Tips to control food wastage in food service industry

Food waste affects every food service sector; and also has a detrimental impact on environment.

From where is the waste generated:

The food waste is generated from a various sources like

-          Pre-production waste (Ex: Vegetable peeling, meat, chicken and fish waste)

-        Post-production waste (Ex: food prepared in excess quantity, food wasted by the customers   (Plate waste))

-          Ordering Excess stock (pilferage, perishable goods, near to expiry date goods)

-          Mishandling and packaging failure

-          Used cooking oils

Even the best run food service kitchens have food waste; the point here is to work on food waste reduction before considering how best to dispose of unavoidable waste.

By taking a few simple steps like having a well organized management system to control and monitor the waste produced will help in food waste reduction:

-          Pre-production food waste :

The pre production waste can be reduced by the purchase of frozen cut vegetables; these vegetables are cleaned and hygienically packed which can be directly used for cooking purpose. This helps in unnecessary vegetable peel wastage.

-          Post-production food waste:

Estimating the correct requirement to cook the required food is essential to reduce the food wastage.

Ensuring the ingredients and the raw material required for food production is purchased in the required quantity to meet the demand.

Consumers demand more food for lesser price, irrelevant of the food service industry. A full plate of food generally gets an impression of getting more food for the money spent, irrespective of the actual need for the consumption, which finally leads to food wastage.

This impression can be reduced by using smaller rimmed plates, as opposed to larger winged plates which will give an impression of a larger meal, without using more food.

-          Maintaining Excess Stock:

Making a smart material request for perishable goods and avoiding oil pilferage etc will help in cost and food waste. Consider ordering fruits and vegetables on daily basis, required for the consumption for that particular day. 

Ensure effective stock rotation for the perishable and near to expiry food products by following First in First out (FIFO) and First Expiry First out (FEFO) method of stock issuance.

Reducing food waste makes good business sense! Hence organize a successful waste management system to minimize the waste and utilize the existing waste in a best possible way.