Food waste costs money. That's why wasted food is a waste of money. Throwing away valuable resources uneaten also holds enormous potential for environmental and social conflict. Conflicts that young and future customers are not willing to accept. At the same time, the demand for food is increasing as the world ́s population grows, but the farmland is finite. That's why legislation is being passed which requires hospitality and food services to deal with food waste more efficiently. EU legislation obliges the HoReCa sector to measure food waste e.g. in France, Germany and many other countries.
Over 1/3 of all food produced globally goes to waste. There are many other ways to handle food waste.
First of all: think about how you can avoid food waste. Then resell surplus food, donate it to people in need or animal shelters. If possible, recycle food for other purposes and compost as much as possible. Ensure you minimize the quantity of food waste that goes to landfills.
Makes a positive impact on your business’ image
Improves your equipment
Has a positive impact on your local environment
You differentiate yourself by standing out as responsible
Improves your business operation practices and efficiency
Has a positive impact on your work ethics
You will be ready to comply with new laws
You differentiate yourself by standing out as responsible
Improves your business operation practices and efficiency
Has a positive impact on your work ethics
You will be ready to comply with new laws
Optimum "short-term" storage temperature ranges (°C)
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When your staff is treated well, the positive effects on your business are felt not only in your restaurant but also in the community around you. As a restaurant owner, you have direct responsibility for your employees, but you also have indirect responsibility for every worker in the supply chain - the community overall. Take an active role in your community and ensure the welfare of your employees, your customers, your suppliers, and others in society whom you are in touch with.
Water runs your business. As a restaurant owner, you require a large amount of it before, during and after the service, from cooking and steaming to washing and sanitizing. But water does not only cost you money, it is also precious. Show your customers that you take responsibility and adapt water saving behavior with long-term benefits for you and the environment.
You can go even further by implementing advanced ways to reduce food waste in your restaurant:
Through composting you can help put food scraps to use and reduce methane emissions in landfills.
You can start composting by implementing the following steps:
Inform your staff and help them understand why you are doing this. Ask for their ideas and if they know of any limitations that should be considered before starting the project
Decide if you will compost on-site or use a removal service
Place clear signs in your back-of-house area to show where the food scraps and compost go
Secure the composting equipment and food scraps, to prevent them from contaminating the surroundings and from attracting pests
Consider using more eco-friendly disposables, for example, rubbish bin liners
Check with your local waste collection service or authority about what is possible to send for commercial composting
Composters can be positioned indoors or outdoors. They can use earthworms or not and they can be open or closed systems. Don ́t forget to check what is suitable and hygienic for your location
Once you have established composting at your restaurant, let your local community and customers know about it via your menu, website, social media and/or your window
Composting is the process of breaking down organic material, for example, food scraps, using heat, moisture, agitation, air-flow, and sometimes earthworms. It is very useful since all the organic uncooked waste of a restaurant can be turned into nutrient-rich soil through the process of composting. This soil can then be used as a natural fertilizer for local farmers and gardeners. You could even use it in your own restaurant garden if you have one. There are many benefits of composting such as enhancing your restaurant’s image, reducing food waste, benefits for the environment and the local community and the compost doesn’t contain synthetic chemical fertilizers.
Depending on the local regulations, a restaurant can even use compost for an onsite garden, from plant pots to a small herb garden to a vegetable patch.
But not all sorts of food can be composted. Diseased plants, dairy products, coal or charcoal ashes, meat and bones, oil, fat and grease, and all toxic materials cannot be composted. Compostable materials include fruit and vegetable waste, coffee grounds and filters, paper napkins, wood ashes, cardboard and newspaper. You should check with your local waste collection service or authority about what is possible to send for commercial composting. Also, ask them if they collect cooked waste and animal products as they might have a service to process these foods into biogas.
Check out the following aspects when you want to cook with unwanted parts:
Unwanted parts are those pieces of meat, fish and vegetables that usually get discarded because the taste, texture or appearance is not what diners can stomach. Sometimes these unwanted parts, such as offal or bones, are simply forgotten over the decades. What is clear is that many of us, particularly in developed countries, lost our imagination to create delicious and nutritious meals out of all parts of the animal. We lost our connection to where food comes from and our appreciation of the effort it takes to produce.
When you use these generally unwanted parts you can deliver a whole new world of tastes and textures to your customers. Restaurants influence eating patterns and many trends have started in restauration.
Check out the following aspects when you want to cook with unwanted parts:
Source your fish and meat responsibly
Buy different parts of the fish or meat that are not so popular or which may be usually discarded.
Talk with your customers about what you are doing and why. To convince them to try out unusual dishes you could offer small tasting plates.
Make salmon cut-offs into a risotto
Roast skin into crisps
Reduce bones into a stock
Try using skirt as it is as tasty as an entrecote but cheaper
Tops of carrots can be made into a pesto sauce
Wilted lettuce can be sautéed and served as a side
Cook broccoli stalks and puree them into a soup
Once you have taken some steps, check the cut down of your food waste and keep a track of it. Look out for simple tracking solutions that don’t need too much input from you, for example, monitor your disposal costs, the volume of donations, the win back of sunk costs (by Food surplus redistribution), and the attraction of new customers. Talk to your staff about how much you saved and how they have helped in achieving the desired results. Seeing the progress visibly can motivate them to keep on saving food. Publicise what you are doing. For example, a message on your website or in your menu can be a visible reminder to your customers about your responsible actions. You can have an impact this way as staff and customers will take these messages home with them.
Identify sources of food waste in your restaurant
Store fruits and vegetables in the right way
Only order what you really need
Donate your food surplus and get informed about local institutions that take donations and about their conditions for food donations
Compost goods that are compostable
Complement the menu with dishes that contain unwanted parts
Inform and engage your staff
Tell your customers about your progress
Install visual reminders
Applications that can support with menu design or communications are:
METRO supports you with a diverse product assortment and services for your sustainability strategy. Please check out the local METRO or makro website in your country.
When you try to avoid food waste, you should talk with your staff and help them understand the importance of eliminating the waste. Your staff’s engagement is crucial to making all the investments work. Keeping them up to date and training them will be needed. You can do this simply by implementing daily briefings, placing posters in easy-to-see places, or reminding them that each one of them is needed to fight food waste.
Food waste may be all around but you can take simple steps to reduce it. Start by identifying different types of waste in your restaurant and where it is generated. Generally, food waste comes from either the back of the house (e.g. the store room and the kitchen) or from the front of the house (e.g. where customers are served). Check how much food waste your restaurant generates and observe where most food waste is coming from.
Fruit and vegetables are a major contributor to the amount of food waste in a restaurant. Check whether you already make use of all possible ways to store fruit and vegetables well, in order to prevent food waste:
Avoid food waste in the first place. Only order food that you will really consume.
Embrace produce imperfections, but steer clear of vegetables or fruits that are overly bruised or damaged.
Composting can help put food scraps to use and reduce methane emissions in landfills. Fruits, vegetables, coffee and tea all are good materials for compost.
Surplus food doesn’t have to be wasted. By donating or discounting your surplus food (e.g. TOO GOOD TO GO, Whole Surplus, or Sirplus), you prevent that food from ending up in a landfill while also helping people in need. Moreover, donations boost your employees’ morale as they see that they are having a positive impact and, depending on your locality, this may bring you financial advantages due to tax benefits of food donations. Food can be donated to charity organizations, food banks, zoos and animal shelters. Usually, food banks will have some requirements about what they accept, for example: