Guest blog by Chef Vojtech Végh, Zero-Waste Culinary Advisor at Winnow
Whether reducing food waste is on your New Year’s resolution list or not, there is no hiding from the facts: hotel kitchens waste 5%-15% of all food purchased. Prep waste alone (otherwise known as ‘trimmings’) accounts for up to 20% of this.
But this waste isn’t just a kitchen problem: it’s a kitchen opportunity. Most of what we throw away is perfectly edible.
And if we can use more of what we have, we’ll save money, reduce our environmental impact, and unleash new creativity in our dishes: it’s a triple win.
So why not start right away? Here are my three top tips – the ‘3 Ms’ – to get you started in 2025.
‘M’ is for measure your food waste
If you don’t measure your food waste, you don’t know what’s in your bin. As chefs, we tend to consistently underestimate the amount of waste we produce in our kitchens; and it’s hard to take action if we don’t know where to start.
Measuring food waste with easy tools like Winnow will shine a light on exactly where your food waste comes from. This data is invaluable if we want to start reducing food waste in an impactful way.
‘M’ is for maximise the use of every product
Do we really need to peel all our vegetables? How much trimming is actually necessary, and how much of our food waste is edible? These are the questions to start asking yourself on a daily basis.
Common kitchen by-products include potato peels, watermelon rinds and pineapple peels – however, all of these items are edible, delicious and nutritious.
Make the most of every product you work with. Skip peeling the potatoes or collect the potato peels and turn them into a new product – such as potato peel puree or potato peel crumble. Use watermelon rinds in your curry, chutney or fritters. Cook the pineapple peels with spices to make a delicious drink.
Every ingredient in our kitchen presents new culinary opportunities. Change the way you look at them – what if these byproducts could actually be the main product we look to use?
‘M’ is for map your food waste in your menus
The menu development process is the single most impactful moment where food waste can be prevented. Think about the potential amount of byproducts and trimmings as you write your new dishes. This single step will make your life in the kitchen a lot easier. After all, most of the food waste is created in the chef’s office, not in the kitchen.
Bonus tip: do one thing at a time
It’s important to be creative, but it’s equally important to focus on one thing at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many new ideas at once. Try one new recipe or technique in your kitchen and see how it works for you. Then move on to the next. Take it step by step to see what makes the most impact.
Putting it into practice: a case study with Red Carnation
If you’re still not convinced food waste should be a 2025 priority, let’s look at the numbers. I recently worked with Winnow and chefs from seven Red Carnation Hotels to put the ‘3 Ms’ into practice.
The team started by measuring their trimming waste to understand exactly what was going into the bin. With the right data to hand, they were able to map out new menu ideas which maximised the yield of every ingredient: watermelon rind became a chutney, pineapple peel turned into syrups for cocktails, and molasses made from fruit trimmings replaced treacle (a costly ingredient to buy in) in Red Carnation’s house soda bread recipe.
The creativity the team tapped into was truly inspiring, and in just 6 months, trimming waste was reduced by an incredible 40%. Like I said – it’s a win-win.
Inspired to reduce your own trimming waste in 2025?
Check out Winnow’s Trimmings to Treasure demo series to learn how to upcycle watermelon rinds, leafy greens and bread. Plus, sign up to Vojtech’s upcoming From Trimmings to Treasure: Three Steps to Reducing Food Waste webinar here.