Do you want to make your restaurant greener and more profitable long term? Start by reducing food waste.
In the article below, we share some stats and facts about restaurant food waste and tell you how to reduce food waste in restaurants one small step at a time.
5 Types of Waste Generated in Restaurants
Although restaurants can generate other types of waste too, such as cardboard, aluminum, or plastic from packaging, most restaurant waste revolves around food:
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- Spoiled food: items that have gone bad or are past their expiration date;
- Leftover food: food that customers haven’t finished;
- Excess food: from making more than was needed for a dish;
- Preparation waste: things you’re not using for cooking such as potato peels or meat fat;
- Oil waste: from cooking dishes.
5 Main Causes of Food Waste in Restaurants
Before we look at tips to reduce food waste in your restaurant, let’s identify the main reasons why restaurants are left with food waste:
- Excess inventory: when you order too much food for what you need, and you can’t use it all in time.
- Overproduction: when you prepare too much food in advance hoping you can sell it, but you overestimate the number of customers you will have that day.
- Human error: when someone writes down an incorrect order or miscalculates the ingredients they need for a dish.
- Improper storage: when you don’t store your ingredients at the right temperature, and they go bad much sooner than expected.
- Lack of proper waste tracking: when you don’t keep a restaurant waste log tracking areas where waste is occurring so that you can reduce it.
5 Eye-Opening Food Waste in Restaurants Statistics
So you can better understand the magnitude of food waste in the restaurant industry, we’ve also put together a couple of restaurant food waste facts and statistics you should be aware of:
- How much food do restaurants waste? Restaurants and other commercial and institutional facilities in the US generate 7.6 billion pounds of food waste every year.
- Food waste costs the restaurant industry almost $100 billion every year.
- 52% of all food waste happens in restaurants and cafés.
- 4 to 10% of the food restaurants purchase is wasted before reaching the customer.
- For every dollar invested in reducing food waste, restaurants can make $7 in operating cost savings.
How to Reduce Food Waste in Restaurants
1. Improve inventory management
As you’ve seen above, mismanaged inventory is one of the main causes of food waste in the restaurant industry. Proper inventory and waste food management can help you reduce the amount of ingredients you throw away.
Organize your inventory better using the first in, first out (FIFO) method to ensure you use all the older ingredients before they expire. Other organizational hacks such as labeling everything with their best-by-dates can also help with that.
Put everything back in its rightful place at closing time so you can quickly see if you need to reorder something or not. Going by hunches will make you waste food and lose money.
When storing your inventory, follow temperature guides for each type of ingredient to see what goes on the shelf, in the fridge, or the freezer. That way, you can take advantage of their maximum best-by-date.
2. Repurpose ingredients
Wondering how to reduce food waste in restaurants and save money at the same time? Creativity is the answer. You can look at leftover ingredients and find new ways to use them.
For example, yesterday’s bread can become today’s croutons or wilted herbs can be frozen and turned into flavor boosts for soups.
Before you throw anything away, consult with your chef and see if you can find a creative way to use that ingredient for something else on the menu.
3. Create a seasonal menu
Seasonal menus are an excellent choice for restaurants because they lower food costs, reduce food waste, and give customers the chance to eat fresh, tasty food that’s locally sourced.
Not to mention ingredients that are out of season tend to spoil quicker. In-season ingredients are fresher, they last longer, and they can also lower your carbon footprint because they won’t have to be delivered from far away.
You can start with a small menu that you change with the seasons. Customers will appreciate the variety and you can experiment with different recipes until you find staple dishes to keep on your permanent menu.
4. Offer end-of-day discounts
Why do restaurants throw away food? The answer is often because it’s left over at the end of the day. Try to avoid that by posting big discounts on leftover items two to three hours before you close down for the day.
You can create discount offers like this and many other types of restaurant promos using the promotions engine built into our online ordering system. Here’s how it works:
5. Promote ordering in advance
Another way to reduce restaurant food waste is to encourage your customers to make table reservations and pre-order their food when booking a table.
This will help you avoid excess food waste because instead of guessing how many customers you’ll have in a day and pre-preparing menu items, you will have a set number of reservations that you can prepare in advance for.
Of course, you still have to account for walk-ins, but table reservations make it easier for you to stay organized and prepared.
6. Start composting
What do restaurants do with food waste instead of throwing it away? They compost it.
If you’re not familiar with composting, it is the process of allowing organic waste to decompose into a substance known as compost that you can later use to provide plants with nutrients.
You can compost fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, tea bags, nutshells, and eggshells. However, you can’t compose meat, dairy products, bones, or any type of oil.
To start composting and make your restaurant more sustainable, you first need to check restaurant food waste disposal regulations and composting regulations in your area. In some states, composting might be prohibited or regulated on-site.
You might also like: Restaurant Recycling: 10 Easy Steps to Help the Environment and Get More Clients
7. Donate leftovers to local charities
When learning how to reduce food waste in restaurants, think of ways that you can make a change in the community as well.
Instead of throwing away food at the end of the day, you can bring it to soup kitchens or charities in need.
If your restaurant is located in the US, you can access the Food Rescue Locator directory. Enter your address, and find a food rescue organization near you that can help you redistribute the food you’re left with.
Final Thoughts
Thinking about becoming a zero-food waste restaurant can be scary and overwhelming. It might even discourage you from learning how to reduce food waste in restaurants.
But the reality is that any change, even a minor one, can make a difference. Start small by buying local, repurposing ingredients, organizing your inventory better, and offering end-of-day discounts.
