Cafe Spice Namaste has received the coveted Resource Management Business of the Year Award at the inaugural Waste2zero Awards held at Ham Yard Hotel.
The Waste2zero Awards were designed to celebrate the strides that companies in the foodservice and hospitality sector had made to demonstrate their commitment and excellence in waste management and prevention.
The winners are considered champions, and exemplars, in the industry’s efforts to curb food waste, which today is said to total some 92,000 tons of waste in the ‘out of home’ sector annually.
In winning the Resource Management Business of the Year award, Café Spice Namaste, Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala’s iconic Indian restaurant in the City of London, impressed the judges with its continuous innovation and ‘fresh thinking’ in food service sector waste management.
Since it began trading in 1995, the 110-seater restaurant has consistently applied measures to manage its resources and reduce costs, applying practices and installing equipment to minimise energy waste, food waste, pollution as well as to recycle and reuse paper and packaging. Café Spice Namaste was also among the first Indian restaurants to take part in the Mayor of London Food Save programme in 2014.
Receiving the award on behalf of Café Spice Namaste were Chef Patron Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL and Senior Chef and Head of Projects, Manpreet Singh Ahuja.
Cyrus Todiwala said:
“We are thrilled with this award. The challenge for us is to try and achieve an even greater standard where we are wholly certain that everything we create as waste is totally sustainable and ethical. We must continue to work so that we never fall short of our standards and continuously improve.
It feels great to be rewarded for all that we do. It is a recognition of many years trying to create a sustainable business, to the best of our abilities.”
Manpreet Singh Ahuja said:
“Winning the Waste2zero Award means a great deal. It helps to demonstrate that even small organisations, and family businesses, can make a big impact.
When seen purely from a ‘numbers’ perspective, the results we achieve may appear insignificant compared to larger organisations, but hopefully we can pave the way for others like us to be equally ambitious and committed. Thanks to Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala’s vision and initiatives, dedication and commitment, Café Spice Namaste is standing at the forefront of waste reduction and prevention, recycling, sustainability and social responsibility in the foodservice sector.”
Earlier in the autumn, Café Spice Namaste hosted a seminar on food waste organised by Trifocal London, a European Commission initiative led by Resource London, a partnership between WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and LWARB (London Waste and Recycling Board), which aims to ‘bring together a wide range of audience groups to communicate with Londoners on food waste prevention, food waste recycling, and healthy sustainable eating.’