Here is why you shouldn’t hire a zero-waste chef

I’ve heard from a few executive chefs that food waste reduction would be easier if they had a dedicated chef to deal with food waste and upcycle everything.

I happen to know a couple of dedicated zero-waste chefs who work in hotels or other large kitchens, and their responsibility is to find ways to upcycle all the byproducts that are created during production. 

They deal with all the things that chefs don’t utilise during their mise en place.

You would think this is a perfect setup, but the truth is that this is far from ideal. 

The reality is that what they now have in their kitchens is a bunch of containers labelled with the zero-waste chef’s name, for him to deal with it.

And also… food waste numbers went UP. Not down.

Why?

Because there is this comforting thinking that there is no reason to worry about food waste, as there is someone else who will deal with it. So it’s all good.

The chefs will never have to learn how to minimise waste in kitchens, because that responsibility has been offloaded from their shoulders onto someone else’s.

So technically, nothing really changes. A zero-waste chef in your kitchen is just a band-aid solution.

Learning to think like a zero-waste chef is better than hiring one.

What to do instead?

Teach your chefs how to THINK like a zero-waste chef. 

Train them in food waste prevention. 

It’s easier than you think.