s no delivery logistics to work with which means more people through the door of our restaurants, problem meets solution!

We are both proud members of the Sustainable Restaurant association and we hope that more collaborations between, tech and solutions will happen to ensure that restaurants become for accountable for their contribution to Britains waste issues.  

The SRA is holding an event on 20th May to highlight the issues we all face as responsible restauranteurs and how we can all make a little difference to our impact on the world. We have always tried to lower our impact through our food choices, packaging and recycling. It is great to feel empowered by a movement that the industry is now taking seriously. If you work in hospitality or just care about how businesses are tackling environmental issues, the event will be well worth attending : )

#sustainability #foodwaste #compassionateliving #sustainablebusiness #fightfoodwaste