What If We Could Keep the Flavor We're Throwing Away?

Here's a question every caterer knows by heart: what happens to the food that never makes it onto the buffet?

Today (September 29th) is the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. The UN Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report 2024 estimates that 19% of the food available to consumers, about 1.05 billion tonnes, was wasted in 2022 across retail, food service and households. Food service accounted for 28% of that. I have spent more than twenty years in hotels, resorts, catering and a bakery, so that 28% is not an abstract number to me. I have stood over the bins.

Catering has a waste problem that restaurants don't. As I put it on Tracy Stuckrath's Eating at a Meeting podcast earlier this month, "we can't turn it over the next night, right? because we do that one and done event." A restaurant can work tonight's extras into tomorrow's menu. A caterer usually can't. The extra berries, the leftover sauce, the case of lemons with a few already soft on delivery: if they don't get used tonight, they often don't get used at all.

It started with a talk, not a business plan

In 2021 I bought a small freeze dryer for my home. I wanted to turn my garden into a rainbow of powders, and I wanted to use my peaches now, not just store them away for a rainy day.

A few years ago I was asked to speak at Catersource about sustainability in the kitchen. I told the room that if they had leftover dressing, salsa or sauce, they could freeze-dry it, and then "nothing is really being thrown away." People were excited. Then at the end, they asked me, "Where do we buy the products?" I wasn't selling anything. I was just sharing an idea.

But on the flight home, it clicked: "there is a massive need." When I researched it, most freeze-dried food I found was built for emergencies, long-term storage or the outdoors. Not for flavor, and not for how a chef actually works on a Saturday night. So I decided to build it. That became CITREVE, from "citrus revived."

How waste prevention shaped the product from day one

Waste wasn't a feature we added later. It was the reason for the company, and it shaped the first product line. We started with citrus and drink garnishes because that's where I kept seeing waste. Talk to the people running beverage programs and, in my experience, many will tell you they throw away a lot of citrus. You should get at least 8 to 10 slices from a regular lemon, and between trimmed ends, rushed cuts and fruit that turns before it's used, that often doesn't happen.

Here is what we designed for:

• Peak fruit, preserved. We wash, slice and hand-lay each piece, fully freeze it, then freeze-dry it. In my words, "we are freeze drying it right at its peak freshness," so the fruit is captured before it has a chance to go bad in a walk-in.
• Use what you need. Our jars list how many slices are inside, so you can plan by count instead of guessing how many lemons to buy. A slice goes into a drink and rehydrates in liquid; the rest of the jar stays on the shelf.
• Shelf stable, no cooler. No refrigeration means fewer cases spoiling before service, especially at off-site events.
• Nothing left on the plate. A dried citrus wheel can even hold an appetizer. "Now you can eat the plate."

We're also doing custom, portioned, chef-curated items for events on request. Picture a 500-guest off-site dinner where the kitchen sends exactly enough freeze-dried French onion soup and the team adds hot stock on site. "You are now ordering exactly the amount you need for the event."

Two things you can try this week

1. Count your citrus. For one event, track how many lemons and limes you buy, how many slices you actually serve, and how many go in the trash. That one number will tell you a lot about your food cost and your waste.
2. Rescue the fast spoilers first. If you have access to a freeze dryer, start with the things that turn quickest: fresh herbs, salsas, hummus, sauces, stocks and berries. Herbs from my garden four years ago still come back green in the pan. Pour a sauce into the tray and it comes out as a sheet you can rehydrate later. Just skip oils and vinegars. I learned that the hard way.

Where this goes next

My bigger vision is a community of sustainability. Down the road, I want to get chef-curated, shelf-stable meals to kids in school systems and to women's shelters, and to help find more intentional ways to share excess food.

I'd love to hear from you. What's the one ingredient your kitchen throws away most often? Tell me in the comments, and let's trade ideas on keeping it out of the bin.

#FLWday #FoodLossAndWaste #FoodWaste #Catering #Hospitality