Food waste costs UK restaurants £682 million each year.
In the US, the scale of the problem is far worse, costing restaurants $25.1 billion annually. Restaurant owners and managers are acutely aware of the problem, with 52% of restaurant professionals naming high operating and food costs as a top challenge.
This waste takes a huge bite out of many restaurant’s profits, and it is also incredibly damaging to the planet.
Food waste as a whole is a huge waste of basic resources that could be used for nature, or for feeding hungry people. Take land as an example: the land used to grow food that is subsequently wasted makes up an area 58 times the size of the UK, or almost 3 times the size of the Amazon Rainforest.
The land that is used to grow food that is subsequently wasted makes up area 58 times the size of the UK
Food waste is also warming the planet: if food waste was a nation, it would rank as the third largest national emitter of greenhouse gases, after China and the US.
But, food waste also ranks among the easiest and biggest environmental opportunities available to us, probably because it’s a total win-win: not many solutions to climate change immediately save us money.
This research shows that on average, businesses save 7 times what they invest in reducing their food waste! This means that pretty much any food waste reduction strategy you try will be a financial success.
We’ve put together a comprehensive list of all the things you can do to reduce your waste and save money on food. Find an approach that works for you, implement it, and you and the planet will soon be reaping the benefits.
This post focuses on kitchen waste, but stay tuned for our forthcoming posts on plate waste and forecasting techniques for a complete view of everything you can do to reduce COGS.
How to measure your restaurant waste
What gets measured, gets managed, and the first step to a successful kitchen waste reduction plan should be to measure how much you are wasting, the cost of that waste, and what the sources of the waste are. If you measure your waste for a trial period as short as a week, you will get a pretty accurate idea of the current state of your food waste.
The simplest way to measure your food waste is by using separate bins / trash cans for different types of waste:
- Bin 1: Preparation waste — the waste generated while prepping food e.g. broccoli stems.
- Bin 2: Spoilage — Food that has gone off while sitting in your fridge or other storage.
- Bin 3: Plate waste — Served food that customers didn’t eat.
Weigh each bin at the end of each day, or even better at the end of each service. If you don’t currently own a set of bin / industrial scales and don’t want to spend the money for a short-term project — a good set of parcel scales can be strong enough to do the job.
From your week’s data, calculate how much waste you are producing each year. Then multiply this by the cost per tonne; the average figure in the UK is £3,500.
You will then know roughly how much wasting food is costing your business each year. It’s likely to be a surprisingly large number, but don’t be alarmed! Lot’s of practical advice for making improvements incoming…
Tech alternative: If you are running a large operation and really want to get to grips on your food waste, Winnow’s smart bins have an inbuilt scale and identify food items as they are thrown in, using AI.
How to get employee buy-in
Any successful food waste reduction program will rely on committed staff members. Without the buy-in of your employees, it will be an uphill struggle. Here are some tips on how to get them on board.
- Make sure there is no fear attached to tracking waste. The carrot is definitely better than the stick here, as waste can easily be covered up by popping it in the wrong bin and thereby ruining the accuracy of your waste tracking. Make sure that an open environment is created, where wasted food is not viewed as a result of poor performance on the part of staff. Communicate this clearly before you begin measuring waste.
- Hear and implement suggestions of employees. If staff feel that they are heard, they will take ownership of the project themselves, ensuring consistency and accuracy. Kicking off the project with a quick brainstorming meeting including all staff is a good approach.
- Go armed with data. It’s a good idea to complete your initial measurements before scheduling your kick-off brainstorming meeting. Staff will take the project much more seriously if they understand the huge losses associated with waste. They will also come up with better ideas if they can see where the waste is coming from.
- Make the ingredients sacred. Most people who work in kitchens have a huge love and respect for food — they all agree that good ingredients are sacred, and shouldn’t be wasted. Without being too preachy, stress this point, emphasizing the farms, farmers, animals, land and natural resources that have produced the food. Also emphasize the environmental issues involved with food waste. Stay tuned to this blog for our hard-hitting upcoming post on the environmental impact of food waste — print it out and pass it around the kitchen!
- Give them what they need. Make sure your staff have suitable equipment that will make the task of waste reduction as easy as possible. If staff see you investing cash and time in the project, they will recognise the importance of it.
How to set reasonable targets for waste reduction
Setting realistic targets for waste reduction will motivate your team and give everyone a great sense of satisfaction when you totally smash through them.
In Champions123’s research, which involved 114 restaurant sites across 12 countries all undertaking a waste-reduction program, the average result after 12 months was a 26 percent reduction of food waste by weight. After three years, the average result was a 58 per cent reduction by weight.
The best-performing sites achieved a reduction of over 95% of food waste weight. This is an inspiring achievement that shows what is possible, but to avoid disappointment, it may be best to shoot for the average.
Once you have measured your major sources of waste, compare your numbers to the average proportions — see the pie chart below. This will show you where you are falling short compared to the rest of the industry. Set more aggressive targets for the areas where you are doing badly, and more relaxed ones where you already do well.
Where restaurant food waste comes from. Data from wrap.org
Read the rest of our Ultimate Guide to reducing food waste here.
