YUME attracts top Melbourne chefs in the war against food waste at MFWF
Eat at some of Melbourne’s best restaurants for one dollar and join YUME in the war against food waste. The World Loves Melbourne thinks this is a great concept in terms of sustainability.
On Saturday March 5, Melbourne’s restaurant community will come together to show their support for the war against food waste by offering one dollar dishes exclusively via THE YUME APP.
Some of Melbourne’s best chefs including Jesse Gerner (Bomba, Green Park Dining, Anada), Guy Grossi (Grossi Florentino), Joe Grbac (St Crispin) and Alejandro Saravia (Pastuso) are getting behind the event and will be posting a limited number of one dollar dishes on the app from 3pm to 4pm during “YUME HOUR”. All funds raised during YUME HOUR will be donated to Melbourne’s four main food rescue charities: OzHarvest, FareShare, Foodbank and SecondBite.
YUME, a new Melbourne based app that aims to provide restaurants with an easy-to-use tool to either sell or donate their surplus food, is the brainchild of food waste warrior, Katy Barfield. The founding CEO of food rescue organisations SecondBite and founder of Australia’s first social wholesale fruit and vege business Spade & Barrow, Katy hopes Melbourne – Australia’s culinary capital – will soon take the crown as the nation’s food-rescue capital.
“We are delighted to be part of an exciting 2016 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival program and to have won such strong support from the industry,” Katy said.
“Melbourne is a city of food lovers and home to some of the best food in the world, staggeringly Australians send an incredible$8 billion dollars-worth of edible food to landfill each year creating methane, wasting money, energy and resources used to grow, process, package and transport our food. We are well placed to become a global innovator as we seek ways to change this.”
More than 250 businesses have signed up since the app launched in June 2015. The concept is simple. When a café or restaurant finds themselves with a little too much of something, be it a sandwich, unsold specials, or leftover cakes, they simply pop it on THE YUME APP at 50% off for YUME’s growing army of more than 2500 “yumemembers” to snap up. Alternatively, food businesses can opt to donate their surplus food to one of YUME’s twenty partner community organisations that include Melbourne City Mission and the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre.
“With YUME, we all win,” Katy said. “Food outlets win. Community food programs win. The people that community food programs feed win. The planet wins. And of course, you win. You not only save a few dollars, you also do good with every delicious dish you rescue.”
From 3-4pm on March 5, some of Melbourne’s best restaurants and cafes will cook a limited number of snacks and dishes in support of THE YUME APP’S mission to create a world without waste. The snacks and dishes, or “yumeals”, will be constructed using surplus ingredients (think Guy Grossi’s cassata gelato made with surplus orange peel) and will be available for just one dollar, redeemable exclusively via THE YUME APP.
“It’s really simple,” says Katy. “You download the app on either the App Store or Google Play and enter an email address and password of your choosing. When you redeem an offer, you will be asked to enter your credit card details to finalise the one dollar payment.”
YUME HOUR is one of two events being hosted by YUME on Saturday March 5 as part of the 2016 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
Immediately following YUME HOUR from 4pm to 5pm, THE YUME APP is hosting the WASTING AWAY seminar featuring top industry panellists including the CEO of Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Natalie O'Brien, Watch My Waste researcher Dianne McGrath, chef Guy Grossi, The YUME APP founder Katy Barfield, Melbourne MP Adam Bandt and the manager of Corporate Citizenship for KPMG Australia Kaushik Sridhar. Facilitated by Cam Smith, who presents Eat It on Triple R, the seminar will discuss ways Melbourne is contributing to the war against waste. Entry is free.
To enjoy half-price surplus food from Melbourne’s top cafes and restaurants search and download YUME on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appster.yume&hl=en or App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/yume/id985487429?mt=8 Further information on the two events at this year’s MF&WF is available at www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au