Beyond Food Cost: Tips to Prevent Food Waste & Reduce Food Cost

November 18, 2020

Georgia, USA

Blog Post Contributed by Raymond Amengual with Trimark

Restaurant owners, executive chefs and kitchen managers all worry about food cost.

The tendency is to focus on purchasing, portion control, and cross-product utilization menu development. While all these elements are crucial and essential, one area that seems to defeat all these efforts is food waste. Ignoring the frequent challenge of food waste can take away all efforts to keep food costs in line.

What can you do? Let's start with dry food storage....

1. Prevent contamination from liquids, dust, insects, and rodents, store food at a minimum 6 inches above the floor.

2. Ensure the storeroom is well ventilated with a humidity level around 50-60%.

3. Allow for a 2-foot ceiling and 18-inch outside wall clearance to protect foods from higher temperatures.

4. Store all janitorial/chemicals in a separate closet but if space is an issue store these items on shelves below dry goods (as well as utensils).

5. Follow the FIFO inventory management rule: first in, first out.

6. Increase the shelf life of bulk products - such as flour, sugar, rice, and grains by transferring them from their original packaging into air-tight BPA-free plastic containers.

7. Use food-grade containers that lock out moisture with easy snap-on lids.– Not having the proper containers and trying to make do with what is available will drive food waste up.

8. Label all containers clearly including the delivery date and best by date.

9. Toss out canned goods that are too dented to stack, bulging at the ends, punctured, or have leakage stains.

10. Adhere to special storage instructions on the packaging, such as “store in a cool, dry place” or “refrigerate after opening”. Maintain a room’s temperature between 50F and 70F.

11. Use shelving units to maintain a clean and organized work area decreasing the number of times employees need to locate items during the day.

12. Set up a regular cleaning and maintenance schedule for shelves and food surfaces.

For more information contact:

Raymond Amengual

Sales Representative

TriMark USA, 4575 River Green Pkwy, Suite 100, Duluth, Georgia 30096.

P 770.995.7344

C 214.548.0255

E raymond.amengual@trimarkusa.com

Trimark Strategic is a valued industry partner of the Georgia Hospitality & Foodservice Network.

Trimark Strategic is a single source for commercial equipment, kitchen supplies, tabletop collections and seamless foodservice solutions.