Have you ever considered how long ago the vegetables sitting on your restaurant plate were picked?
If they were sourced through the traditional market system it could have been more than two weeks.
But a new not-for-profit program being set up in Western Australia will allow chefs to order their fruit and vegetables directly from growers in Carnarvon in the state's north-west, meaning in some cases the produce on your plate could have been picked just two days ago.
The Chef Direct program will encourage Perth restaurants to feature the Gascoyne region's fresh produce and provide its growers with an additional market.
Consultant Stuart Laws is working as the conduit between growers and chefs, and believes there will be wins throughout the food chain.
"We're coordinating with the growers to ensure that we can service the restaurants' needs on a direct basis to guarantee the restaurants the best quality produce for the best quality price, and to guarantee the farmer a fairer return and a more consistent return," Mr Laws said.
"This is just making sure that restaurants are using seasonal produce.
"The more we use seasonal produce, the less need there will be for imports. The less need there is for imports, the better the price and better the return for local growers."
Cutting out the middleman
Through providing a direct link between chefs and growers, the aim is to cut out the middleman and keep profits in growers' pockets.
Mr Laws said currently growers received about 20-30 per cent of the retail price for their produce.
Chef Direct is trying to pay growers 50-60 per cent of the retail price.
"A good example would be limes. Limes' retail price is $7-10 a kilo, the grower gets $2-4 a kilo, we're giving the grower $5-7 a kilo. So [the grower is] getting a far better return," he said.
Food waste from unwanted seconds or 'no-commercial value' produce has long been an issue for Carnarvon growers, but Mr Laws said he hoped Chef Direct would find a market for that produce.
"Sometimes what is actually wrong with the fruit is only visual. So for the hospitality industry you don't send out a whole capsicum to a diner, you send out roasted capsicum or a stir-fried capsicum or capsicum in a salsa," he said.
"They don't even see the slight blemish that's on the fruit. We just want it to be picked for flavour rather than picked for looks.
"So a really good example would be tomatoes. There's no market for second grade tomatoes, so second grade tomatoes go on the ground because they've got no commercial value.
"Through Chef Direct, 80 per cent of all tomatoes that we want to sell are actually second grade tomatoes.
"And if we can get the grower the same price for his second grade fruit as he would get for his first grade fruit at market then the grower's well and truly in front."
Paddock to plate in just a few days
Aside from cutting the costs of a middleman, Mr Laws said selling directly to chefs would allow the produce to be served within days of harvest.
"The chefs in Perth will have never seen zucchinis that good because they're picked the day before they're sent," he said.
"What generally happens is … it could be three weeks from picking until it goes to the restaurant and they become a little bit soft.
"But these zucchinis that they're getting are crisp, you could crack them and they'd break as opposed to being a little bit more flexible. They're amazing."
But the lack of volume could be an issue.
"You've got to remember that a lot of these growers are producing tonnes of produce, whereas the hospitality industry only makes up about 30-40 per cent of the market. Everything else is retail, so the volume isn't as high," he said.
"You're asking the grower to do something outside of what it is they normally do so they're adding to their workload for not a great deal of return."
Mr Laws said in order to make the program a success, about two tonnes of produce would need to be sent between the growers and chefs each week.