Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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S ometimes, one phone call is all it takes to change the course of a business. That was the case for Thomas McQuillan, business analyst and head of special projects at Baldor Specialty Foods, one of the largest import- ers and distributors of fresh produce and specialty foods in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. When he received a request from Adam Kaye, vice president of culinary affairs at Blue Hill Restaurant, to purchase Baldor's excess scraps for Blue Hill's WastED program, he says, "It inspired us to look at these types of food items and see if we could redefine each as a food source that others could use." McQuillan asserts, "It was a pivotal point for us." For three weeks in the spring of 2015, chef Dan Barber turned his acclaimed restaurant, Blue Hill, in New York City into a pop-up where the entire menu consisted of dishes created with what most would consider food scraps. Anticipation made it tough to get a table, all of which were literally grown during the second half of February with compostable materials and mycelium (the resulting material is used commercially as a substitute for Styrofoam packag- ing). Baldor's items were repurposed into the Dumpster Dive Salad, which featured the distributor's carrot peelings, celery, cabbage, fen- nel cores, and apple and pear seconds. Ultimately, Barber and his team succeeded in opening its din- ers' eyes and palates to the potential of items that often land in the trash. And it did the same for its suppliers. Kaye says the process was "a reassessment of our value of what we deem as waste and what isn't. Not only is waste a financial loss, it's a hassle to get rid of. And if you're in the business of feeding people, any wasted food is abhor- rent to you." Many in the industry simply don't know how else to handle [food waste]. Kaye concedes, "It was a lesson for all of us." Today, McQuillan is spearheading Baldor's sustainability initiatives with the mission of eliminating 100 percent of its organic food waste—a task of epic proportions for a company that processes more than a quarter million pounds of produce each week. To do so, he created SparCs, which offers tops, bottoms, and peelings to chefs and manufacturers. What was once destined for the landfill has found a place at the table, fueling a trend that has the potential to change the way the industry handles excess food. Culinary Potential in Waste Identifying items that many would refer to as "ugly produce" or "scraps" as nutritious, delicious ingredients was a meaningful move by Barber. It added even more weight to a fervent movement of con- cerned chefs, farmers, retailers, producers, importers, and distribu- tors. With 40 percent of food in the U.S. going uneaten, according to the Natural Resource Defense Fund, redefining what we consider usable food is key to solving the country's food-waste problem. "In America, we tend to be pretty picky about what is usable and, in doing so, we've lost track of great, usable products," Barber says. "What we did with WastED—what Baldor is doing—that's not new. Historically, people ate kale leaf, stem and all. But kale rib is not as glamorous as kale leaf." Creating SparCs As a descendent of Balducci's, which began as a fruit stand in New York City's Greenwich Village in 1946, Baldor Specialty Foods, which was established as a separate company from the grocery chain in 1991, feels a responsibility to tackle the food waste issue. Prior to WastED, McQuillan admits, "our food scraps, we're not proud to say, were diverted and sent to the landfill." Previously, the company had implemented an EnviroPure system to break down food waste and turn it into nutritious water— and continues to do so—but the company's waste exceeded the amount the system can handle. "WastED opened our eyes to casting a wider net when it came to food waste. And we were inspired to create our own initiatives to address the problem," says McQuillan. SparCs—scraps spelled backwards—was the result. The com- pany has partnered with numerous businesses committed to using Baldor's excess items, like Misfit Juicery in Washington, D.C. "Currently we provide them with carrot tops and bottoms, water- melon pieces, and strawberry tops," and will provide whatever they request depending on the cold-pressed juices they're creating," McQuillan explains. "It's a partnership that is representative of the future of food waste elimination." "Food waste is not hard to find; there is so much of it in our country. The hard part is getting the right decision makers to make operational changes so that perfectly good but rejected food isn't left to the landfill," says Ann Yang, co-founder of Misfit Juicery, which offers five juices and seasonal varieties to 44 retail outlets. "They've been so progressive and forward-thinking in this regard," Yang says of Baldor. Each week, Misfit Juicery uses between 70 and 80 percent "ugly" or "surplus" produce to make its juices, sup- plementing it with items like turmeric, ginger and lemon, sourced locally whenever possible. "Not only is waste a fnancial loss, it's a hassle to get rid of. And if you're in the business of feeding people, any wasted food is abhorrent to you." SPRING 2016 75