According to research the UK are the biggest culprits across Europe when it comes to food waste with the hospitality industry contributing to 12% of this and generating around 920,000 tonnes of food waste annually.

Wayne Wright, culinary development chef at Bidfood, has come up with six ways to help public sector caterers to reduce their food waste:

• Know your menu: Understanding your customers and their needs is essential, in which case you can regularly analyse your menu, ensuring it’s hitting what customers want.
• Mindful ingredients: With regard to ingredients, aim to use seasonal produce as much as possible, providing greater flavours in addition to a longer shelf-life.
• Educate your team: More than 3.2 million people are employed in the industry, so encouraging them with practical guidance on how to be more sustainable will make a real difference.
• Portion control: Pre-portioning food is another mindful strategy to implement in your kitchen, which helps staff know the sizing expectations of their servings.
• Reuse your peelings and fruit: Reusing fruit in chutneys sits well with Indian cuisines and British fusion dishes. Additionally, banana skin, often wasted, adds sweetness and fibre to your katsu curry.
• Timings and Storage facilities: Ensure fresh products are stored away in fridges at holding temperature, and that freezers are not under or over-freezing.