Real Talk: Taking a Completely New Approach to Food Waste

Jocelyn Doyle: Why do you think it's so important that we rethink our approach to food waste? 

Vojtech Vegh: Because it's not natural. The amount of food waste that we have is a human creation. We created our industries and then we created a system around those industries where we think of waste as a secondary thing, an afterthought — and that's an unnatural process. Nature does not have waste. Nature does not have by-products. We created the idea of a by-product. 

Jocelyn: So how can restaurants make zero waste the standard way of operating? 

Vojtech: You have to take it one step back — from reduction to prevention. Rather than thinking about your waste and your by-products once they’ve already been created, you have to think about it before they are created. That is the difference between reduction and prevention. 

I always say that food waste in the kitchen is not created on the prep table. It's created in the chef's office, when you already know what kind of a by-product you will have and how much of it you will have from your prep. That is the moment in which you need to decide what you are going to do with those by-products; thinking about it once they are created is too late, because that puts you into a constant cycle of non-stop upcycling, creating more and more new products that you don't even know how you're going to use. 

It's so important to design food waste prevention into your system at the same time as you design your menus. There is no need to make it completely zero waste — the idea is to be as close to zero as possible, rather than not having any waste. 

Jocelyn: What are the biggest benefits of cutting food waste? 

Vojtech: Money! You probably spend a lot more money on waste than you think. It’s easy to miscalculate the cost of waste because of the way we think about food. We think that we're trimming some by-products — that don’t have a lot of value — from the ‘main product’ — but we buy those ingredients in one piece. If I buy a watermelon, I’ve spent money on the watermelon rind as well as the red flesh. Whether I use both of those items is my decision. 

For me, the financial saving is one of the biggest drivers behind reducing waste. Food costs are a really big topic right now in restaurants, in hospitals, across the foodservice industry in general — and this is one of the ways how you can really bring those costs down. Right after that are, of course, the environmental reasons.  

What I like about food waste prevention is that it's a win-win-win solution. Different people have different motivations but, even if you are driven by financial savings, the pure fact that you reduced your food waste will result in a smaller environmental impact as well. At the same time, you will be using by-products like skins and peels that oftentimes contain the majority of the nutritional value of the product as well as the majority of the flavour — so you’ll end up with more flavour on your plate than if you do wasting those by-products. So you’re saving money, you’re helping the environment and you’re creating more delicious meals as well. It's a triple win. 

Jocelyn: So how can chefs design menus that reduce waste? 

Vojtech: You need to think about the by-product before you create it. For example, when you put mashed potatoes on your menu, you know at that point — at the moment you're writing the menu — that there are going to be potato peels produced in making those mashed potatoes. It’s at that point that you have to think about what you’re going to do with those potato peels and, most importantly, how they are going to be incorporated into your menu. 

You don’t necessarily have to use them in the same dish, but what role will the potato peels play in your menu? What can you do with them? You need to follow this process for every ingredient and every potential by-product. If I'm trimming carrots to make perfect carrot cubes or a mirepoix, then I know there is going to be carrot trim, so ideally I would have carrot purée in some shape or form somewhere on the menu. In the case of hotels, this gets even easier, because you’re not restricted to one kitchen, so you can use those items in a different outlets if you prefer. 

Jocelyn: What is your top advice for restaurants looking to minimise food waste? 

Vojtech: Start slowly. Take it slowly. Do one thing at a time. Don't try to become zero waste overnight or next week. Ideally, start at the top, looking at what creates the majority of your waste in the kitchen, and it might not be prep waste — it might be something else, such as overproduction.  

You should always be looking for the most impactful actions — not the ‘coolest’ actions. Ask yourself where the majority of your waste is being created and what you can do about that. Then, work to reduce that waste — not just by making it the second most wasted item, but by making it the least wasted item.  



Once you’ve done that, then look at your second most wasted item. Continue on, step by step, but focusing on one thing at a time. If it's a by-product, then try one recipe. Try one way how to incorporate into your menu and see how it works for you and how it works for your team. See what the response is and if it works, replicate the process on another product and then another and then another. Break it down into small actions every day, and in the long term you will create more impact than if you had jumped in and tried to do everything at the same time. (Don't ask me how I learned that!) 

Jocelyn: Can you share a particularly impressive or innovative example of of how you've seen a chef or restaurant tackle this? 

Vojtech: Well, one thing comes to mind. Yesterday, I was sent a photo of a drink in a restaurant that was made from watermelon rind. It was a twist on what would normally be a cucumber-based drink, but they used watermelon rind instead, and that is very cool. 

I have seen thousands of these small examples of how chefs incorporate things like that. To me, taking a small action right away is always more impressive than trying to design a system that you’ll do in two months’ time but you never actually do it. When I do my virtual masterclass for chefs, I love to see the following week that they are already doing at least one small thing. I love these small steps: small actions lead more small actions that will result in big actions. 

Jocelyn: Anything else you’d like us to share? 

Vojtech: To me, what’s worth highlighting is the reframe from reduction to prevention. For a very long time, the wrong message has been shared in the industry that we have to keep upcycling our food waste, recycling and all of these things. When I talk to chefs, before I can share what to do, I have to break down their objections that are built from this inaccurate message that’s been present in the industry for too long.  

Even up to a couple of years ago, if you Googled how to reduce food waste in a restaurant, you got all of these nonsense ideas written by people who have never been in the kitchen. I don't want to insult anyone, but advice for what you can do in the home kitchen can’t be replicated in restaurant kitchens. It's not going to work.

That perception is kind of still there, so when I talk to chefs, they're like, ‘Oh, but there is no time for upcycling —’ and I'm like, no, no, that’s not what we are doing here. You have to take it a step back and reframe the goal as prevention instead of reduction: that's the way to move forward. The constant recycling and upcycling narrative does not lead anywhere in practice. There is no point in creating new products if you don't what you’re going to do with them. Everything starts with menu development; that is the most impactful moment in the entire process because it holds the most influence over what ultimately gets prepared in the kitchen. You can't blame chefs de partie for creating waste if you are the person who wrote the menu.