Surplus Heroes: Chef Francesca Merritt (Grazing)

"I was heavily influenced by my family’s passion for food from a young age: I worked in the kitchen of my parents’ burger van, converted from an old ambulance. And my grandparents grew their own food, so I felt guilty whenever I’d overcook even a single carrot since I knew exactly what it took to grow it."

Essex-based Francesca Merritt grew up on a smallholding in South Wales before heading to college to study catering. It was while she was working at the Henley Royal Regatta that she was scouted by Mayfair’s legendary two Michelin-starred Le Gavroche.

While Francesca describes the kitchen environment there as “tough,” she expresses gratitude for the experience and start it gave her in London, and the opportunity it gave her to develop relationships with many of her peers in the industry.

"I’ve always been quite vocal about sustainability. Because of how I grew up, it has been important to me since childhood, where I could expect to be told off for binning homegrown veg. At work now sustainability is a big focus for us - from our recipes to the way we source our ingredients to our 95% e-bike deliveries."

Having experienced sustainable farming at home as she was growing up, Francesca is keen to see a bigger shift towards regenerative farming, including adoption of more low- or no-tillage techniques.

In her current role at Grazing , she and her team have incorporated several practices to minimise their impact on the environment: meat quantities are scaled down to reduce carbon footprints; vegetables are cooked unpeeled, with any trimmings used for stock; portions are carefully measured to prevent plate waste; and packaging is compostable to avoid plastic waste.

Francesca also compliments their front-of-house team for making Grazing’s company ethos and kitchen practises a key part of their messaging to clients. She sees educating diners about the importance of eating sustainably and being aware of their individual environmental impact as a critical part of her team’s work.

"People don’t seem to realise how bad food waste is for the environment. I’d like to see more education around that for both kitchen staff and customers. I love it when companies work with food businesses to tackle this issue, but I still see restaurants with bins full of edible food outside."

Francesca puts her cooking where her mouth is: she describes her own cooking as fresh, sustainable and colourful. She aims to use transparent suppliers and source local produce from regenerative farms who use sustainable vehicles and rear grass-fed livestock. And she emphasises the importance of weighing and tracking wasted food to measure opportunities for improvement.

Brexit and the Ukraine war has driven up the price of UK-grown fruit and veg as imported produce has become more limited and expensive, which Francesca notes as an added challenge for households trying to buy local. But she’s thankful that despite the cost, the general public are becoming more sustainability-focused in their eating habits.

Meals are less meat-centric, and diners are more open to flexitarianism. She’s observed that vegan food is more readily embraced, offering her the challenge to create vegan meals that taste just as good as their meat alternatives - something which she says isn’t actually that hard to do when you’re working with good quality produce.

"As a woman, it would be fantastic to see more balanced gender representation in the kitchen. I’d love to get more women into contract catering. In the Grazing kitchen we celebrate diversity: everyone brings their unique skills, perspectives and cultures to the table, which creates a diverse and dynamic menu."

When she dines out, Francesca values the range of cuisines offered at street food venues such as her go-to’s: Borough Market and Market Metropolitano - places where, unlike fine dining, there’s something for everyone and diners are less likely to be intimidated by the cost or environment.

Client pop-ups are some of Francesca’s favourite work activities, and she tries to get involved in at least one per week. These chef-forward events offer her team opportunities to engage directly with diners, seeing and hearing first-hand their responses to new recipes and unique products, such as their recent collaboration with Granny Gothards on ice cream-filled croissants.

One of Francesca’s current projects delivers hospitality directly to the client’s doorstep without the need for support staff or even crockery. Featuring products such as charcuterie and olive boards, these menus are intended to offer a lighter touch approach to meals and hospitality events - yet another example of Francesca and her team blending customer focus, practicality and sustainability.

(author credit: Katya Lukina )