Food Waste Management for Restaurants

Did you know? According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the direct economic consequences of food wastage amounts to around $750 billion across the globe? This figure packs quite a punch! Moreover, the volume of food wastage for primary product equivalents amounts to 1.6 billion tonnes. Food wastage leads to an incredibly high carbon footprint, and restaurant waste management has a huge role to play.

If you're part of a restaurant or catering company, it's time to take your food waste solutions to the next level. Not only is this beneficial for the environment, but it also increases your profit margins. You'll save on operating costs and establish yourself as a conscientious restaurant.

Improving your bottom line

Food waste solutions are often overlooked but play a major role in improving your bottom line. For one, you would order only what is necessary, which leads to improving your net revenue. Secondly, food waste and sustainability are linked, and those restaurants associated with waste reduction or upcycling tend to have a better name in the market. In an age of conscious consumerism, this is a great way to stand out.

Tips to help you with restaurant waste management

Food that's thrown in the trash leads to wasted opportunities. Fortunately, you can apply food waste solutions at each tier of your kitchen. From using an app for food waste to the composting of kitchen waste, here are some useful tips:

Keep an eye on your stocks

Every restaurant needs to predict when more supplies are needed. You need to keep a close eye on this by using the correct technology. Apps such as eighty6 help you plan your stock forecasts with actionable data and smooth communication.

Restaurant data management

With so much data available on customers, suppliers, trends, and more, it's important to keep it everything in a centralized, easily accessible location. Instead of evaluating each data point individually, it makes much more sense to save and analyze each point in real-time to make the right supply chain decisions daily. Restaurant POS systems should now operate on the cloud, where data is stored for life.

ORDER WHAT YOU NEED, WHEN YOU NEED IT

Another advantage of order management apps such as eighty6 is that they allow you to order only what you need, just when you need it. You'll never run out and won't have a chance to waste supplies either.

Store food well

One of the biggest factors of food waste management is improper storage. If you don't store your supplies correctly, they are at risk of being spoilt and eventually thrown out.

TRAIN YOUR STAFF ON FOOD WASTAGE

Increase awareness on food wastage among customers as well. Start campaigns on social media and place information in your restaurant.

MAKE CUSTOMERS AWARE

Increase awareness on food wastage among customers as well. Start campaigns on social media and place information in your restaurant.

MAKE DAILY SPECIALS

If you have ingredients that are expiring or on the verge of spoiling, create special daily dishes and put these to use. Advertise these dishes online or outside your shop.

COMPOST THE RIGHT WAY

Composting kitchen waste or leftovers is an ideal solution to repurpose food and create fertilizers for a restaurant garden. Make sure that you get the right kind of composting technology that matches your restaurant’s scale.

DONATE WHENEVER YOU CAN

If certain ingredients haven’t been used, donate them whenever possible to organizations that take them in. Ensure that you’re complying with your city’s rules and regulations before doing this.