5 Steps to Cutting Food Waste from Your Kitchen
August 15, 2017Food waste is a problem around the world.
Taking steps to prevent food waste in your kitchen doesn’t just make your restaurant more morally strong; it can also help you save money on ingredients and attract more customers. Here are some steps you can take to reduce food waste in your kitchen.
1. Track Your Food Waste
Tracking is the first step because it shows you whether you are making progress on reducing your waste. It also helps you to find out where the waste is coming from. Create a team that specifically looks for food waste at the end of each day. Also ask staff members to take notice of where the most food waste they see is coming from.
Your team is your best asset.
2. Educate Your Staff
You know how we said your team is your best asset? Well, they can’t be your best asset if they don’t know what is going on or how they can help. Educating your staff on the benefits of reducing food waste and what they can do to help will get them ready to be a part of the operation to cut your food waste.
3. Start Composting
Composting turns food waste into healthy soil additive. Many cities have started programs where residents and restaurants alike can compost. You simply separate all your food waste and send it to a compost facility. If your city doesn’t offer it, there are private companies and farms that will accept food waste to help them create fertile soil.
Composting allows your food waste to go towards creating something productive.
4. Incorporate Leftover Food in Meals
If you find you have a bunch of vegetables left over during the day, consider throwing them into a soup and serving it as a special. Adding some flexibility to your menu items can also give you the freedom to use foods that otherwise might end up in the trash. For example, having a salad on your menu that includes “seasonal vegetables” allows for different variations of the same menu item, allowing you to get more out of your kitchen ingredients.
5. Measure Types of Food
Sure, you have food waste, but what kind of food waste do you have? Is it lettuce scraps? Unused pasta? Knowing what type of foods you have left after a day of hard cooking lets you know what you can do with it. Is it food you could incorporate into other meals? Is it inedible and needs to be composted? Is it something you could provide to those who are homeless?
By measuring your food waste and separating it, you can determine what needs to be done.
Properly reducing and reusing food waste will help your restaurant become more sustainable. It will also attract the crowd of diners that appreciates the fact you are doing your best to help the environment.
4 Money-Saving Strategies You Can Use in Your Restaurant NOW
Running a restaurant is one of the most interesting and lucrative businesses one can engage in with the right money-saving strategies. However, it also poses to be one of the most difficult. Many factors have to be put into consideration in order to make sure that...
Businesses that Should be Selling Frozen Beverages in 2017
Adding a frozen beverage machine to your slate of money-making channels is great way to drum up additional sales. Since there is low overhead cost associated with selling frozen beverages, whether it is an FCB (Frozen Carbonated Beverage) or FUB (Frozen Uncarbonated...
Start Preparing Your Restaurant for Summer!
As a restaurant owner, you may have noticed that weather has affects the number of customers that walk through your door. It is widely understood, for example, that rain drives customers indoors as they seek shelter from the storm. Snowstorms, of course, discourage...
Create a Memorable Dining Experience with the Right Flatware
According to Will Rogers, “you will never get a second chance to make a first impression.” In a restaurant, flatware is a small but essential part of making a great impression. Flatware is a particularly important design element because customers won’t just look it;...
Cleaning Your Commercial Deep Fryer Made Easy
A commercial deep fryer requires daily cleaning to keep the appliance in perfect working condition. However, cleaning the restaurant’s deep fryer is one of the most dreaded tasks for many restaurant workers. Who could blame them? The process of cleaning a deep fryer...
The Top Chefs Use Cast Iron. Do You?
From pots to pans, restaurant cookware has been made out of all kinds of materials. What kind do you use? It’s time for you to use cast iron. Cast iron cookware has many benefits. Let’s take a look at why you need to be using cast iron in your professional kitchen....
How to Crash the Dine and Dash
Any business that sells physical products is subject to the occasional theft. So do restaurants, but it's just called dine and dash. Those who dine and dash take advantage of the fact that they receive their purchase before they pay, rather than after. In many...
Preparing for Your Restaurant’s Grand Opening
Starting a restaurant is an adventure, especially with the Grand Opening. There will have been months of planning, preparation, purchasing and hiring for your grand opening. When you finally have everything ready, your grand opening is a big deal. If everything is...
Guide to Buying the Perfect Knives
Knives are arguably one of the most important tools in any kitchen. Your chefs are the heartbeat of your restaurant and they deserve quality knives that ease the task of cooking great food. When buying the perfect knives for your chefs, keep in mind that the most...
Equipment Buying Tips for Restaurant Owners
If you own a restaurant or you’re starting a new one, you will need the right equipment. It is important to choose quality equipment that will not only get the job done well but also cost you less in the long run. However, it can be hard to know where to start. Here...
5 Decor Ideas for an Inviting Restaurant Feel
Great food and customer service are important parts of the equation that keeps customers coming, but the restaurant experience is not just about the food. The best restaurants cater to every aspect of a customer’s experience. The right ambiance is a must. This means...
5 Tips for an Ergonomically Sound Restaurant
The physical environment of your restaurant should not only be appealing to customers but also be comfortable and safe for your employees. Due to the repetitive motions that characterize the job description of restaurant employees, there is a potential for...
How to Make Your Silverware Sparkle and Shine
No one wants to eat off of dirty or tarnished silverware. While it’s easy to clean silverware of leftover food, the tarnishing will still linger unless you take steps to make your silverware shine. To make the best impression on your guests, your silverware should not...
Top 6 Movies for Restaurant Owners
The movies that connect with us on a personal level are the ones that linger in our memories forever, especially when it deals with food and the drama in a commercial kitchen. Achieving that level of intimacy in the fictional world of movies is easier said than done....