Peter has always been passionate about sustainability and finding ways to reduce food waste. Cook for Change gave him an opportunity to put those values into practice while pushing himself creatively.

“I wanted to show that ingredients we often overlook or throw away can become something special,” he says.  

As a Village Manager, Peter's responsibilities extend beyond the kitchen to people, budgets and day-to-day operations. Entering the competition gave him a chance to reconnect with the creative side of his work and see what he could achieve outside his usual routine.

“I wanted to challenge myself. It's easy to become comfortable in your role, and I wanted to see whether I could still compete as a chef.”

His approach reflects a belief that good cooking and sustainability can go hand in hand. Rather than treating food waste as an afterthought, he wanted to make better use of ingredients from the very beginning. 

“I expected to learn new techniques and hopefully become a better chef, but I didn't expect it to open so many doors or give me the confidence it did,” he says.

The experience reminded him why he became a chef in the first place. As he puts it, “Cook for Change gave me an opportunity to reconnect with that creative side of myself.”

Finding a use for every part

One of the biggest changes Peter took away from the competition was how he thinks about ingredients.

He was already conscious of food waste. Cook for Change pushed him to go further, designing dishes around using as much of an ingredient as possible rather than deciding what to do with the waste afterwards.

His sweet potato and lentil croquettes were a practical example. The sweet potato peelings became a garnish, while the cauliflower stems, leaves and florets each had a purpose. Parts of the ingredients that might otherwise have been discarded became deliberate components of the dish.

For Peter, the lesson was to look at an ingredient differently from the start. He says, “Rather than starting with a dish and deciding what to do with the waste, I now challenge myself to design dishes around using as much of the ingredient as possible.”

It's a change he has carried into his work with his team. He looks more closely at how ingredients are used, challenges his team to think differently and explores ideas that can work in a real kitchen.

That last point matters. In remote-site catering, sustainability needs to be practical as well as creative. An idea has to work within the realities of preparing food for large numbers of people, using available ingredients and delivering a consistent service.

For Peter, Cook for Change helped connect the creative possibilities of cooking with the everyday decisions that can reduce waste.

He also encourages future entrants to practise under competition conditions and understand the story behind every component of their dish. Being able to explain how a recipe reduces waste and could work beyond the competition is just as important as preparing something delicious.

And his advice on whether to enter? “Just enter!” 

Bringing the experience back

For Peter, the value of Cook for Change doesn't end when the competition is over.

The relationships, new perspectives and lessons from Shanghai and London are things he can share with his colleagues. More importantly, the experience has given him renewed confidence in his own ideas and a stronger motivation to keep challenging how food is prepared and used.

He's proud of what he achieved internationally, but he's equally proud of the opportunity to bring those learnings back to his team and encourage others to think differently. For him, Cook for Change represents an opportunity to grow, learn and demonstrate that sustainability and great food can go hand in hand.

And he hopes other chefs will discover the same thing. “If you enter Cook for Change, you might discover that you're capable of far more than you ever gave yourself credit for.”

It's a fitting reflection on a challenge that began with a passion for sustainability and became an opportunity to learn, compete and see what was possible. For Peter, the next step is to keep asking that first question in the kitchen: what more can we do with what we already have?

Cook for Change! Sustainable Chef Challenge gives Sodexo chefs an opportunity to explore that question, share their ideas and turn creative thinking into practical action. Sometimes, all it takes to discover what's possible is the willingness to give it a go.