Do you want to reduce food waste in your restaurant?

If yes, this article is for you. Running a restaurant involves a lot of things that include training staff, tracking orders, delivery, sales, and so on. Due to the immense pressure of all these things, the food waste management part often gets overlooked.

However, food waste has become one of the biggest concerns of the modern world. The Waste and Resources Programme has revealed that the food industry generates 400,000 tonnes of food waste which can easily be avoided with proper measures.
If you are into the restaurant business then you need to take the necessary steps to avoid food waste.
In this article, we have mentioned some of the easiest ways to avoid food wastage in restaurants or catering units but before discussing them let us first identify the types of restaurant food waste.

Types of food waste

Identifying different types of food waste is the first step of reducing it. Let us find the types of food waste that most restaurants deal with.

• Pre-consumer waste: It signifies the type of food stock that is wasted even before reaching to your customer’s table. For example, the food that is burnt due to negligence or any other issues. This goes into the trash bin as it can not be served.
• Post-consumer waste: This type of food waste covers all the food items that are served but not consumed or just thrown out simply because of ordering beyond limits.

How to reduce food waste in restaurants?

There are several measures that you could take to avoid food waste in restaurants. Some of the most effective ways are mentioned below:

1. Promote sustainable practices

It is important for every restaurant to adopt sustainable practices in order to reduce food waste. It not only saves food but also contributes to preserving the environment. Educating your employees on the same helps you limit a significant amount of food waste and also saves your business expenses.

2. Improve inventory management

Proper inventory management is crucial for reducing food waste in your food unit. Keep an eye on the food stock you already have to avoid excess stock purchasing. Don’t forget to check the expiry dates of the new products you purchase. You can also keep a record of all these things or take the help of software that could do it for you.

3. Store food correctly

Storing food right is essential to ensure that no food item is spoilt. To do that you need to check your freezer and fringe temperature to determine if they are suitable for the food items you keep.
It is good to keep food items that do not easily spoil on the upper shelves of your refrigerator. Besides this, you must clean up the refrigerators at regular intervals. It helps prevent any pathogenic bacterial growth which leads to food wastage.

4. Donate leftovers

Try not to throw away leftovers of your restaurant. Distribute them among the needy people or donate them to an NGO or charity. Besides this, you can also give them to your staff as staff meals. This way you can ensure that no one works in an empty stomach.

5. Predict the demand

Keep track of your regular orders and based on that get an idea about the daily food or ingredient usage. When you have a clear idea of your daily demands, it becomes easy for you to manage food stock smartly and prevent wastage.

6. Train staff about reducing food waste

Staff training is very important to reduce food waste in your restaurant. Train your staff to store food properly, how to manage food stock carefully, check dates before purchasing food ingredients, and how to encourage customers to not waste food.

7. Offer take-out container

Provide take-out containers to encourage your customers to waste food during their meals. You can offer these containers at low cost so that they can take away the food which is left after completing their meals.

Wrapping up

Preventing food waste in restaurants or catering units is beneficial in every way. At one side you save money, and help a charity, on the other hand you promote sustainable practices in your restaurants.

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