MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Food entrepreneur Hannah McCollum

CHEF Hannah McCollum, 27, recycles surplus vegetables into award-winning flavoured hummus under the brand name ChicP AFTER university I worked as a sous chef and then began to take on bigger jobs. I’d cook three-course birthday dinners, make canapés for 150, or holiday with a family as their chef.

One of my strictest rules was to minimise leftovers. My generation hates to see food wasted.

We don’t eat as much meat as our parents, and many of us are appalled to see how much food goes in the bin.

One of my signature dishes was a hummus dip made with leftover veg. People loved it. Yet, oddly, my light bulb moment came as a result of disillusion with my work. It happened at a sports event, where I was part of the catering team making breakfast and lunch in a corporate tent. We laid out great platters of smoked salmon and squid, baskets of baked goods, fresh fruit and an entire table of gorgeous cheeses.

At the end of the day, I watched, horrified, as almost all of it went into the bin. I’d say 99% of it hadn’t been touched — yet it all had to be chucked.

I didn’t want to work in an industry where such extravagant wastefulness was routine. So in 2015 I set up ChicP using vegetables that would otherwise be thrown away. Every week I’d go to the New Covent Garden Market in London and raid the big grey bins of vegetables that hadn’t made the grade. My hummus is now stocked online at Amazon Fresh and in upmarket stores such as Whole Foods and Fortnum & Mason .

It’s been wonderful to provide food that’s healthy, delicious and sustainable. I hope that — in however small a way — I’m helping to make people more aware of our food waste problem.