Turning table on Food Waste. Mega Kitchen take a lead by Chef Satish Arora
In the bustling world of mega kitchens, as prestigious as The Taj, where culinary creativity knows no bounds, there lies a quiet yet formidable challenge: Food Waste. Chef Satish Arora, Director Food Production, Ex Taj and Taj SATS Air Catering Limited, explores innovative strategies and practices to tackle the mega issue.
Food wastage is not new to our industry. In fact it has always been a topic of concern. Over the years this issue has become far more concerning as the contributing factors have increased. Ease of importing products, higher level of inventory due to multiple restaurants, elaborate menus, limited shelf life, freshly cooked meals, seasonality of products, global warming are some of the key contributing factors that cross my mind. Food waste in our industry is often categorised as food that was not consumed by the guest which is disposed; such as plate waste i.e. food that has been served but not eaten, spoiled food, trimmings from fruits, vegetables, and meats which cannot be used in constructing dishes or are deemed unfit to be served to the customers.
Chef Satish Arora has been reigning the culinary world for close to six decades now. He entered the culinary world when it was still not considered as a popular career choice. At the age of 26, he was the world’s first youngest executive chef to head the kitchen of a 5 star hotel, none other than The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. Famous personalities like Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Margaret Thatcher, Neil Amstrong, Bill Clinton, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, François Mitterrand, Bob Hawke, Zubin Mehta, many Presidents of India, and other dignitaries, diplomats and celebrities comprise his guest list. He completed his Catering Diploma from Institute of Hotel Management, New Delhi, in 1966, and since then there has been no stopping him. He has won a plethora of awards on both Indian and international platforms, which include a gold medal in Culinary Olympics in Japan in 1987. He was proclaimed one among the world’s 20 best cooks by a German Food Magazine in 1991. In 2007, he was awarded with the lifetime achievement award from Curry Club India in London. The simple yet scrumptious Chilli Cheese Toast, a favourite snack of many, that we all love to indulge in, was created by Chef Satish Chopra.
I categorise wastage into two aspects:
a. Direct wastageb. Indirect wastage
Direct wastage includes trimmings, leftover food, expired ingredients, spoiled/rotten ingredients, stale food, products considered not fit to be served such as high in sodium, split cream, too sour, burnt etc. It is a known fact that buffets served in hotels are a big contributor to the wastage. It has been proven that just over half the food that is served on the buffets is actually eaten.
Indirect wastage is when we cook more than required, where the portion size is not controlled. This is termed as a give away and is categorised as indirect wastage. In my opinion food waste is not limited to being a social concern it is in fact an environmental one too. The energy and resources that go into producing food is indirectly wasted as well, which includes electricity, water, harvesting, transportation, packaging and many more related aspects that form a part of the supply chain. Landfill used to dump food waste where it rots releasing methane, a greenhouse gas, even more potent than carbon dioxide, is not good for our environment.
Food waste management training should be mandatory for new joiners with refresher courses for long serving staff.
There are ways to put a curb on food wastage which cannot be eliminated but surely can be reduced significantly if the correct efforts and planning are put in place. Here are some suggestions to minimise food waste, which a majority of mega kitchens follow.
- Correct ordering driven by yield management, minimising buffer stock, and robust forecast based on historic data can contribute immensely to reduce waste. It is equally important to track food waste by conducting regular food audits. Another basic system is a food wastage log which keeps a track on what has been thrown.
- Shelf life of both cooked and uncooked food components plays a big role in minimising wastage. The ‘First In First Out’ principle needs to be managed efficiently and effectively. It is a common issue with large kitchens where FIFO is not followed leading to expired stocks and wastage. Slow moving ingredients should be flagged up in weekly meetings ensuring that they are used well in advance of their expiry date.
- Plan the leftovers from parties in buffets. Consider using the same for staff canteen as well as encourage guests in restaurants to take their leftover food home with them. Associating with charitable organisations serving the underprivileged is another avenue of collaboration which can reduce wastage, and put in use the food which has been cooked more than the demand.
- Creating awareness is imperative, and staff should be trained with tools to help them in understanding the importance and seriousness of food wastage. The responsibility should come from within along with complete understanding of the impact food wastage has on our ecosystem. Food waste management training should be mandatory for new joiners with refresher courses for long serving staff.
- With advanced technology now in place, hotels should tie up with composting partners ensuring that food waste is managed effectively. I conclude with my thoughts with a deep concern of the pressure we are putting on our natural resources and it becomes our responsibility to carefully use our resources, especially the food we eat.
