Have you ever considered how long ago the vegetables sitting on your restaurant plate were picked?
If they were sourced through the traditional market system it could have been more than two weeks.
But a new not-for-profit program being set up in Western Australia will allow chefs to order their fruit and vegetables directly from Carnarvon growers, meaning in some cases the produce on your plate could have been picked just two days ago.
The Gascoyne Food Council's Chef Direct will encourage Perth restaurants to feature the Gascoyne's fresh produce and provide its growers with an additional market.
Stuart Laws is working as the conduit between growers and chefs, and said he believes there would be wins throughout 'the food chain'.
"We're coordinating with the growers to ensure that we can service the restaurants' needs on a direct basis to guarantee the restaurants the best quality produce for the best quality price, and to guarantee the farmer a fairer return and a more consistent return," Mr Laws said.
"This is just making sure that restaurants are using seasonal produce.
Cutting out the middleman
Through providing a direct link between chefs and growers, the Gascoyne Food Council is hoping to cut out the middleman and keep profits in grower's pockets.
Mr Laws said that currently growers receive about 20-30 per cent of the retail price for their produce.
Chef Direct is trying to pay growers 50-60 per cent of the retail price.
Food waste from unwanted seconds or 'no-commercial value' produce has long been an issue for Carnarvon growers, but Mr Laws said he hoped Chefs Direct would find a market for that produce.
"Sometimes what is actually wrong with the fruit is only visual. So for the hospitality industry you don't send out a whole capsicum to a diner, you send out roasted capsicum or a stir-fried capsicum or capsicum in a salsa," he said.
"So a really good example would be tomatoes. There's no market for second grade tomatoes, so second grade tomatoes go on the ground because they've got no commercial value.
"Through Chef Direct, 80 per cent of all tomatoes that we want to sell are actually second grade tomatoes.
"And if we can get the grower the same price for his second grade fruit as he would get for his first grade fruit at market then the grower's well and truly in front."
Paddock to plate in just a few days
Aside from cutting the costs of a middleman, Mr Laws said selling directly to chefs would allow the produce to be served within days of harvest.
"What generally happens is … it could be three weeks from picking until it goes to the restaurant and they become a little bit soft.
"But these zucchinis that they're getting are crisp, you could crack them and they'd break as opposed to being a little bit more flexible. They're amazing."
But the lack of volume could be an issue.
"You've got to remember that a lot of these growers are producing tonnes of produce, whereas the hospitality industry only makes up about 30-40 per cent of the market. Everything else is retail, so the volume isn't as high," he said.
"You're asking the grower to do something outside of what it is they normally do so they're adding to their workload for not a great deal of return."
Mr Laws said in order to make the program a success, about two tonnes of produce would need to be sent between the growers and chefs each week.
