Food Waste – the Work NHS Supply Chain: Food Are Doing To Help Reduce Waste in Trusts

NHS Supply Chain: Food have been empowering trusts to think differently about food waste, re-examining processes and changing mindsets, looking at food waste from start to finish, rather than just focusing on the end waste.

Key elements of a normal day in a hospital kitchen such as food preparation and presentation can be re-looked at to reduce the amount of physical food being wasted.

NHS Supply Chain: Food’s approach is whilst we do also need to reduce the amount of food that’s actively going into the bin, we can also help limit this by showing culinary staff in hospitals different ways to present the dishes, such as making the dishes look more modern or reducing portion sizes. This can increase their appeal and make them look more appetising, therefore encouraging patients, staff and visitors to finish their meals. 

The other side of the issue is ingredient and recipe optimisation. If you can amalgamate as many recipes and ingredients together your offer can become really streamlined, rather than having recipes that only need one key ingredient that you’d never use again. So we are helping trusts reduce waste in the actual production of food.

Small things can make a big difference – if you’re using a whole broccoli, use the stem and the stalk as well as the florets. There’s lots culinary teams in hospitals can do to reduce their waste, not just thinking of waste as an end product, but thinking of reducing waste all the way through the production of a meal. This is where we can assist trusts in reducing their food waste.

Idrees Anwar, Lead Dietician, NHS Supply Chain: Food

Another element that plays into the reduction in food waste in hospital kitchens can be the use of seasonal produce. Changing your mindset to look at the overall picture, using local and seasonal produce, reducing carbon emissions and the energy being used to produce the food.

Idrees spoke about using tinned apples that have been picked, canned and stored whilst in season, trusts can even reduce production time when the apples are opened and used, speeding up the delivery of an apple crumble for instance. Looking at time and energy wastage can play heavily into the issue of food waste.

NHS Supply Chain: Food have helped show trusts new ways of looking at food waste. This upskilling in trusts by NHS Supply Chain: Food has been invaluable to hospital catering teams. Making small changes like moving from individual cartons of fruit juice, and instead using larger cartons with reusable cups.  

The team produces a Seasonality Calendar for trusts, devising dishes that use in season ingredients, therefore reducing food miles, and also showing trusts different ways the by product of that ingredient or dish can be used to make something else. For instance, if you’re cooking British asparagus in season in June, the root trimmings can be used to make a tasty soup.

See our Downloads section to view Food Seasonality Calendar.

NHS Supply Chain: Food’s Culinary Ambassador Nick Vadis recently hosted a session aimed at showing new ways to manage food waste at the HCA Leadership and Development Forum 2025 in April, alongside chefs Alan and James Dougan from the Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS Trust. They cooked a Thai green lentil and potato soup, where they repurposed leftovers and vegetable remnants.

Managing food waste is key to help us all to manage costs, but also to help us to achieve our targets for Net Zero. We all have a part to play in this. Things often go in the bin that don’t need to go in the bin, and it’s so important to think about that when you’re writing your menus and when you’re cooking. Collectively we can effect change and help make a difference.

Nick Vadis, Culinary Ambassador, NHS Supply Chain: Food

Get in touch

If you would like support information on how NHS Supply Chain: Food can advise you about reducing your food waste and improving your food production methods, please contact your Regional Food Account Manager. If you would like to receive a copy of the Seasonality Calendar please also get in touch.