Real Ways To Reduce Food Waste

From tracking to menu planning, try these practical and easy tips

Food waste, in the form of leftover grain, built whiskey empires and made mill owners rich. Maybe that’s not a practical solution these days, but you can hack your foodservice business’s food waste using these practical, effective and easy tips.

How Much Food do You Waste?

Get real about how much you waste. Start by measuring, in dollars or quantities, roughly how much is wasted each week. Make it a simple exercise, it’s more important to get started than be exact. Try using:

A food waste savings calculator from the company Leanpath
A waste list, the reverse of a grocery list

Make a sign with your food waste findings and hang it on the wall in the kitchen and office. It shows the topic is open for discussion and ideas. Share it with all staff, and your vendors. Solicit team ideas. Waste is a powerful motivator for change.

Food Waste Tracking

At the end of each day, compile a detailed “waste list” list. Like a fitness tracker on your wrist, you’ll feel motivated, informed and in control of change. Your data will help with decision making about future purchases. When it comes to throwing out food, an ounce of prevention beats raccoons in the garbage.