Food waste currently costs the Scottish hospitality industry around £212m annually.
More than 35 Glasgow hospitality venues have joined together as part of a new initiative designed to address food waste and its impact on climate change. Ahead of the official launch date (October 12), the team behind ‘Plate up for Glasgow’ has unveiled the venues taking part, inviting bookings from tomorrow (Tuesday 5 October).
As part of this hospitality-led initiative, scheduled to coincide with COP26, diners can look forward to sampling a range of sustainable Food Hero dishes and drinks created by some of the city’s best chefs from 12 October – 12 November inclusive. Plus, bookings are now live for you to tuck into some innovative dishes.
All dishes are designed to showcase at least one of four food waste reduction techniques, challenging traditional and wasteful dining and takeaway business models with the goal of sending as little organic waste as possible to landfill. These techniques include rethinking existing menu items; showcasing food preservation techniques; using unfashionable cuts of meat and or creating a dish from surplus or donated food.
Dishes and drinks available to order as part of the Plate up for Glasgow initiative include, ‘the “humble” cauliflower with almond pesto and Mossgiel ricotta from Eusebi Restaurant and Deli, which uses the whole cauliflower from its leaf right through to its core; pig head croquettes with fried egg, capers and anchovies from The Duke’s Umbrella; and Spare Parts – a zero-waste beer by Drygate, brewed using surplus ‘waste’ bread which acts as an aid to fermentation.
Ahead of launching, a ‘Plate up for Glasgow’ showcase event was held at Drygate Brewery to bring together several food and drink venues taking part in the initiative and allow guests to taste-test some of the dishes which will be available in restaurants throughout the month-long campaign.
Rebecca Ricketts, Campaign Lead for Plate up for Glasgow, said: “Food waste currently costs the Scottish hospitality industry approximately £212 million annually and is recognised to be a bigger cause of climate change than plastics. Through Plate up for Glasgow we hope to bring the industry together, giving them a better chance of rebuilding post the pandemic whilst learning collaboratively how to become sustainable and profitable for the future.”
The full list of participating hospitality venues includes: Alston Bar & Beef, Barr Vini, Bowl, Brett, Broken Pony, Café Gandolfi, Chaophraya, Crab Shakk, Drygate, Embargo, Eusebi Restaurant & Deli, Five March, Glaschu, Go Sangatsu, Grain and Grind, Hug and Pint, Ka Pao, Mharsanta, Mono, Nonna Said, Ox and Finch, Phillies of Shawlands, Porter & Rye, Riverhill Coffee Bar, Serenity Now, Soul Food Kitchen, Sprigg, Stereo, The Battlefield Rest, The Dapper Mongoose, The Dukes Umbrella, The Finnieston, The Gannet, The Gate, The Prancing Stag and Ziques.
‘Plate up for Glasgow’ is being piloted by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce through its Circular Glasgow initiative and funded by Experience Glasgow Food and Drink Regional Group. Eusebi Restaurant and Deli is the campaign’s lead hospitality partner.