Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Most food waste never reaches a plate.
That makes it a systems problem, not a leftovers problem.
My guest in this episode is Olaf van der Veen, co-founder of Orbisk, a climate tech company using AI, computer vision, and IoT to help commercial kitchens cut food waste. His work sits at the intersection of decarbonisation, operational control, and the economics of running hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, and large-scale catering without quietly bleeding money and emissions through the bin.
Why does this matter now? Because the pressure is rising from every direction at once: higher food costs, tighter margins, growing reporting requirements, labour constraints, and the broader reality that emissions reduction has to come from real operational change, not glossy sustainability decks. Food waste is often treated as a behavioural issue or a consumer issue. Olaf makes a much stronger case: in commercial kitchens, it is usually a forecasting, process design, procurement, and visibility problem.
A few things in this conversation sharpened my thinking. First, the claim that roughly 70% of wasted food never even reaches a plate. That shifts the whole frame. Second, the financial logic is brutally clear: if you are buying 120% of the food needed to serve 100% of guests, the gap is pure bottom-line loss. Third, the most effective fixes are often not glamorous at all. Sometimes it is tray removal, tighter production timing, or better pattern recognition around what gets wasted, when, and why. The technology matters, but the real value is in giving operators better control over messy, fast-moving systems.
There is also a useful AI lesson here. Olaf is not pitching automation as magic. He describes a more credible model: AI for tracking and forecasting, combined with human judgement from chefs and operators who understand context on the ground. That blend appears to outperform either one on its own.
This avoids silver bullets, climate theatre, and hand-waving about “awareness”.
This is for business leaders, climate professionals, policymakers, investors, hospitality operators, and anyone trying to cut emissions through better operational design.
If you’re working on food systems, climate tech deployment, or real-world decarbonisation, I’d be interested in your perspective.
🌍 Climate Confident podcast: climateconfidentpodcast.com
🎧 Follow Climate Confident on your podcast app of choice
🔔 Subscribe for more grounded conversations on climate tech, clean energy, and decarbonisation
⏱️ Timestamps / chapters below
00:00 – Food waste as pure bottom-line loss
00:13 – Why Olaf built Orbisk
02:24 – The moment food waste became a systems problem
03:06 – The hidden 70% that never reaches a plate
05:14 – Why food waste is still so stubborn
06:10 – Where kitchens really lose control
07:33 – The operator owns the waste problem
09:03 – Practical interventions that actually cut waste
11:01 – Turning the waste bin into operational intelligence
12:55 – Where AI helps and where chefs still matter
18:19 – Cost, carbon, compliance, and the real ROI
22:32 – The unsexy fixes with the biggest impact
25:41 – Economics vs regulation in driving change
28:39 – Better data, demand forecasting, and the holy grail
30:20 – Could restaurants be rated on carbon per plate?
31:49 – Lightning round: planning, pricing, and all-round availability
Most food waste never reaches a plate.
That makes it a systems problem, not a leftovers problem.
My guest in this episode is Olaf van der Veen, co-founder of Orbisk, a climate tech company using AI, computer vision, and IoT to help commercial kitchens cut food waste. His work sits at the intersection of decarbonisation, operational control, and the economics of running hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, and large-scale catering without quietly bleeding money and emissions through the bin.
Why does this matter now? Because the pressure is rising from every direction at once: higher food costs, tighter margins, growing reporting requirements, labour constraints, and the broader reality that emissions reduction has to come from real operational change, not glossy sustainability decks. Food waste is often treated as a behavioural issue or a consumer issue. Olaf makes a much stronger case: in commercial kitchens, it is usually a forecasting, process design, procurement, and visibility problem.
A few things in this conversation sharpened my thinking. First, the claim that roughly 70% of wasted food never even reaches a plate. That shifts the whole frame. Second, the financial logic is brutally clear: if you are buying 120% of the food needed to serve 100% of guests, the gap is pure bottom-line loss. Third, the most effective fixes are often not glamorous at all. Sometimes it is tray removal, tighter production timing, or better pattern recognition around what gets wasted, when, and why. The technology matters, but the real value is in giving operators better control over messy, fast-moving systems.
There is also a useful AI lesson here. Olaf is not pitching automation as magic. He describes a more credible model: AI for tracking and forecasting, combined with human judgement from chefs and operators who understand context on the ground. That blend appears to outperform either one on its own.
This avoids silver bullets, climate theatre, and hand-waving about “awareness”.
This is for business leaders, climate professionals, policymakers, investors, hospitality operators, and anyone trying to cut emissions through better operational design.
If you’re working on food systems, climate tech deployment, or real-world decarbonisation, I’d be interested in your perspective.
🌍 Climate Confident podcast: climateconfidentpodcast.com
🎧 Follow Climate Confident on your podcast app of choice
🔔 Subscribe for more grounded conversations on climate tech, clean energy, and decarbonisation
⏱️ Timestamps / chapters below
00:00 – Food waste as pure bottom-line loss
00:13 – Why Olaf built Orbisk
02:24 – The moment food waste became a systems problem
03:06 – The hidden 70% that never reaches a plate
05:14 – Why food waste is still so stubborn
06:10 – Where kitchens really lose control
07:33 – The operator owns the waste problem
09:03 – Practical interventions that actually cut waste
11:01 – Turning the waste bin into operational intelligence
12:55 – Where AI helps and where chefs still matter
18:19 – Cost, carbon, compliance, and the real ROI
22:32 – The unsexy fixes with the biggest impact
25:41 – Economics vs regulation in driving change
28:39 – Better data, demand forecasting, and the holy grail
30:20 – Could restaurants be rated on carbon per plate?
31:49 – Lightning round: planning, pricing, and all-round availability
