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Is your company producing the same or more waste now than it did a year ago?
Reducing waste not only keeps costs down on waste disposal but also exhibits business growth and development and adds to a company’s social responsibility by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and worldwide threats to human safety.
Simple adjustments in human psychology and company operations can result in
significant waste savings.
With that in mind, here are the five best practices that helped mass distributors,
suppliers, and manufacturers to reduce waste by a massive 15%.
Prevent food waste at the source
According to research, 20% of vegetables and fruits are wasted during manufacturing,
12% are lost throughout retail and distribution, and 28% are wasted at the consumer
end.
Purchasing in accordance with sales figures is indeed the best method of reducing food wastage in restaurants. Storage is also vital in the fight against food waste. Maintaining food at the proper temperature reduces bacterial development, extending food longevity.
Prediction of food orders
Putting an all-inclusive system that can help you effectively estimate food orders,
whether physically or with digital technology (e.g Watermalon marketplace), offers reliable information, a deeper understanding of order delivery patterns, and more command over your restaurant, which eventually leads to the less wastage.
Stock management practice
When it comes to reducing food spoilage and wastage, effective purchasing and
inventory control is critical.
Ensure that refrigerated food is correctly labeled with ‘best before’ or ‘ sell by’ dates.
Also, make sure that every person in your business who handles food is educated in
appropriate First In, First Out inventory control practices.
That means your team should be trained to prioritize using the raw materials that come to your inventory first. Another good practice is to put someone in charge of overseeing the inventory.
Have the person in charge responsible to do quality control of your stock and inventory, so the foods that are in the most danger of getting spoiled first come out of the kitchen as soon as possible.
Having these management practices in place helps all businesses reduce their waste
significantly over the years.
Stay away from over ordering
Purchase only what is necessary. Before placing a shopping order, check your freezer and kitchen drawers. If you are running more than one restaurant, good procurement management software can help you track all your inventory, allowing you to make better purchase decisions.
Utilize the data you get from the procurement management software to create a sustainable plan for your next supply purchase. Take a look at what items are sold the most, and which are sold the less, and make a solid procurement plan around it.
Making better purchasing decisions based on data will help you order in an amount that is very close to what your business might need. As a result, you will never run out of supply while in an emergency situation while also not having an overwhelming amount of
extra materials that are sure to get spoiled.
Reduce food waste at the consumer level
By standardizing packaged food dates on labeling requirements, food producers can help customers avoid wasting food. Uncertainty about date labels, such as the difference between “use by” and “best before” dates, accounts for 20% of consumers ’ food waste.
To avoid confusion, the FDA, for example, recommends using a uniform “best if used
by” date on all packaged foods.
Furthermore, food makers might include food storage and handling instructions to
consumers on packaged foods.