Pendle Hill restaurant signs with YWaste app for food wastage
A western Sydney business has signed on with an up-and-coming app to solve a major problem plaguing the owner’s conscious and back pocket; food wastage.
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Each night Amy Ramachanderen would throw away trays full of leftover food at her Malaysian and Indian restaurant.
The Pendle Hill business owner grew up savouring every last bite of her home cooked meals when she lived in her home city of Penang, Malaysia, but when she arrived in Australia 10 years ago struggled with the turbulent pace of opening a small business and customer flows.
“Some days we would have no food left over and plenty of customers other days we would be left with so much and I would have to throw it away, it made me so sad I wanted to cry,” Ms Ramachanderen said.
“There were nights when I said I don’t want to cook anymore, why should I when so much is going to waste.”
Ms Ramachanderen is the only Indian-Malaysian restaurant, Ungal Ammas, operating in Sydney and began searching for a way to get the news of her restaurant out and save money on wastage.
“I didn’t want to throw good food away and I wanted a kind of marketing so more people could taste my food,” she said.
In stepped Y Waste a phone app which sells leftover food each night before the restaurant closes.
Founder and chief waste officer Donny Chien said more restaurants are looking to act on food wastage like at Ungal Ammas.
“It’s a pot luck of sorts,” Mr Chien said.
“You sign up for the app and get whatever is left at a discounted price, so it’s opening up a new audience for businesses.”
While saving her spicy sambals from the trash, Ms Ramachanderen was also keen to give back which the app allows.
“Considering that one in three 18- to 23-year-olds are food insecure we are working with organisations like Foodbank to feed the hungry in our own communities,” Mr Chien said.
Ms Ramachanderen had a similar project in Malaysia where she would take the remainder of food to local orphanages.
“I have always been anti-food waste,” she said.
“I’m really glad I’ve been able to change my business and see new people who would never try Indian-Malaysian food before.”
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