How to run a restaurant without creating any waste - with Alice Gilsenan from Tiny Leaf
This episod our guest is Alice Gilsenan. She is the co-founder and marketing director of Tiny Leaf – a zero waste restaurant in London serving vegetarian, vegan and organic food. The restaurant takes surplus food from local suppliers and bases a vegetarian and vegan menu around the food they receive. The menu changes on a daily basis depending on the food available which also helps ensure waste is minimised. Anything that cannot be used in the restaurant is then composted, recycled or donated to local food banks if possible – so there really is nothing wasted at all.
The conversation covers where the inspiration came from to start the restaurant, how exactly the model works, what zero waste means to Tiny Leaf and why it was also important for them to deliver solely vegan, vegetarian and organic food. We also talk about the scale of the problems they are trying to address, how the business might develop in the future and which other indviduals and businesses are doing great work in similar areas.
It's a fascinating conversation that will be of particular relevance to anyone who has an interest in reducing food waste, especially within the food industry, but also to anyone who is interested in sustainability more generally.