KarunaNews Story

It started as a dare between friends; could the Montreal, Canada, chef, Guillame Cantin, take a dumpster dive and create a gourmet meal from the waste he found? Having worked in restaurant kitchens for 17 years, he could and did. “I went behind a grocery store and jumped into the dumpsters. I wasn’t surprised as much by the quantity of food I found, but I was surprised by the quality. If something isn’t edible, it’s understandable to throw it away, but what we found was beautiful food, still in the package,” Cantin said. That first meal was a veritable feast and Cantin was inspired to dig deeper on the issue of food waste. His dive into a dumpster led to a company that takes food waste from grocers, donates 67 percent of it to food banks, composts any unusable items, and sells the rest back to the consumer. By partnering directly with grocers, Cantin saves himself a jump into the dumpster, and the grocers get positive marketing and an opportunity to show their employees they are doing the right thing. Cantin has developed a line of high-quality marinades, sauces and jams that changes based on the produce available.