Small plates, big impact: how we reduce food waste one plate at a time
According to non-profit organisation Love Food Hate Waste, Kiwis waste $3.2 billion worth of food every year. Food is the single largest waste item in our landfills.
Think about this crazy situation – producers spend lots of energy making food and people spend loads of money buying food, but instead of eating it, we take it in trucks to the tip and bury it in landfill. In the landfill it breaks down anaerobically and gives off methane – a greenhouse gas 80x more potent than CO2!
At Big Fig Wanaka, a ‘no food waste’ philosophy has been baked into our model since day one. The way we buy, cook, and serve people food is fundamentally different and we can honestly say that no food waste comes out at the end of it. Here’s how we do it.
Plates that match your hunger
Small, medium, big – plates to match your hunger
In most eateries the only alternative plate size is a ‘kids meal’. At Big Fig you get to choose a small, medium or big plate, so you’re getting exactly the food you want and need. We’re about abundance, not excess. Whether you're after a light lunch, a post-Roy’s Peak refuel, or something in between, at Big Fig you're never getting more than you can eat. That means less food left over and more appreciation for every bite.
Tasty food, not wasty food.
The way we buy and prep our food also helps to reduce waste:
We buy only what’s in season so it’s always at its best.
Food arrives fresh every day and is mostly prepped that day, so there’s no chance of it ‘going off’.
What goes on your plate is exactly what you fancy – flavour-forward, tasty dishes you want to eat – no garnishes and nothing you didn’t choose.
We don’t have a menu full of items that are prepped but don’t sell. What you see in the cabinet is what gets eaten.
Leftover chicken transformed into our most popular snack
Leftovers become delicious do-overs
Because of our serving style there’s very little food leftover at the end of the night. Anything that can be, is repurposed – leftover chicken is shredded and turned into our famous Harissa Chicken Gozlemes, leftover potatoes go into our yummy meatball mix and even the pulp from our juice-making goes into our Juice Pulp Felafels. Any other food that can’t be reused can be taken home by staff. Anything that isn’t taken home goes into the pig buckets.
Scraps go to pigs, not bins
Some of our happiest customers
Of course, some food scraps are inevitable (we’re not magicians) — think veggie peels, prep offcuts, the roasted fat cap off the beef cheeks and the bits your kid didn’t finish. But that doesn’t mean they go to waste. A group of local pig farmers collect our food scraps every single day. Their pigs get a nutritious treat, and we keep 100% of our food out of landfill.
Freebies – giveaway coffee grounds and sourdough starter
Our coffee grinds go into staff or customers’ composts – they add nitrogen, aeration and moisture regulation to your pile – shout out if you want to come grab some. Also we have regular sourdough discard – we happily pass this on to you for your own sourdough adventures so if you want any - drop us an email to wanaka@bigfig.co.nz.