Food service operators have to continuously serve up their A-game dishes and menus to attract customers. But with more dishes comes the risk of more food waste, at restaurants, stores, and in the hands of consumers. Nurturing a generation of food-waste conscious consumers has never been more important than before, and this change can start right from your restaurant.
With the turnaround period between Chinese New Year and Ramadan so close to each other, it might be tempting to stock up on inventory to avoid being out of certain vital ingredients to your menu. Doing so might leave you with more food ingredients than you need, which may even end up spoiling in storage. Consider adjusting festive menus to utilise common ingredients, or even try something new by whipping up fusion foods!
Label your food stocks with dates and item descriptions to ensure that First In, First Out (FIFO) is adhered to. This concept is easy to practice – utilize the inventory or stocks that has been in the storage longest first. This applies to both raw ingredients and ready food. This also ensures that earlier purchases are pushed out sooner rather than later from storage, allowing you to maintain the freshness of ingredients and giving you the flexibility to rotate your menu items as necessary to cope with changing demands. Don’t forget to check the use-by dates as well!
Consider your usual customer base against festive customer numbers, and try to anticipate demand for certain menu items. Consider discussing and planning with your team, or check your past order record to make a better judgment. Don’t miss out on delivery orders too. Customers may also order for delivery to dine in the comfort of their own homes during the festive celebration. You could have separate or limited menus for delivery services, which differ slightly from dine-in menus to help manage inventory.
Reducing food waste is a collaborative effort between food service operators and their consumers. Bundle packs and set menus may be easier for the kitchen to prepare and are often cooked to impress in terms of visuals, taste, and portion, but a la carte menus with smaller, refillable sides are ideal for reducing food wastage. You may also allow your customers to decide their portion size, such as “normal” or “lite” to help reduce food waste. Notice a lot of leftovers on the table? You may also remind customers that you can pack them out for takeout for them.
Did you know that there are organizations out there that redistribute food to the needy? In the spirit of charity during the festive season, you may consider working with them to help reduce food wastage and food loss. Food past its sell-by date that is still fit for consumption, or excess ingredients that can be incorporated into meals can be donated to these food banks to help the underprivileged and underserved.
Planning ahead for the upcoming festivities not only involves laying out an attractive menu for customers, it also involves what you can do to help reduce food wastage in Malaysia — hopefully these tips would have helped you along your way to zero waste!
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