Strategies for Lowering Food Waste in Restaurants by 2025
Here's a fresh and approachable guide on reducing food waste in restaurants in the modern landscape. Let's dive in!
Say Barfaro to Wasted Plates: Taming Food Waste in Restaurants in 2025
Fighting food waste in the restaurant industry has never been more crucial - it impacts wallets, Mother Nature, and efficiency. Every year, restaurants discard tons of grub, leading to financial loses and environmental harm. But fear not, comrades, this guide will cover specific strategies to minimize waste and level up your business's sustainability.
Empty Your Plate, Fill Your Soul: Get familiar with restaurant food waste as we decode the good, the bad, and the unsightly plate fulla it.
The Skinny on Waste:
- Resto waste is the discarded, edible or inedible food swept aside during prep, cooking, or after serving.
- Types of Waste: Pre-consumer waste (spoiled ingredients, over-prepped food, prep scraps), post-consumer waste (leftover customer plates, buffet waste, expired menu items), and packaging waste (excess plastics, paper, single-use containers).
FYI, every year, Americans chuck billions of pounds of food. That's almost a third of the whole darn world's food going to waste, according to the FAO. This means financial flops for the resto industry and a rise in methane emissions from food rotting in landfills.
Why All the Fuss About Waste?
Waste happens due to poor planning, operational inefficiencies, and customer whims. Let's get the lowdown on the main culprits making your kitchen a waste-dump:
Overproduction and Sketchy Demand Forecasting
Overproduction leads to spoiled leftovers as your kitchen cranks out excess grub. Lazy demand forecasting is the big enchilada behind overproduction. Many joints don't analyze sales data, seasonal trends, or daily foot traffic, resulting in over-ordering ingredients that end up contributing to waste.
Incorrect Storin' and Shakin'
Improper storage-not holding on to ingredients at their ideal temps or lacking proper organization-can contribute to waste and up costs. Organize that kitchen, and your waste will plummet—a champ called FIFO will teach your kitchen crew how to keep things in order, ensuring old items are used before newer ones come in.
Huge Portions, Y'all
Way too much food on the plate gives customers a mouthful—er, bulky meal that leaves them groaning and groaning while leaving the resto with uneaten plate scraps. Curious facts: the average plate nabs half a pound of food waste per meal! By giving your customers options, you can offer suitable servings and still keep them content.
Improper Packaging
Packing grub in tons of plastic, paper, or containers is a waste of resources. Swap out single-use packaging for more eco-friendly options to save Mother Nature.
So What's the Solution to This Plate Drama?
Get Smart About Inventory
Most restaurants deal with waste on a regular basis, but smart inventory management can help you keep waste in check.
Get Organized with FIFO (First In, First Out)
Unleash FIFO onto your kitchen crew and let them be the master of the game. Simply put, the old stuff goes before the new. By adopting this technique, you'll maintain freshness and minimize spoilage.
Smart Tools for Better Management
Unleash the power of technology and incorporate inventory tracking software to help manage stock better. Keeping track of ingredient usage, raising the alarm when stock levels are low, and integrating with POS systems allows for valuable insights.
Clamp Down on Portion Control
A fine balance of too much or too little is what portion control is all about. Offer customizable servings to customers, helping them control the amount of grub they're devouring. Use tools like measuring scoops and kitchen scales to make portion sizes consistent across the board.
Craft an Efficient Menu
A menu hogs a huge share of your waste footprint. Frag out those special ingredients that are used in only one or two dishes—the waste potential is huge. Experiment with seasonal ingredients and make sure they're used intelligently on your menu to minimize waste.
Embrace Waste Tracking
Embrace technology by installing smart waste tracking systems to track food waste, identify trends, and take action to streamline waste and reduce costs. If a particular dish frequently results in leftovers, upsize the ingredient portions for other dishes with similar ingredients to reduce waste.
Empower Your Staff
Train your kitchen and serving staff in best waste reduction practices, the importance of portion control, and creative repurposing of food scraps. The more they know, the better they can help you battle waste!
Takeout Saviors
Maximize convenience for your customers by promoting takeout—and reducing waste in the process. Encourage customers to take leftovers home, and offer them small incentives to minimize plate waste.
Partner with Food Banks
Fight food waste and help those in need by joining forces with food banks and non-profits to donate unused or close-to-expiry meals to those in need.
Go Green with Composting
Advance your composting game by setting up an in-house composting system or partnering with local composting services to handle your food waste. Composting transforms biodegradable waste into nutrient-rich soil, reducing waste and benefiting the planet.
In conclusion, reducing food waste is a win-win situation that benefits both our wallets and the planet. It's time to step up your game, embrace these waste-busting tactics, and join the sustainability team!
Get Your Restaurant Online with Orderable
Elevate your resto game by offering online ordering with Orderable! With its user-friendly interface, you can add your dishes, create your online ordering menu, customize your delivery schedule, and manage orders like a boss.
Get Orderable Now!
Incorporate online ordering in your health-and-wellness focused restaurant to provide customers with a convenient way to order nutritious meals.
Taking the fitness-and-exercise approach, implement a meal plan generator within your online ordering platform that caters to various dietary needs, promoting a balanced diet for maintaining mental health.
Promote mental health awareness by partnering with local science and research organizations to develop meal plans based on evidence-based nutrition strategies. Offer these meal plan options as a feature for customers to choose from when ordering through the online platform.
