So you’ve followed the advice in our ultimate guide to reducing food waste, eliminating waste generated in your kitchen down to the last crumb. But then the time inevitably comes when your plates must fly the nest and set forth into the cruel world of the dining room, where fussy eaters, over-orderers, and people with tiny appetites dwell. If seeing your food return to the kitchen uneaten is breaking your heart, then this guide is for you.
As a follow up to our ultimate guide to reducing food waste in restaurants, we now tackle the specific problem of the food that diners leave uneaten, AKA; plate waste.
As we saw in our previous article, according to a study by WRAP, more than 30% of all food waste in restaurants comes from diners’ plates. This is an enormous amount that can and should be avoided. It’s an incredibly inefficient use of funds, and adds to the enormous impact that food waste has on the environment.
From another perspective, the waste left on plates should go to a much better home than a landfill. 8.4 million people in Britain struggle to afford to eat and a further 40 million go hungry in the United States. We therefore have a serious responsibility to eliminate this unnecessary waste. Fortunately, this guide is here to show you how simple reducing plate waste can be.
Why do diners waste food?
But first, it may be worth exploring why some diners leave food behind. According to a study carried out by WRAP, restaurant patrons are separated into two categories: those who see meals as functional and a means to ‘refuel’ (44%) and those who see meals as a ‘collective treat’, broadly a social occasion (55%). It’s this second group who are more likely to leave food on their plates. Because they see the dining experience as a treat, they are more likely to order more courses and not finish everything.
When it came to not finishing food, 20% of ‘meal leavers’ reported that their reason for not eating everything was due to the portion being too large, and a further 10% claimed that it was due to over-ordering. Interestingly, 11% left food because they perceived it as the social norm to leave a little bit on their plate, to not appear too greedy. This is the type of conception that needs to be changed if we want to fight food wastage.
So what can be done to reduce the amount of food left on plates at the end of a meal?
