Finding sustainability at catered events: Q&A with B. Lin Catering
Since 2012, B. Lin Catering has been serving food at events ranging from weddings to government functions. Based in Washington, D.C., the company recently upped its sustainability game with a Food Waste Innovation Grant from the city’s Department of Small and Local Business Development. Now they’re composting at least 50 pounds of food scraps per week and have donated 100 pounds of prepared foods. RescueDish’s Rachael Jackson checked in with company founder Ben Lin about composting, donation, herb-growing and other measures that help reduce catering’s “foodprint.”
What have you done with the Food Waste Innovation Grant?
We've done a few things. One is we started composting. We go through two 35-gallon totes a week and hopefully we can expand that as we grow.
We partnered with Love and Carrots. They built us a nice herb garden bed out front which allows us to grow some of our own herbs. So for tastings or smaller events, we just go out front and grab the herbs we need.
The big final piece was partnering with Food Rescue US and having them pick up excess food either from client events or if we overproduce. Then, during low season we go through our inventory of frozen foods and we donate excess to Food Rescue. Our partnership has saved about 100 pounds of prepared foods from going to the landfill and instead going to nonprofits and communities in need.
B. Lin catering serves food at weddings, government functions and everything in between.
Has paying attention to waste had any unexpected benefits?
We have gotten a little more waste conscious. We started using extra meats or vegetables for staff meals or we use it in stocks and sauces. I would say a positive is that when it's hot and the compost stinks, our employees don't like the smell. So they actually started ordering more efficiently so there's less waste.
And, the herb garden is open to anyone to grab herbs. So our employees will grab herbs. We've opened into the community in case they want some as well.
B. Lin Catering grows cilantro, dill, tarragon, rosemary, thyme, and chives in an on-site herb garden that’s open to the public. The garden was created in partnership with Love and Carrots and was funded by a Food Waste Innovation Grant from the city of Washington, D.C.
What are your current challenges in reducing your food waste?
As a caterer the challenge that you run into is your clients want to make sure there's enough food. You never want to run out of food. So, a lot of times you over order.
Sometimes it works out and sometimes you just have a ton of leftovers because you don't really have control over how much your guests are going to eat. Thankfully we have some clients that will keep the food and donate it themselves or eat leftovers for weeks.
Another challenge of being a caterer is that a lot of organizations won't take already cooked foods. They want prepackaged or uncooked food. But Food Rescue will take cooked meals.
Do you find that there's more waste with plated or buffet style events?
I would say buffet.
Why is that?
Because you’ve got to portion more, you don't know how much someone's going to take. Overall, there's less food waste with plated meals because every person gets the same amount.
There's different ways to look at it though. I've never done the calculations but for a plated meal you're also using more equipment, more plates. It's more cleaning, more washing, more labor, So there's that and then on the buffet side there's more food waste.
Do you ever bring out to-go containers toward the end?
Depending on the client. Some clients want it and we'll put containers out and people take food. Sometimes the client just wants to keep it all. It’s usually the private clients that are a little more cautious because it's their money. It's usually the companies that don't care as much, like, “Hey, I have this budget, I gotta use it.”
You’re currently composting kitchen scraps. Do you also compost at events?
One of our initiatives for next year is having a compost bin at events. So all your food that people don't eat that's left over on their plate can be thrown into the compost trash can and we’ll bring that back and put it in the compost. So yes, that's what our plan is in 2023.
B. Lin Catering handles events for anywhere from 15 to 2,000 people in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Have you found ways to reduce the amount of disposable packaging or is that just something that is part of business for you?
For back of the house at events we have transitioned to all non disposable. So, what we use to transport the food and to reheat the food and to bring it back.
On the client side, mostly we use china. We try to encourage clients to avoid disposables. I would say that’s a challenge. Since covid, people want to push for more single use. So you’re trying to get people back to the rentals.
What percentage of your events use all reusable products vs. disposables?
I would estimate 60% use reusable products and 40% still use some form of disposables.
Is there anything else you want to share about sustainability and waste reduction in your business?
We’ve started switching to electric vehicles. We have a charger out here for the public and we're excited about where things are going. We've been focused on how we can move away from fossil fuels. As far as the food side, it's really about incorporating more vegan and plant-based items in our menu.
A beverage station at a B. Lin Catering event.
This conversation took place over the phone and email and has been edited and condensed.