Local Initiatives

Kausmo: minimal waste dining

Kausmo is a fine-dining restaurant under the Les Amis Group, conceived and run by chefs Lisa Tang and Kuah Chew Shian. The restaurant practices minimal waste cooking, making full use of each part of the ingredient and any residual waste from food preparation. The founders hope to spark conversation about current commercial kitchen norms, which produces significant amounts of food waste; and promote more thoughtful and conscientious attitudes towards dining.

Here are some of the practices Kausmo adopts to minimize kitchen waste.

Sourcing locally/regionally available ingredients, such as blue pea flower and ayang rajah. Getting food from nearby sources reduces transport and storage waste incurred in long-haul shipping from further sources, and supports local producers.

Utilizing the whole ingredient. An ingredient that has been fully utilized by the chefs is a seabass. The loin is what the seabass is mainly used for, but the chefs made use of other parts for different dishes. The roe of the seabass is smoked and paired with sourdough. The belly is made into a snack, and the fleshier side is served separately. The more oily parts that cannot be eaten alone is made into a broth.

Cooking with ingredient rejects. For instance, the Kausmo chefs once received a batch of vine-ripened tomatoes. Retailers usually prefer to sell such tomatoes on the vine, but these were over-ripened and fell off the vine. The batch was thus rejected despite being perfectly good tomatoes. To utilize them, the chefs made a hot sauce out of the tomatoes.

Kausmo holds a good example of how a food retailer can reduce the amount of food waste generated.

1 Scotts Rd, #03 – 07, Singapore 228208

OLIO: Share it!

Founded in Britain in 2015, the resource-sharing app has 1.2 million users worldwide. Both food and non-food items can be listed on the app to be given away for free to those who need it more. Olio’s co-founder Tessa Clarke states that Singapore is the Asian market in which Olio has seen the most growth. The number of local users has increased from 2,080 in 2015 to 15,000 today in 2019.

Users list the food/non-food items that they want to give away under the respective sections, with a photo, short description, and collection method. Other users can then request for the listing via the chat function and arrange for an appointment to collect the requested item. To facilitate convenience, the app has also incorporated distance to show browsing users listings based on how far away they are from the lister’s position.

I use the Olio app too. It is a good place to list your unwanted but still consumable food items. Also being Singaporeans, who doesn’t like free food?

I requested for some rice crackers and a mamee snack from another user.

Consumable and tastes great!

A packet of Sour Patch Kids confectionery that I couldn’t finish. It was claimed by another user on the same day!

Some advice on using the app:

Some users who prefer doorstep collection may live out of the way, so get your navigation tools ready.

Best before and use by dates are also a point of contention amongst the users. Some dates beyond their expiry date are also being listed for giving away. It is important to know what items are still edible past their best before or expiry date, and which are not.

Here is an article that explains what foods can be eaten after their best before dates, and how to store and use them to maximise the usage of pantry stock.

Download the app on Google Play today!

Unpackt: Zero-waste supermarket

Founded by Ms. Florence Tay and Mr. Jeff Lam, Unpackt is a small supermarket that practices and promotes zero-waste habits. Their zero-waste efforts go beyond food waste; they also aim to reduce other forms of waste such as packaging and plastic waste.

Lam was inspired by his experience in Singapore as a bachelor. He feels that shopping in mainstream supermarkets in Singapore is not conducive for single people as most food items in supermarkets are packaged in larger portions, and people who live alone or have a small number of people living in their household have to buy the fixed portion, resulting in tremendous food wastage. Tay found a solution to this after seeing a video of a zero-waste grocery store on Facebook and shared it with Lam, who found it appealing too. Hence, Unpackt was born.

Shopping at Unpackt, you can help combat food waste by buying only the amount you need as food items are sold by weight.

Their prices are also affordable and hence easy on the pocket!

To promote eco-friendly practices, Unpackt also sells other products that promote environmental integrity, such as soaps, organic cleaning solutions, and reusable straws.

Address: 6 Jalan Kuras (it is located in the Upper Thomson area)