Pub introduces mini portions in bid to tackle food waste

A town centre pub and restaurant has introduced smaller portions of some of its most popular dishes in a bid to combat food waste.

The Sun in Ulverston has created a British Classics menu for senior citizens, some of whom had commented the pub’s portions were too much. Now smaller versions will be cooked up by the chef, reducing food waste levels – and making lunchtime more manageable for those with smaller appetites.

The new menu will include classics such as slow-cooked steak and ale pie, haddock and chips, scampi and sausage and mash with onion gravy.

Professionals in the food retail and hospitality industry, along with social media influencers and chefs, joined forces on Monday 13 May to pledge to take action to tackle food waste.

Environment secretary Michael Gove and minister Thérèse Coffey were among the first to sign up to the pledge – which includes a goal to halve food waste by 2030 – and were joined by Nestlé, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose to help halve food waste by 2030.

At the event, Gove said: “Every year, millions of tonnes of good, nutritious food is thrown away. This is an environmental, economic and moral scandal, and I am determined to tackle it.”

Kirsty Mackenzie is a director of Lakeland Inns which owns The Sun. The company operates three pubs across the south Lakeland area; The Sun in Ulverston; The Commodore in Grange and The Black Cock in Broughton-in-Furness.

She said: “We take the feedback of our customers very seriously and it has become clear in recent months that many of The Sun’s older clientele find our standard portions too large. It never feels good to be throwing perfectly good food away, but that has been a reality, which is why we have launched the new menu to help cater for what our customers want, and also reduce the level of food waste in the pub.

“As a business, we are passionate about the environment. We make a conscious effort to ensure we do our bit – for example, our family-owned brewery, Stringers, is 100% renewably powered, while all of our pub stirrers and straws are 100% biodegradable. We’re of the view that every little helps.”