Cracker Barrel wants people to see leftovers in a new light through its “Invisible Cookbook.”

In partnership with Canadian chefs Trevor Lui and Devan Rajkumar, the Lactalis brand has unveiled the Cracker Barrel Invisible Cookbook platform “Save Every Bite,”  to inspire culinary ingenuity by demonstrating ways to transform your leftovers into new recipes.

Agency partner Courage produced accompanying longform creative that points out how most recipes overlook unused ingredients, and that 63% of food waste generated, is preventable. The hero spot also highlights how these leftover ingredients, also known as “invisible ingredients,” form the backbone of new home chef discoveries.

“Today’s popular recipes tend to leave you with two major things: a good meal and a pile of excess ingredients that didn’t make the cut,” said Vince Vetere, general manager of cheese and tablespreads at Lactalis Canada. Vetere says that as part of the CPG’s sustainability roadmap, its Cracker Barrel brand is standing up to the challenge and committing to the charge against food waste by empowering home cooks to maximize every ingredient’s potential with its cheese.

“Waste reduction is an important issue, but more importantly, I think in this day and age, all brands are looking at ESG initiatives to make positive impact,” says Sabrina Zollo, vice president of marketing at Lactalis Canada. “It’s a consumer expectation and we are certainly looking at what we could be doing to reduce our footprint across the supply chain from manufacturing, packaging to waste reduction.”

This initiative currently lives on the Cracker Barrel website, OLV and social. Influencers will be showing viewers on TikTok and Instagram how they reimagine leftovers using Cracker Barrel cheese to limit food waste and create delicious new possibilities.

Zollo tells strategy the company is committed to supporting waste reduction, and while that may lead to different communication strategies in the future, its waste reduction initiatives will always live on the Cracker Barrel website, she says.

Cracker Barrel’s intent is to continue to support waste reduction in multiple ways as part of and in alignment with Lactalis Canada’s corporate ESG efforts, Zollo says.

Zenith handled the media buy.

In 2021, IKEA published a “ScrapsBook” cookbook, based entirely on using kitchen scraps as a way to further build on its circular economy ambitions. Last Thanksgiving, Unilever brand Hellmann’s also took to print to remind people that a simple sandwich can be an ideal way to reduce food waste.