Did you know:

• About two-thirds of Operators send more than 10% of their purchased food to a landfill
• 61% of food waste comes from consumers and 39% comes from BOH
• 78% of Operators say they have room to reduce their food waste volume
• 53% of Operators say employee compliance is the top challenge to reducing food waste

We know managing food waste is essential, and here are some tips to handle kitchen waste management more efficiently:

• Avoid buying items in bulk that your restaurant will not use in bulk. In short, avoid overstocking things in the first place.
• Be as accurate as you possibly can with your inventory, which means that you have to know precisely what and how much stock you have at a given time.
• Donating leftovers to shelters and the local charity will take care of excess food and elevate your community status.
• Composting food waste is always a great option for restaurant owners. As they become soil, you can give them away to local gardeners or plant enthusiasts in your area. With this, not only are you doing the environment some good, but your establishment will get the kind of attention that translates to paying customers.
• Pay attention to the expiration dates on all products that are delivered to your inventory. This will allow you to avoid the costly mistake of accepting ingredients that already have low shelf life remaining.

What can you do as a restaurant owner?

• Create a dedicated team for Waste Management. Depending on how large an outfit you run, you may create a team or assign a person to keep an eye out specifically on your waste disposal efforts. Not only will you be able to take a closer look as to what is going on at the back end of your restaurant business, but this activity will double as a meaningful employee engagement activity for your employees. This way, your restaurant can have a more thorough waste audit, and when you have this, you have more visibility as to what direction you are going to take.
• Educate your staff. Start with your employees and train them to reduce the waste produced in the business day effectively. Just making sure that the employees are properly trained in food preparation will ensure that the minimum amount of food is wasted. Improper food preparation is a large contributor to food being wasted in restaurants across the world.
• Invest in good quality equipment. As the food preparation stage is most prone to wastage, it is a great idea to invest in good quality kitchen equipment. Small details like using the proper knife for peeling go a long way to ensure everything is prepared the way it should be. Details like this will add up and benefit your restaurant in the long run. Great quality food waste management equipment is no exception to this.

Content courtesy of Unilever Food Solutions

Sources: Unilever Food Solutions Culinary Team See the full article here.

Datassential “2019 PULSE Topical: Reducing Food Waste Chapter” Report, November 2019