From the beginning, we set out to be different. We didn’t want to be just another corporate caterer making and wasting food. Forty percent of all food prepared in the US ends up in the trash, and that percentage is way higher for traditional food service companies.
The root of the problem is overproduction and inaccurate consumption forecasting. For most, this would be the boring part of running a food company. For our COO, Abby, and Director of Culinary Innovation, Kim, this is where the fun begins. Through data analysis, strategic menuing and using more of the raw ingredient, we’re able to significantly reduce waste. We follow the EPA’s food recovery guidelines and prioritize source reduction which is reducing the volume of surplus food generated. The Food Hierarchy guides our decisions when we do overportion or have leftovers.
In every Sifted city, we donate leftovers daily to hungry people in our community through partnerships with food banks. Raw ingredient scraps and any leftovers that can’t be donated are composted. In Atlanta, we’re piloting a program to donate food scraps to a local farm for animal feed instead of composting. The last resort for waste is the landfill.
