How to conduct a food waste audit to help reduce waste

4. To reduce environmental impact: Food waste has a significant planetary impact. When food is wasted, it ends up in landfills, where it produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. It also wastes the resources used to produce food like water, energy, and fertilizer. By reducing food waste, restaurants can help reduce their environmental impact and contribute to a more sustainable food system.
5. To improve customer satisfaction: Both restaurants and customers don’t like to see food thrown out. By reducing food waste, restaurants can improve customer satisfaction by showing their commitment to sustainability and reducing the amount of food that goes uneaten or unused. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth advertising.
6. To remain compliant: Certain cities and states in the US have regulations in place to reduce food waste. For example, in 2016, California passed a law requiring restaurants to reduce their food waste by 75% in 2030. By running a food waste audit, you can ensure you comply with similar regulations and avoid potential fines.

Steps to conducting a restaurant food waste audit

By now, you should already be aware of some of the reasons why conducting a food waste audit can be a valuable tool for reducing solid waste, saving money, and improving your restaurant operations. But how do you conduct a food waste audit in your restaurant? Below are the steps that you can take to gain insights into your operations, identify opportunities for improvement, and take action to reduce restaurant food waste:

1. Set goals and objectives: Define what you hope to achieve through the food waste audit like reducing solid waste, saving money, improving sustainability, and more.
2. Prepare the necessary materials. A big area that allows you to organize multiple bags of food waste is crucial. It’s recommended to choose several bags from the same week to have a snapshot of waste generated. You’ll also need a large table, different buckets to split your waste by type, protective equipment, and a scale to measure the weight of the waste.
3. Build a team and assign champions: Choose a team of individuals responsible for conducting the audit, including staff members from various teams like the kitchen staff, serving staff, and management.
4. Gather data: Collect data on the amount and types of excess food in various areas of the restaurant, including the kitchen, dining room, and storage areas.
5. Label waste: Categorize the waste into different types like spoilage, overproduction, trimmings, and leftovers.
6. Analyze the data: Analyze the data collected to identify trends and patterns in your waste generation like the most wasted food items, the time of day or week when waste is highest, and the reasons for excess food.
7. Find opportunities for improvement: Use data analysis to identify areas where waste can be reduced or avoided. This may involve applying new policies or procedures like zero waste policies, changing portion sizes and/or menu items, or training employees in waste reduction best practices.
8. Create an action plan: Develop an action plan to implement the changes identified, including timelines and responsibilities for each step.
9. Monitor progress: Regularly monitor progress to assess the effectiveness of the food waste reduction strategies and adjust them accordingly.
10. Consider using inventory management technologies: Consider utilizing comprehensive inventory and purchase-to-pay management solutions that aid in recipe management and provide insights into the financial impact of food waste on your profit margins. These tools enable you to manage tail spending and enhance your cash flow—resulting in improved profitability, operations, and more.
11. Use food waste apps: Food waste apps, such as Mimica Touch helps users indicate the freshness of a food item. The labels they produce use temperature-sensitive indicator technology on their labels which uses gelatin to mimic the decay process in food. When food is no longer suitable for consumption, the label forms bumps as it breaks down.

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Calculating restaurant food waste and food loss

In addition to conducting a food waste audit, you could also benefit from measuring the amount of food loss and food waste. Below are some of the steps you could take:

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1. Pick a trial period: The first step is to choose a trial period to calculate food waste. Instead of conducting a complete change of your restaurant’s inventory management processes, start by monitoring your waste for specific periods at a time.
2. Throw restaurant food waste into specific trash cans: Restaurant food waste comes from three main sources: expired food, customer plates, and food prep. You’ll need to split it as your restaurant operates through a shift. Purchase three separate garbage cans—one for each food waste source and ask your employees to throw away all food waste accordingly.
3. Weigh your food waste: At the end of every shift, weigh each of your food waste trash cans using an industrial scale. Record the numbers, ideally in your inventory management system, to organize your results. At the end of the month, you’ll have restaurant food waste totals (by weight) from each category.
4. Compare your food waste totals: Compare your food waste totals with your inventory and sales numbers to gain an accurate picture of where you stand. According to Food Print, So, your goal should be near that.
5. Inform your restaurant staff: Inform your employees about the importance of the task. It’ll make sure that the restaurant continues to thrive in the long run, and they’ll be contributing to a lower environmental impact. You’ll need their participation to accurately calculate your restaurant food waste.
6. Break down your food waste further: Once you have your initial food waste data from your trial month, break down your food waste even further by splitting all your wasted ingredients into categories like meat, dairy, fish, grains, vegetables, spices, and others. This should show where restaurant food waste is coming from. You may be surprised to know some of your dishes are often returned to the kitchen.
7. Focus on how you can improve the situation, not the numbers: When most restaurant owners and operators measure their food waste for the first time, they’re often shocked by the amount of food that’s thrown away monthly. But don’t worry about these numbers. Instead, focus on what you can do to improve the situation. Research has shown that for every dollar a restaurant spends in preventing food waste, they make around $7 in potential profit.

The casual restaurant, Rhodora in Brooklyn has also created momentum. It aims to become the first zero-waste wine bar nationally, serving natural and organic wines. It only uses ethical suppliers and products that can be composted, recycled, or upcycled. But carrying out a food waste audit is just one of the first steps to wasting less restaurant food. Using the right technology is crucial in transforming your waste management and waste reduction strategies.

Food waste audit FAQ