Top tips to keep food costs low
Converting to food provenance can be a daunting step for some kitchens, especially when financial worries are rife. So at BigH we’ve compiled a list of handy hints to help keep both your food miles and expenses low:
1. Do as your Prime Minister urges and cut your food waste. By only buying in what you need and cutting the amount of food you throw in the bin you could save money. “I would rather tell customers something is sold out than to have to throw a whole load of it away at the end of the day”, says The Swan’s Scott Goss. Gauge how much you will need for each day, you can always go back to the market or your supplier another day.
2. Buy produce at the peak of season. An abundance of a certain produce will mean it costs less, and you will find a great number of deals on that item everywhere. Keep a list of what’s in season and stick to it, or visit www.eattheseasons.co.uk.
3. There’s a trick to finding the best deals at farmers’ markets. Walk straight past the stalls at either end of rows, as their prices tend to be higher. Instead, opt for smaller ones in the centre of aisles and try going later in the day to snap up bargains.
4. Strike up a relationship with your local food supplier. They are more likely to do you deals if you go to them regularly, or even use them for a number of different items. Remember they are trying to run a business too, so try not to go too overboard with haggling.
5. Buy in whole carcasses of meat. It’s cheaper in the long run, and less is wasted. Use the finer cuts for steaks, the medium cuts for use in stir-fries etc, and the rest can be used for mince, pies or sausages. Making use of all the animal reduces waste and educates chefs about different cuts of meat.
6. Pick, catch, forage and shoot your own food. Scott Goss regularly goes out in the afternoon between trades to forage for mushrooms in a nearby field. You have to know what you’re looking for, so go prepared with a guidebook to local wildlife. Picking your own strawberries can be cheaper than buying them at market too.
7. If all else fails, grow your own produce. Buy a plot of land and you can have your own seasonal vegetables all year round. They will need some maintenance and a drop of TLC, but the satisfaction and cost saving rewards are huge.
