Reducing Food Waste in Quebec: Tips from Merchants in Trois-Rivières

2023-09-29 22:19:41

Around 1.2 million tonnes of food is wasted each year in Quebec. On this food loss awareness day, here are some tips from merchants in the Trois-Rivières region who are making an effort.

An all-you-can-eat buffet: that means there will inevitably be some left over after the meal. Food that could have ended up in the trash, but not at Saveurs des continents. We donate it to an organization.

“The artisans make about a hundred meals per midday with what we give them. It’s certain that we can’t give them everything that’s seafood, those things, but everything that’s dough, frying, sauce…” explained the restaurant manager, Joanie Deshais.

We also offer smaller plates to avoid excessive serving of food, and we reduce portions, for example when cutting meat. The goal: waste as little as possible.

The Quebec Hotel Association also took on this challenge. Best conservation technique, close monitoring of inventory to be as close to reality as possible, donations to community organizations… Like at the Rouge Vin restaurant.

“We deal with all our surplus food with the Point de rue organization here in downtown. We have cold buffets, like sandwiches, hot buffets also like leftover chicken, rice… Every time we have something, we can send them,” explained the manager of the dining room, Louis-Philippe Picard.

At Pannetier in Trois-Rivières, we use the Too Good To Go application. The bakery offers baskets for $5, actually worth $15, and inside, we put quiches, sandwiches, soups, etc. In short, fresh products that cannot be frozen. This way, we can sell the stock the same day.

“We will freeze our unsold items at the end of the day like bread and pastries. We’re going to put them in boxes of six, at a discount, so it’s 50% off,” added the co-owner of the place, Olivier Letarte.

Sending leftovers to the trash doesn’t pay off either for the company or the planet. The pastries or breads are liquidated in a basket for one last time. Afterwards, we recycle.

“When we have products that have passed their three days of freshness, we take them, we cut them and we put them as dessert of the day. At lunchtime and in the afternoon, people come to dine,” Sylvain Gélinas.

The last tip to avoid waste is to spoil employees at the end of their day.

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#antiwaste #tips #TroisRivières

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