"Marriott began with a commitment to 'Reducing Food Waste'. With their support, we have so much scope to source, serve and save food sustainably – and inspire others to do the same."

Kuljit Singh is the Multi Property Head of Culinary at London Marriott Hotel Marble Arch and London Marriott Hotel Kensington from a long line of family farmers ignited Kuljit's interest in sustainability from an early age, and he grew up understanding the importance of growing food from the farm and lands around him.

He tells us about the food waste initiative and Serve 360 programme at Marriott, sharing how he and his team commit to reducing food waste while giving back to their local communities through sustainable schemes.

Through the Food Waste Initiative, you've started growing your own produce at the hotel – and using leftovers to come up with new cocktails. Can you tell us about what you've created?

"The Food Waste Initiative really began during the pandemic. I'd started growing my own food,  perhaps unsurprisingly, considering my background and green fingers! I spoke to the local council, who donated some soil and – at no expense – I set up a small herb garden in the hotel grounds. The herbs began growing well , using harvested rainwater from the hotel's roof. I also started collecting wooden pallets and using them to grow mushrooms in the hotel cellars or boiler rooms.

I'd noticed few other central London hotels were growing produce sustainably, and I was enjoying discovering what we could create here at Marriott. One of the biggest sources of food waste in the hotel kitchen was food peels and rinds, and coffee grounds. I thought I'd try making cocktails from them – and the idea has really taken off! We marinate and strain the peelings, then combine them with spirits to create some new flavours. Pineapple peel and watermelon rinds work really well with liquor, as do banana peels with rum! In fact, the cocktails have been so popular we've opened up a pop-up bar outside the hotel."

The Marriott pledge is to reducing food waste. How have you been repurposing the food products you used to throw away?

"The head office team has placed so much trust in me and my colleagues to come up with new ways to reduce food waste. We're always learning and looking at new ways to repurpose anything we see making its way to the bin! For example, we roast eggshells and grind them into a powder that we add to the soil – it's extremely good for the saplings we planted this year. We also plant seeds into empty eggshells or straight into the ground: they have a lot of nutritional value!

Of course there are some things we can't reuse, like the eye of a tomato or the stem of a pepper. I bought a small composter for the kitchen, which turns this waste into beautiful compost in just 24hours. I've partnered with a farmer in Reading and I give him this compost in exchange for the wonky veg he can't sell to supermarkets. Last autumn, that included pumpkins, which I roasted to make almost 70kilos of soup to donate to our local soup kitchen. With that one small gesture, we've helped a local farmer grow his visibility and his business, given back to those in need, and helped the planet by reducing food waste."

At the hotel, you're catering for guests more sustainably without compromising on quality. How are you doing this so successfully?

"One of the biggest ways we've cut food waste is reducing the portion sizes. That certainly doesn't mean we're short-changing our guests! But I designed the latest menus to include a half-sized portion of every meal, reducing leftovers for guests with smaller appetites. At our weddings, functions and buffets, we also set out smaller portions – but refill them more often. Our guests are happy as the food is always replenished – but taking less, more often really reduces waste. We've also removed meat from the menu every Monday to cut our carbon footprint.

We're also committed to training staff to save as much food as we can. I've introduced ‘No Bin Monday', so the team are really having to think about the ways they can reuse leftovers! We're also removing garnishes from the plates – they may look nice, but guests leave them and they go to waste.

We've clearly communicated all our initiatives to guests through front-of-house messaging, and had no negative feedback."

The Serve 360 scheme is all about giving back. What have you been doing to support people of all ages in the local community?

"The Serve 360 initiative is brilliant, and Marriott really allows me to get stuck into helping others. One of the ways we've done that is partnering with The Springboard Charity & Springboard UK Ltd., supporting their scheme to help school leavers find work. We've given 20 children work experience across six hotels, and opened up our kitchens to children from local schools. I created a children's menu and chocolate-making session, so they could come and see how a hotel kitchen runs and try something new. While they're with us, we teach them about sustainability and the importance of cooking consciously at home.

Not everyone is able to visit us, so I also go into schools to give talks about sustainable cooking. I work with local care homes too – delivering cooking sessions, teaching residents new recipes, and even cooking their Christmas dinner. We also clean local rivers and parks, invite emergency services teams in for lunch, and give food and unclaimed lost property items to local charities for the homeless."

Food sustainability is becoming a vital topic for change – and rightly so . How can other hotels take inspiration from the work you're doing?

"I've started to see other culinary teams in Marriott's individual properties doing similar things to us – and that's the whole point of these engagement initiatives. Anything we can do to help others and make a difference sustainably is crucial. As chefs, we often work 60-hour weeks: so two hours isn't much to ask to make a difference. That time goes a long way to show how much Marriott's doing to look after local communities. Plus, it's so rewarding. I'm able to do so many new things while engaging with lots of people across all walks of life. It really feels like I've done something meaningful with my day.

I've recently won the Serve 360 award for Marriott International. The praise from that doesn't matter to me, but the way it's helped raise awareness and inspire others is so important. Serve 360 reaches so many people in the local community – and we want nothing more than to help them reduce food waste and produce, cook, and consume their food as sustainably as possible."

Kulji Singh is based across both London Marriott Marble Arch and London Marriott Hotel Kensington. He brings his culinary commitment and sustainability initiatives – such as reducing food waste schemes, local food sourcing and community educational opportunities – to both venues, as well as influencing the hotel culinary teams UK-wide, providing unrivalled guest experiences.