What does zero waste mean at Horto?

That we design the menus so the trimmings of one course become the ingredient of the next. Ninety-six per cent of what comes in is used; the rest goes back to the growers for the animals, and nothing reaches landfill.

How do you reduce waste in the kitchen?

Weekly planning around what actually arrives, fermenting and preserving to stretch the season, and an accounting of trim that treats it as an ingredient.

Practice · 04

Zero waste.

Waste is a design fault. At Horto we write the menus so that the trimmings of one course become the ingredient of the next. What is left goes back to the growers, for the animals.

Raw ingredients used

Returned to the producers

Waste to landfill

Active ferments

The waste cascade

A dish generates trim, peel, stalks and bone. None of it is waste by definition: the peel becomes a powder, the stalk a broth, the bone a stock. The trimmings of one course are the ingredient of the next.

The ferments

Fermenting, pickling, drying: techniques that extend the life of a product by weeks. They hold a flavour on the menu after its season has closed, and they take the panic out of disposal.

What is left

The four per cent that does not re-enter the cycle goes back to the growers as animal feed. Nothing reaches landfill: waste is a design fault, not a fact of life.

Herbs and vegetables from the Horto supply chain

Frequently asked questions

What does zero waste mean at Horto?: That we design the menus so the trimmings of one course become the ingredient of the next. Ninety-six per cent of what comes in is used; the rest goes back to the growers for the animals, and nothing reaches landfill.
How do you reduce waste in the kitchen?: Weekly planning around what actually arrives, fermenting and preserving to stretch the season, and an accounting of trim that treats it as an ingredient.