How Can Restaurants Reduce Food Spoilage?
In the restaurant industry, food spoilage is not only a waste of resources but also a significant drain on profits. Every bit of spoiled food represents lost revenue and increased costs for disposal. By implementing effective strategies to reduce food spoilage, restaurants can not only save money but also contribute to a more sustainable environment.
In this blog, we’ll explore practical tips and techniques that can help your restaurant minimize waste and maximize freshness.
Food Spoilage Reduction Tip #1: Track the Food You’re Throwing Away
The first step for minimizing food waste in restaurants is understanding the size and nature of the problem. How much food are you throwing away? How often? Why?
If you’re not tracking food waste, you have no idea how to fix the problem. Maybe your goal shouldn’t be food spoilage reduction at all. Maybe most of your food waste is perfectly edible, but the problem is that you're prepping batches that are too large for that day's traffic.
Start keeping a log near all trash receptacles and ask employees to document every time they throw away unused food. We’re not talking about the leftovers that your customers don't eat from their plates, but the food that goes straight from your kitchen into the trash. Have spots to record the date, time, type of food, approximate quantity, and the reason for disposal.
Review the log frequently to see if you notice any trends. This will allow you to craft effective solutions to your problems, like cooking smaller batches or adjusting your regular food order.
Food Spoilage Reduction Tip #2: Organize Your Inventory
Effective restaurant inventory management can play a big role in minimizing food spoilage.
Undoubtedly, there have been times when you've reordered something because you thought you were out, only to find a box in the corner later that’s already gone bad. Mistakes like these can be frustrating and costly, and they stem from a lack of organization.
Create a system for food storage and stick with it. Make sure all your employees are familiar with and follow your system as well – it only works if everyone is on the same page.
Label shelves so that ingredients are stored in the same place every time; that way, current inventory is obvious at a glance. Take a few extra minutes with each shipment to stock your inventory properly – put each item in its proper place and add new inventory to the back so that the oldest food is used first.
Conduct regular inventory audits. Check expiration dates and make a note of the unused items that you're throwing away.
Not only will your kitchen workflow become more efficient as ingredients are easy to find, but you’ll see a reduction in food waste, as well.
If you’ve taken these basic precautions and are still struggling, consider whether you’d benefit from purchasing an inventory tracking system designed for food service. There are plenty of options, and they can help you become very precise in your food orders.
Food Spoilage Reduction Tip #3: Audit Your Storage Conditions
When you’re organizing your food storage system, take into account where and how each item is being stored. Placement and packaging can be important for preventing cross-contamination.
Store ready-to-eat items above any raw ingredients and place any juicy raw items low to avoid drippage. Make sure items are properly sealed (or not sealed, as appropriate) to maintain freshness. Train employees to recognize the best storage conditions for relevant ingredients and
Additionally, keep temperature logs for your freezer, refrigerator, storage, and food holding areas. Monitoring for temperature fluctuations can be an important part of preventing food spoilage in food service.
Food Spoilage Reduction Tip #4: Evaluate Menu Items
It’s inevitable: some dishes are more popular than others. When less-popular dishes rely on common ingredients used elsewhere, this is no problem. When you’re stocking (and chucking) ingredients you don’t otherwise use, it’s poor business.
Once you’ve got an overall sense of your patterns of food spoilage, evaluate each menu item with a critical eye.
Are there any dishes you should eliminate or replace because they’re just not popular enough? Are there ingredients you should swap out to reduce food waste? If certain ingredients are only sporadically wasted, can you craft specials that use the ingredient to offer on the menu as needed?
Food Spoilage Reduction Tip #5: Reuse Food When You Can
This tip is last on our list because we understand that not all restaurants can reuse or repurpose ingredients.
However, if you have a more flexible menu or one that changes daily or weekly based on produce in season, repurposing food is a great way to reduce food waste. For example, if you typically make guacamole with fresh tomatoes but have extra salsa from earlier in the week, you can use the extra salsa in your guac.
Of course, keep in mind the integrity of your recipes, and don't compromise your food quality for the sake of saving a few dollars. It can hurt your business in the long run.
If internal reuse isn’t practical for you, consider collaborating with food rescue organizations to donate your excess food to those in need. In addition to being responsible restaurant food waste management, partnerships with food banks and charities can be good PR.
Become A Food Safety Expert
While we hope this blog post has been instructional, it's not a replacement for formal food safety training. Food Safety Manager Certification can help you reduce food waste, increase your kitchen’s safety and efficiency, improve your inspection results, and more.
Our courses are online, self-paced, and accepted by various regulatory bodies. They’re a great way to up your game on your own terms – you’ll be able to study where and when it’s best for you.
