Britain's restaurants throw away more than 600,000 tons of food each year, or 22 tons per eatery, which means that half a kilo of food is wasted every time someone eats out, according to the first detailed waste snapshot of the sector.
Nearly one-third of all wasted food comes back from customers' plates, suggesting that British restaurateurs are following the lead set by their American counterparts and serving portions that are too large.
The bulk of the rest is thrown away during the preparation stage, according to a report published by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA).
Some of the chefs surveyed in the report are already learning from the research. Nitin Padwal, head chef of Petrichor, at the Cavendish Hotel, said he was surprised that so much preparation waste was discarded. "The majority of it was orange skin and potato peelings. Now we are using up the potato peelings still with good potato bits on and doing skin-on chips for the staff canteen and orange marmalade for our breakfast in the restaurant," he said.
Michael Howie, head chef at the Three Stags gastro pub in north London, said: "The numbers from this survey will really help staff to understand how much food waste we produce here, and why it's important to try and reduce it."
A Japanese chef in Sydney may have the answer to plate waste - If you don’t clean your plate, don’t come back. Those who leave food behind at chef Yukako Ichikawa’s restaruant, Wafu, are informally banned from returning. As she put it, “(When they try to return), if I remember their face, I say no,” Ichikawa said.
In addition to that hard line, Ichikawa also provides an incentive for her customers to eat all of their food.Diners able to polish off their old-fashioned Japanese meal get 30 percent off their bill and an invitation to join Ichikawa’s exclusive list of more than 800 regulars.
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