10 Ways Reduce Food Waste in Your Kitchen

10 Ways Reduce Food Waste in Your Kitchen

The Australian hospitality industry creates more than 1.2 million tonnes of food waste every year which amounts to 16% of Australia’s total annual food wasteⁱ.

The waste of food safe, edible produce and ingredients is a significant environmental and economic issue around the world, and it's important that hospitality businesses play their part to reduce food waste in their kitchens.

Undertaking initiatives to reduce waste in your kitchen also makes sense financially, with food waste costing the hospitality industry around $10 billion each year. So, it makes sense that if you want to run an efficient, profitable kitchen then combatting food waste should be one of your top priorities.

If you're a hospitality venue operator seeking to reduce food waste in your kitchen, we’ve pulled together ten top tips from food waste experts to get you thinking.

1. Perform a food waste audit

Reducing food waste in your kitchen is a complex problem and one way to tackle it, is with a food waste audit. 

A food waste audit will help you understand how much food you are wasting, the most common types of food wasted and at what stage in the process the waste occurs. 

You can conduct your own food waste audit without relying on a standardised structure. To make sure your results are accurate, you need to establish a system for how you're going to weigh waste bins and record your results.

A simple food waste audit structure should include:

1. Labelling of three separate bins for the collection of waste from storage, waste from preparation, and waste from customers (plate waste).
2. Weighing each bin at the end of the day and record how many customers you served.
3. Comparing the weight of each bin with how busy your restaurant was.

Once you’ve identified where your biggest problems lie, you can introduce targeted measures to tackle them.

One of the benefits of a comprehensive food waste audit it is it inspires staff and management to think about ways to waste less food. Both your front-of-house staff and kitchen staff interact with food waste and can offer valuable insight into how you can address the issue.

Emphasise the importance of reducing food waste and ensure that employees understand how it should be segregated. You might also appoint a designated food waste manager or team to encourage ownership and empower staff to reduce waste wherever possible, offering incentives for them to take action. Be sure to ask for feedback — some of the most innovative ideas can come from kitchen and front-of-house staff.

2. Use the FIFO system

The First-In, First-Out (FIFO) system helps reduce the amount of food spoilage in your kitchen by organising inventory. 

Place newer stock to the back to ensure that older food-safe produce and ingredients are used first.

For example, if you received a shipment of fruits and vegetables on Wednesday and another on Friday, the FIFO method means you use all the produce and ingredients from Wednesday's shipment before you touch Friday's.  Of course, it is always important to check quality and use-by dates before use.

Learn more about the FIFO System here.

3. Practice temperature control

Adequately controlling the temperature you store food at is key to preventing the growth of harmful bacteria, and food spoilage. 

Food needs to be cooled and reheated at specific temperatures, as per the Food Standards Authority Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) guidelines, to ensure longevity and that it is safe for use.

Use digital temperature probes to record the temperatures produce and ingredients are brought in and to avoid storing perishable goods in the danger zone of 5 – 65 °C where bacteria grow quickest. 

Make sure both you and your staff are trained and putting into practice food safety standards   particularly when managing hot food displays, heating cold food, cooling cooked produce and ingredients.

4. Don't overbuy stock

It's hard for your inventory to spoil if you're always using 100% of it each week. The more precise you can be with ordering, the less chance there is of inventory sitting in a storeroom, spoiling, and being wasted. Work with your team to see if there are opportunities to be more efficient with ordering so that you're not buying more than you need. Keep in mind; while bulk ordering can mean saving, you won't save money if you're forced to throw away produce and ingredients due to spoilage.

Consider inventory management software. It is a great way to easily track all produce as it moves through your kitchen. With the ability to view your entire inventory system in one place, you can quickly identify inefficiencies and minimise food waste.

5. Reduce portion sizes

Review the sizing of your portions based on what customers are eating. If there is extra food consistently going to waste, and it’s the same dishes being left unfinished consider resizing those meals.

It helps customers feel good too, they feel satisfied but not guilty about wasting food.

Alternatively, give customers the option of different serving sizes to choose from so they can pick what suits their appetite and that means less food thrown away.

6. Use imperfect fruits and vegetables

Misshapen or 'ugly' fruit and vegetables are often discarded because of their aesthetic appearance, but many are perfectly useable in cooking. So-called ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables are a huge contributing factor to food waste, with an astounding 30% of produce never leaving the farm gate. ⁱⁱ By purchasing ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables, you can join the fight against food waste and contribute to a more sustainable, cost-effective food system.

7. Enhance cross-utilisation of ingredients

Another way to reduce food waste in your kitchen, and save money, is to use ingredients and produce across multiple menu items. This helps reduce the chances waste and using the produce by best before dates.

8. Reuse preparation scraps and excess

Think about ways that food safe remnants and excess created during meal preparation can be used. For example, potato skins can be deep-fried and served as a snack, and excess cooked chicken breast can be repurposed in a salad.

9. Test your new menus before ordering ingredients you may not use

The next food trend is just around the corner, but before you jump on the latest produce and ingredient fad, make sure your customers will order it. Trends can be expensive, so make sure they will work in your venue for your customers, before you stock up too much.

10. Donate leftovers to charity

A great way to reduce food waste is to donate leftovers. More than 3.4 million households in Australia struggled to put a meal on the table last year.ⁱⁱⁱ

There are a number of charities that redistributing food safe, edible produce to those in need, rather than allowing it to waste.

Search for food donation charities such as OzHarvest and SecondBite that operate near you and see if you can organise regular collections.

Ready to learn more about managing food waste practices in your business?

Get more ideas for how you can reduce food waste here.

Sources

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