Food waste presents a significant challenge to the restaurant industry due to both its environmental impact and economic cost. A considerable amount of all food produced in restaurants each year is wasted which plays a part in overall environmental degradation. With a better understanding of how to reduce food waste, however, restaurant owners can become a big part in a more sustainable future.
Here are a few tips on how you can reduce food waste in your restaurant so you can run a more eco-friendly, sustainable business.
Complete a Food Waste Audit
It’s essential to identify where food waste is coming from in order to reduce it so the first step will be to complete a food waste audit. Implementing a spreadsheet or some other system that allows staff to enter info regarding food wasted over 1 week or some other set period of time is a good way to gather info and identify the areas where the most food is wasted.
Improve Inventory Management
Becoming an expert in restaurant inventory management is a big part of reducing the amount of food waste coming from your kitchen. Use the first-in, first-out method to rotate your inventory by bringing older items to the front so they get used before they spoil. You can label items with use-by dates to make sure the info doesn’t get forgotten. Inventory management software is another way you can help your staff keep things organized.
Menu Planning
Planning your menu around seasonal items and what you know is going to be popular will help reduce food waste. When possible, it’s a good idea to prioritize menu items that generate less food waste. Poorly selling items should also be removed from the menu so ingredients that aren’t used don’t need to be stocked.
Daily Specials with Surplus Food
Making sure to keep stock of which items you have a surplus of and using them for daily specials is a great way to reduce food waste and get more customers in the door. Dishes made with surplus ingredients can also give chefs an opportunity to get creative.
Reduce Food Waste with Local Partnerships
Working with local companies who provide recycling services can help restaurants reduce food waste as well. Eco-Oil Recycling collects and recycles used fryer oil from restaurants in NH, Eastern MA, and Southern ME. Our eco-friendly cooking oil recycling process yields clean oil for biofuel production which can significantly reduce carbon emissions.
