As a restaurant owner, you might be looking for ways to save money and keep customers happy. One way to accomplish both goals is by minimizing food waste. Reducing the amount of food wasted in your eatery enables you to control commercial garbage collection expenses and continue to offer your patrons reasonable prices. Here are a few tips to help you manage this issue.

How to Reduce Restaurant Food Waste

1. Use Expiring Foods First

Plan meals around foods with a short shelf life first, such as fruits, vegetables, and fresh fish so that you use items before they become stale or spoiled. When ingredients like bread and eggs reach their use-by date, incorporate them into classic dishes, such as French toast and bread pudding, or impress your customers with creative chef’s specials.

2. Evaluate Food Portions

When diners leave food on their plates, it might mean the portion sizes are too large. Discarding uneaten food is like throwing your money in the trash.

Track how much of each protein, starch, and vegetable is being wasted and reduce portion sizes accordingly. To avoid negative feedback from frequent customers who notice there’s less food on their plates, offer smaller portions at slightly lower yet profitable prices on a lunch menu or for children and seniors.

3. Maintain High Work Standards

Make sure you and your staff have the proper utensils and equipment for storing and preparing foods. Keep knives sharp, cutting boards sanitized, and enforce food prep and storage rules to avoid cross-contamination.

You might buy ingredients wisely. However, it’s no bargain if your commercial garbage collection service ends up carting away pounds of cross-contaminated proteins or potato peels with too much flesh left on them.  

As you’re reducing food waste at your restaurant, hire a dependable company to provide regular commercial garbage collection. The team at Reliable Dumpsters of Concord, NC, is ready to handle your waste management issues. This company serves commercial and residential customers throughout Cabarrus County, offering timely dumpster delivery and garbage collection, affordable rates, and unmatched customer service. Call (704) 782-5438 to schedule service.