Chef Adam Summers is explaining why he’s got a colourful row of glass preserving jars in his kitchen – all filled with vegetables, fruits, peelings, vinegars and brines.  

Chef Adam Summers is explaining why he’s got a colourful row of glass preserving jars in his kitchen – all filled with vegetables, fruits, peelings, vinegars and brines.  

“This is just what we did with food before we started putting it in fridges” he says, of the rows of fermented peelings and scraps, talking through what he’s got planned for the jars of rhubarb peelings, some previously juiced and zested lemons, old parmesan rinds, and rainbow chard past its best which he’s eyeing up for a “really tasty” Kimchi.   

Summers, Head Chef at Levy partner venue, Northampton Saints, and Levy’s current reigning Chef of the Year, is a big fan of fermentation and one of the chefs using this ancient preserving technique as a smart way to both as well as make our menus unique full of flavour and tackle food waste. 

Which is a big problem to tackle.   

According to Stop Food Waste Day (founded by Compass UK & I) which this year celebrates its 10th year: 33% of all food produced each year is wasted – which translates to $1.2 trillion worth of food annually  

Put another way: if food waste was a country, it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emission producing country in the world.  

The solution? As with many things, when it comes to food waste, prevention is better than cure. For our culinary teams, that starts in the kitchen.  

Vegetables like runner beans, beetroot and cabbage that are past their best to be cooked fresh, are instead brined for a few weeks.  

The result? Light crunchy pickles perfect to sit on a Charcuterie board or in a salad.  

Freshly baked flatbreads are made with home-made yoghurt (made from leftover milk), while leftover fresh herbs like parsley and thyme are blitzed into bright verdant oils, stored safely and then used to drizzle over salads, fish and meats.   

The philosophy is resolutely whole ingredient usage - root to tip – making sure as little as possible goes in the bin.  

“It’s a great way of extending the life of produce that’s past its use-by date , but it’s also great in flavour development, a way of introducing texture, colours, and umami to our dishes,” says Summers, who worked closely with Levy’s Health & Safety team to put all processes and checks in place to ensure the fermented products he and the team make here are safe as well as delicious to eat. 

“It takes thought, salt, water, time, and a good technique to make sure the ferments don’t spoil,” he says, explaining that it’s important to ensure all the ingredients in the fermented product must be below the brine level to prevent spoilage, 3% of the total weight of the product needs to be salt and a safely fermented product will measure a PH of 4.3 or lower on a PH Meter.  

The strategy includes a new internal food waste reporting system was launched in 2023, with food waste at Levy partner venues measured daily. New food waste dashboards have also been developed to improve monitoring. 

All Levy venues have a surplus food donation system, such as Olio. And since partnering with Olio, Levy has saved the equivalent of over 32,000 meals from going to waste, avoiding 58,000 kg CO₂e.   
  
Levy’s also has an in-house surplus programme, The Pantry, which launched in 2023 and enables good quality leftover food to be taken home by our hardworking teams.   

Swapping in products from more sustainable suppliers also helps. Our ketchup and plant-based mayonnaise supplier of choice is Rubies in the Rubble, whose condiments are made from surplus fruits and vegetables. Rubies’ ketchup is sweetened with surplus pears which would otherwise have gone to waste with 15,201 kg saved in the first six months of 2025 alone. Rubies’ mayonnaise with citrus fibre that is usually thrown away. 

Meanwhile, Flawsome, (like Rubies also a B Corp) and another of Levy's suppliers of choice, makes cold-pressed drinks fruit juices and drinks from wonky and surplus fruit. The company has set itself a goal to save 20,000 tonnes of wonky and surplus fruit by 2028.  

“As with everything in our sustainability strategy, it’s about looking at it from all angles – whether that’s data, or something as delicious and simple as turning rhubarb peelings into a delicious vinegar,” says Kevin Watson.   

Back in the kitchen, Adam Summers is about to serve lunch. He plates up a flatbread with poached eggs, spreads on home-made labneh and home-made kimchi and drizzles with parsley oil.  

It is a beautiful dish where every ingredient has been considered from a kitchen where as little as possible is wasted.  

And it’s absolutely delicious.