Why sustainability in food biz is need of the hour

Nowadays everyone is focusing on special menu, zero waste etc. to avoid wastage. One more thing that tends to get overlooked in most of the kitchens is wastage of water, although now people have started taking care of this issue, by moving to water saving drainage systems. Restaurants across the globe are looking at sustainability at their core!

“We have trained our staff as per the industry standards. We are very conscious about all that we do, from supporting local to utilizing everything that is leftover in our kitchen to having organic vegetables in our dishes. All peels and bones are being used for broth or stock,” shared Shaan Sarin, Co-founder and CEO, Teo Lounge and Bar.

Also Read: Starbucks joins Transform to Net Zero, focus on sustainability goals

Not only this, whenever somebody is eating at a restaurant they need to be socially aware about the source of ingredients, the temperature at the plate has been kept, is he being given cotton napkin instead of paper napkin. And, all those things ultimately have a cost, environmental effect wherein sustainability is concerned.

“If there is something to be thankful for during the lockdown, it is the adoption of zero-waste cooking. Zero-waste cooking is the sustainable use of every part of an ingredient used in cooking in order to reduce wastage. Most of the restaurants had borne a huge amount of loss in this lockdown, therefore many restaurants have decided to cut down their expenses as well as trying to get most out of waste,” pointed Harsh Gupta, Owner, Breakin'Brew who shared that the day he opened his restaurant, he decided not to waste anything from his restaurant kitchen, initially they decided to make different soups out of left over of vegetables for their team members which can’t be use for food preparation. Also, they have started decomposing waste vegetables and their peels to use in future for in-house plants. They are also planning to donate the food packages to poor, and are still in conversation with NGO’S who are in this sector. 

Also, keeping a track on disposability is very important part of sustainability program. We should be well aware about where does our food waste get disposed and what has happened to the left over foods etc when we are thinking sustainability.

May Interest: How to create a Zero waste kitchen

“Change doesn’t happen in an instant, but by taking many small steps restaurants can strive to reach the goal of zero waste kitchens, we can grow herbs at home, buy only what you need, pickle it preserve it, Donate and recycle. The restaurant industry generates a lot of waste. We use each and every ingredient that received in the kitchen which helps us to keep the cost low and makes zero waste, pickling the vegetables with vinegar to minimize the wastage, Plastic storage replaced with steel containers  most people throw outer cabbage leaves away but we make sauerkraut which goes with many dishes as an accompaniment,” added Chef Himanshu Dhondiyal from Sixth Emperica.