Denver Tackles Food Waste in Restaurant Challenge
Published on September 08, 2025
More than one in six Denverites experience food insecurity. At the same time, U.S restaurants generate 11.4 million tons of food waste, costing over $25 billion annually. During the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment’s (DDPHE) Food Matters Restaurant Challenge, Denver restaurants help fight food insecurity and reduce food waste, allowing them to give back to their community while adding value to their business’s bottom line.
Six local restaurants are joining in for a 12-week food waste reduction challenge, to learn more sustainable practices that also save them money. The challenge is hosted by DDPHE and supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Participating restaurants include: Blue Sparrow Coffee, Restaurant Olivia, SAME Café, Sarahi's Kitchen, Savageau Coffee & Ice Cream, and Sesame Sandwiches.
Challenge participants will receive hands-on support from waste reduction experts CET and Diversion Designers. They’ll learn how to effectively track food waste in their operations, identify opportunities to reduce waste, and receive a custom action plan.
Strategies may include donating to a local food rescue organization, re-purposing prep scraps in new recipes (carrot top pesto, for example), or starting a new composting program. Restaurants will earn points for making progress on their chosen strategies and will be recognized at an end-of-challenge celebration.
“It can be daunting to implement new practices in the kitchen, even if restaurant staff are passionate about reducing food waste,” says CET’s waste reduction consultant Marissa Major. “Many restaurants already have solid practices in place to minimize waste, but need support to make bigger changes. Our job is to provide a personalized roadmap for restaurants to increase their food waste diversion in a way that works for their staff, menu, and budget.”
Local food rescue partner We Don’t Waste will help restaurants get started with food donation. We Don’t Waste works to recover quality, unused food from the food industry and delivers it to nonprofit partners such as food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, schools and daycare programs, and more. SarahiMartinez of Sarahi’s Kitchen, is eager to start donating leftover food. “For me, food is a blessing. Better to give it to people who are hungry than to throw it out in the trash,” said Martinez. “As a community, we should be able to provide for all the people who don’t have food to eat.”
Jonathan Deutsch, Professor of Culinary Arts and Science at Drexel University and Director of the Drexel Food Lab, will work with restaurants on creative food upcycling strategies and menu innovations.
"We want to reframe waste not as an inevitable part of doing business but as the absolute last resort after all the food products in the restaurant have been used for their highest possible purpose. Making use of every scrap of food helps reduce environmental impact, improve employee engagement and morale, and wrings more value out of a restaurant’s food purchases - especially important in the increasingly competitive restaurant environment," Deutsch said.
To follow along with the restaurant's progress in the Challenge, visit denverfoodmatterschallenge.org. Recruitment for the next round of the Food Matters Challenge will begin in November.