Our Story

Our Story

Wasted Kitchen started with a simple belief: good food and less waste should go hand in hand.

What began as a small food business making the most of seasonal and surplus produce has grown into something much bigger — proof that real food, thoughtful sourcing and sustainability can work commercially, practically and deliciously in the real world.

Our founder, Katy Newton, has always been passionate about food, flavour and the way food brings people together. After an early career in communications and audience building, a two-year adventure crewing on a wooden tall ship in the Pacific changed her perspective completely.

Living off-grid, with nowhere for waste to disappear to except the ocean, food and resources looked very different. You learnt quickly to use what you had, cook creatively, waste less and value things properly — a mindset that still sits at the heart of Wasted Kitchen today.

Back in Kent, that thinking became Wasted Kitchen.

Since launching in 2019, we’ve used over 40 tonnes of surplus produce, made and served more than 20,000 meals, catered hundreds of events and produced tonnes of salads, ferments and pickles — all while showing that seasonal, sustainable food can feel abundant, flavourful and commercially viable.

Along the way, we’ve been awarded 15 Great Taste Stars and were incredibly proud to win the BBC Food & Farming Awards — but the biggest achievement has always been something else:

Helping people reconnect with food in a way that feels practical, enjoyable and possible.

Because Wasted Kitchen was never just about food production.

It was about changing the way people think about, choose and use food — making seasonal, sustainable food feel less worthy or overwhelming and more flavourful, nourishing and achievable in everyday life.

Today, that mission is evolving.

Alongside our catering, ferments and pickles, we’re increasingly focused on workshops, food confidence, education and knowledge-share — helping individuals, businesses and communities reconnect with real food, reduce waste and feel confident around real food, seasonality, sustainability and wellbeing.

Because the biggest impact doesn’t come from one kitchen.

It comes from helping many more people cook, eat and think differently about food.