Bottura’s prestigious restaurant in Modena, northern Italy, charges around 250 euros a head. But in Milan, his Refettorio Ambrosiano feeds the poor, many of them homeless - and now he plans to expand the charitable experiment further.

Housed in an old theater on the outskirts of the city, the Refettorio cooks free meals with leftovers from shops, following recipes created by Bottura and other famous cooks.

“I never thought these ingredients were waste,” he told Reuters.

“I always thought bread crumbs, some overripe tomatoes, brown bananas, they are just opportunities for us. To show what we can do with our creativity.”

Bottura started the project in 2015 to reuse leftovers from the eateries of Milan’s international Expo. With the support of church foundation Caritas Ambrosiana, the initiative has become a permanent project. 

About one-third of the food produced worldwide each year, around 1.3 billion tonnes, is wasted or lost, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.