DOUGLAS MCMASTER
Douglas McMaster is the founder of Silo - the world’s first zero waste restaurant. It’s safe to say he is an expert when it comes to organising plastic-free deliveries so we feel lucky to have chatted to him.
We have written up some of his amazing advice and split it up into each food delivery type. We hope you find it helpful!
“Change is coming. The greater the demand, the faster it will come”
Fruit and Vegetables
Avoid wholesale and go direct to suppliers.
Direct trade results in fresher produce. Consequently, delicate items don’t need to be wrapped in plastic to stop them from wilting in transit.
No direct trade?
Insist on loose trade from your wholesaler and reusable containers for perishables.
Hold off on buying your own crates.
The veg industry has enough reusable crates in its system so you shouldn’t have to buy any yourselves. Delivery drivers are busy and don’t like waiting around to take back boxes. So take a leap of faith, save your money and trust that you’ll end up with your own personal supply of reusable crates.
Silo’s Suppliers: Flourishing Produce, Shrub
DAIRY
Purchase stainless steel pails.
Silo bought 20x 7.5-litre pails from an eBay seller in Germany. At £12.89 each, even with the expensive delivery, this option was far cheaper than any UK supplier. First, confirm with your dairy supplier that they are willing to use pails before making the purchase.
Fasten the lids.
These easy to fill, easy to empty pails, need a little bit of plastic-free tape to keep the tops secure in transit. They are also very easy to clean!
The Estate Dairy are happy to supply more restaurants dairy in pails.
If you’re not based near them, then ask your local supplier - it should be much easier to organise outside of the big cities. The price for this change is expensive but in 2021, achieving plastic-free deliveries requires some sacrifice. Keep in mind this sacrifice has a colossal impact - it prevents Silo from wasting roughly 1000 plastic cartons every year.
Silo’s Suppliers: The Estate Dairy
DRY STORES
Go to the smaller businesses.
Ask what produce can come in zero waste packaging - many of Silo’s suppliers will understand straight away.
Avoid items that come in plastic.
Use the limitations this brings to encourage creativity in your team.
Silo’s Suppliers: Ren’s Pantry, Hodmedods, Biona, Suma, Duchess Farms, Cornish Sea Salt
FISH
Requesting plastic-free from wholesale fish markets is hard.
Unless you’re near the coast, the majority of your fish will come from a large wholesale market where depreciation of quality happens faster and there’s lots of waste. It’s still worth asking though!
Go direct to day boats.
The quality is far superior and you’ll be able to discuss packaging far more easily.
Silo’s Suppliers: Henderson’s Seafood, Kernow Sashimi (when Silo was based in Brighton)
MEAT
Ask for reusable crates.
Just like fruit and veg, meat suppliers will often have the appropriate crates within their system.
Request only peach paper.
Ask for all meat to be delivered with this and nothing else. Be aware though that some peach paper has the wrong coating that means it cannot be composted.
Silo’s Suppliers: The Ethical Butcher, The Ethical Dairy (retired dairy cow)
Thanks Doug!