Tackling food waste with sous-vide

In the Café des Amis, located in Missouri, USA, owner Guillaume Hanriot wanted to tackle the issue of food waste to reduce costs.

“We often had problems with assessing the correct amount with all dishes, which in turn meant that there were a great deal of leftovers,” recalled Guillaume.

In early 2013, the cafe introduced the sous-vide method, where meat, fish and vegetables are sealed in a vacuum bag and then cooked at relatively low temperatures of 50 to 85°C in a water bath.

“Since we package the raw foods and ingredients in vacuum bags, their shelf life has been extended to up to 30 days. Vacuum-packed food that has already been cooked has a shelf life of up to seven days,” said Guillaume Hanriot.

Café des Amis purchased a Multivac C200 vacuum chamber machine, a compact stainless steel tabletop machine with a 465 mm sealing bar. The C200 offers precise setting of desired sealing time and can store popular recipes for future use. It has a glass viewing window for accurate monitoring of the evacuation process, automatic progressive ventilation for gentle packaging of softer, liquid or more delicate products, and vacuum quick-stop in the case of burst bags. It also features a clean double-seam sever-seal. It is easy to clean due to its hygienic design with a removable sealing bar and filler plates, and the absence of corners, edges or areas for contaminants to collect. The machine is suitable for a range of products, film pouches and pouch sizes.

Thanks to sous-vide, the owner of Café des Amis can now prepare the portions without being rushed and has a better handle on portion size. The kitchen and refrigerator are cleaner because all the ingredients are stored in sealed film pouches.

Multivac sous-vide thermostat for slow cryogenic cooking.

Guillaume Hanriot attributes the consistently high ratings by his guests to the sous-vide cooking process and the newly structured kitchen processes. “We now have more control regarding hygiene, inventory, consistency and costs. The sous-vide method is perfect for our small kitchen. Our profit margin is now significantly higher as we are able to offer premium cuisine with fewer leftovers and waste.”