19.3 | THE CONSERVERY

Despite our restaurant being closed for the time being, we have kept our creative energy alive and are happy to announce the start of a new project. The Conservery began with the aim of bringing people tasty, nutritious meals in a way that is both sustainable and affordable. In keeping with the BRET spirit, we felt a strong need to tackle the troubling amount of food waste generated by the ‘fresh’ food industry, as well as to reduce the amount of single-use packaging, particularly plastic, that is thrown away from our kitchens. We sought to do this by creating specially curated packages of tinned ingredients and conserves from around the globe, as well as recipes for quick and easy meals using only what is provided in our boxes.

In developing the project, we found that tinned and conserved food offers a number of beneficial solutions to the environmental impacts of the food industry, which contributes a staggering 13.7 billion metric tons of CO2 to the Earth’s atmosphere per year. Much of this pollution comes from ‘fresh’ food’s need for long term refrigeration and costly air-transportation. This is entirely avoided with the production and transportation of conserved food, as most often it is sealed at source and, once canned, is stacked and transported internationally via sea or domestically by land. Without the need for refrigeration, conserved food also retains almost all of its nutritional value compared to ‘fresh’ products. Its long shelf life helps you cut food waste from your kitchen, which in the Netherlands equals a whopping €2.4 billion of edible food waste per year. Perhaps our favourite quality of canned food is its packaging. Primarily made from steel or aluminium, cans are 100% recyclable and this process can be repeated forever without the material losing its integrity as a safe storage option. In fact, 77% of the cans we use have already been recycled and the energy saved by recycling just one can is equivalent to the amount of electricity required to power a TV for 3 whole hours!

With this in mind, canned food is no longer a thing of the past but represents a very real, very present solution for maintaining the future of our planet. Our current ‘Discovery’ packages offer you the chance to give conserves a try with different flavours and food from around the world. We currently offer these in meat and vegetarian options and new packages catered to your different needs are on the way! For example, we have just launched our ‘Borrelpakket’. It is packed full with a selection of special beers, organic wines and tasty treats for 3 or 4 people; perfect for home, on the terrace or in the park.

For more information on The Conservery, check out our website www.theconservery.com, or visit us at our pop-up collection point at the Oudezijds Voorburgwal 92. We look forward to seeing you there soon.