Reducing food waste
We take a look at our caterer's new partnership with Waste Knot, who work to reduce food waste
This equates to 3.6 million tonnes per annum according to a report released by WRAP. If this wasted and surplus food had to be sold at market value, it would be valued at approximately £1.2 billion. Shockingly, this food tends to be either ploughed back into the ground, sent to landfill, burnt, processed as anaerobic-digestion, or used as animal feed.
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The reason this happens is down to a multitude of factors. One being a mismatch between precise quantities on market demand, resulting in farmers over growing produce to ensure demand is met. Another common cause is perfectly good produce not meeting stringent supermarket requirements. And of course, a factor out of anyone’s control, the weather. However, more recently a huge contributing factor is the lack of lorry drivers and other labour workers to pick, pack and transport produce from farms to supermarkets as an ongoing repercussion of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In steps Waste Knot who collaborate with farmers around the UK to give a new lease of life to surplus produce, that may otherwise be discarded for cosmetic reasons. Waste Knot then provides a fresh route to market by redistributing to the likes of Dining at Glyndebourne. Waste Knot works alongside the traditional way of doing things but gives growers a new market for their surplus fruit and vegetables to get them into chef’s kitchens and onto our new menu at Nether Wallop.
Executive Chef at Glyndebourne, Steve Groves says ‘Food waste is a huge issue and one that we should be helping to solve. We are in an ideal position to make positive changes and create a more sustainable operation through partnerships with the likes of Waste Knot. We are finding delicious ways of introducing Waste Knot produce in our menus especially in our new plant-forward dishes at the new Nether Wallop restaurant.’
When you visit in 2022 you will find an entirely new approach to dining in Nether Wallop restaurant. Forced to abandon self-service during the pandemic, we took the opportunity, in partnership with our long-standing caterers, Restaurant Associates, to rethink our catering offer. Nether Wallop has been transformed into a casual dining space with sustainability at its core. Working with local suppliers, focusing on ‘plant forward’ and utilising ingredients such as the catch of the day, the menu will be flexible to ensure food wastage is minimised and our carbon footprint is reduced.
Glyndebourne Members can read more about the changes on page 16 of Recit, our Members’ magazine.