If you are a food service provider or a restaurant owner, you must reduce food waste. It has been found that the food industry generates almost 1.1 million tonnes of food waste every year. What is even more surprising is more than 75% of that food is 100% edible. Wastage of food is not only harmful for the environment but it also causes financial loss.
In this article, you will learn about 5 practical ways of reducing food waste in your restaurant which will be helpful for you to make your restaurant sustainable and save money in the long run.
Before diving into the ways of controlling waste, let us first explore what causes food waste in restaurants.
Causes of food waste in restaurants
Here are some of the things that trigger food waste in restaurants:
1. Consumer plate waste:
Some consumers often order food beyond their capacity which leads to wastage. The excess amount that they leave on their plates is ultimately thrown away.
2. Overproduction:
On busy days, to stay prepared restaurants end up overproducing food items that go to the dustbins in the end. This is a result of improper planning that causes food waste.
3. Unplanned preparation:
This is also a type of food waste that is caused by planning failure. Just like food preparations, restaurants order ingredients in bulk to stay prepared to handle rush hours. However, the excess ingredients are either used in the future before they spoil or thrown away.
4. Changes in menu:
Restaurant menus are generally updated and modified to attract new customers. However, such sudden changes lead to the wastage of the ingredients that are no longer needed.
5. Peeling waste:
This type of food waste is common in restaurants and households. It happens while peeling the skin of vegetables and fruits when the staff peel more than just the skin of veggies and fruits. The amount of waste is higher in restaurants as they prepare food for hundreds of people in a day than in households.
Now that you know about the main causes of food waste in restaurants, let us figure out the ways to reduce it.
How to reduce food waste in restaurants?
1. Use proper storage
The best way to keep food fresh for long is to store them in the right places in the right way. You need to keep your refrigerator at the right temperature and also monitor that the food is placed in the best position. For instance, you can store the food items that can easily get spoilt on the lower shelves and the rest on the upper shelves.
2. Train your staff
Staff training is essential for the smooth management of a restaurant which also includes managing food waste. Make sure you train your staff to keep the refrigerator at the right temperature for proper storage, how to handle food safely, and prepare food in a way that reduces waste.
3. Offer takeout container
You can provide take-out containers to your customers at lower costs to encourage them to take away the excess amount of the food they ordered at your restaurant. In this way, you can also engage your customers in the initiative to reduce food waste in your restaurant.
4.Donate surplus
Instead of throwing away the surplus food every day, donate them to the people who sleep on empty stomach every day. This will not only help your restaurant but also help those people who truly need food. You can connect with local charities to do it.
5. Better inventory management
Improving your inventory management style is crucial to curb food wastage. Make sure to not check all that you have before placing an order for the new ones. It is good to check the expiry date of every product that you purchase. For better management, you can maintain a diary of your food stock to track what you already have and when to buy the new ones.
Wrapping up
We hope that the measures to reduce food waste mentioned in this article will help you manage your restaurant’s food waste and encourage you to adopt sustainable restaurant management practices.