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Around 33 to 40 percent of food goes to waste each year. In this article, we’ll look at the smart strategies restaurants can enact in their supply chain management to minimize food waste, improve margins, and ease their environmental impact in the process. It’s the cost of waste.
One of the most prominent is its engagement in the zero-waste movement. Is zero waste achievable? What strategic steps can you take to bring your kitchen closer to achieving zero-waste? Managing Inventory The first area of focus for any waste elimination strategy is your restaurant’s approach to ingredients.
Food waste is one of the restaurant industry’s most persistent and costly challenges. According to ReFED , restaurants in the United States alone waste 5.76 That food waste equates to billions of dollars literally thrown away. Technology plays a critical role in helping restaurants minimize waste and improve efficiency.
By Bailey Ramsey, Contributor Food waste is a critical issue in the restaurant industry. To put this in perspective, restaurants waste anywhere between 4% to 10% of the food they purchase. Predicting Customer Demand Accurately One of the leading causes of food waste in restaurants is overproduction.
Learn how to track and reduce food waste, optimize labor costs with smart scheduling, make data-driven decisions with regular P&L reviews, and manage fixed and variable costs efficiently. Running a profitable restaurant requires more than great food and service.
The restaurant industry loses an astounding $162 billion each year in food waste. All restaurants should proactively work to reduce food waste, which will also help you save money, increase profits, spotlight your commitment to sustainability, and help the environment. Between a third and a half of food is wasted worldwide annually.
Food waste is recognized as an endemic challenge around the world. is wasted each year, about 119 billion pounds, estimated at over $408 billion. For restaurants, an industry with challenging profit margins, minimizing food waste is nothing less than a survival strategy. But unchecked waste can threaten the bottom line.
What Can Be Done : Professional services can provide statistics and case studies illustrating the cumulative impact of cooking oil waste. What Can Be Done : Services can remove the burden of onsite waste storage by removing the waste oil directly from the fryer, whenever necessary, and taking it immediately offsite.
Steady Online Ordering Brings Food Waste, Donations to the Forefront of Priorities Ordering food online increases restaurant sales, but it also can potentially increase wasted food if proactive measures aren’t taken – for both the business and consumers at home.
Running an ABM program on data you don’t trust means wasted time, resources, and lost revenue. Without it, you can’t find and reach your target accounts. And yet only 43% of marketers are completely satisfied with the quality of their data. ZoomInfo’s MarketingOS changes all that.
With guests opting to skip appetizer and desserts, how can operators optimize purchasing dollars and reduce waste? Offering a pared-back selection of favorites can not only help reduce costs and waste, and simplify kitchen operations, but also reduce diner indecision and strengthen brand associations.
While the cost of food waste isn’t a secret , you probably overlook it, considering it a part of doing business in this industry. The Problem with Restaurants’ Supply Chain Food Waste You’ve probably felt forced to raise menu prices to offset losses incurred by wholesale prices rising and fewer people eating out.
AI has made promises. If you’ve ever watched a keynote or demo, you’ve likely heard some version of: “Just give it your data—and watch the magic happen.”
At major chains like McDonald's, AI-powered drive-through systems are reducing order errors, predicting maintenance needs, and cutting waste. For example, Taco Bell is using AI-driven labor and inventory management tools to fine-tune staffing and reduce food waste. For independent restaurants, the same AI-driven efficiency applies.
The amount of bad data causes teams to waste valuable time during their workflow, and decreases their number of targeted prospects. Not so fast, though. According to Forrester Research, only 8% of marketing professionals have confidence that their data is 90-100% accurate.
Embracing the "just-in-time" philosophy, which involves ordering perishable ingredients in smaller quantities and more frequently to reduce waste, free up storage space, and ensure every ingredient is at peak freshness when it hits the plate. It's a living, breathing asset that requires careful attention to control costs under.
Moving to more eco-friendly options like biodegradable materials using bamboo or already recycled paper helps reduce unwanted waste from clogging landfills. More than 63 percent of municipal solid waste in the US was a result of food packaging.
Effective, sustainable SOPs focus on minimizing waste and maximizing productivity. These strategies enhance daily efficiency, reduce resource waste, and create a supportive environment for staff and managers alike.
In 2025, expect to see more restaurants and bars adopting eco-friendly practices, such as reducing food waste, sourcing locally, and using energy-efficient equipment. For instance, smart inventory systems can help reduce waste, while energy-efficient appliances cut operational costs and carbon footprints.
Real-time data helps with labor scheduling, adjusting menu items, reducing waste and improving profitability. In the competitive restaurant industry, data is crucial for controlling costs and boosting efficiency. Learn how harnessing data enables better decision-making and enhances operational success.
By actively reducing our environmental footprint — through energy and water conservation, innovative waste mitigation, and sustainable supply chain management — we provide safety, efficiency, and accountability that benefit both current and future generations.
Better data means faster responses to safety issues, less waste, and more satisfied customers who trust in the care you take with their food. Resources and training materials are available to make this process easier and ensure everyone is aligned. The time to act is now.
This level of precision in forecasting helps restaurants reduce food waste - a significant issue in the industry - by up to 20%. AI systems can analyze historical sales data, current trends, and even factors like weather to predict demand accurately. In the kitchen, AI-powered systems are monitoring food production in real-time.
When food waste goes to landfills, it creates methane , a powerful greenhouse gas. Food waste from all sources is responsible for eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the U.S. But restaurants have other, less visible sources of waste that also contribute to climate change. But I have to remember.
Wasteful technology and service spending. Download ZoomInfo’s latest eBook to learn about the three most common mistakes organizations make while executing an ABM program, including: Poor account selection process. Inadequate contact inventory within universe.
Restaurants prepare ingredients and schedule staff based on anticipated guest numbers, and when diners fail to arrive, this precision quickly unravels into wasted food and unnecessary labor expenses. Beyond the immediate lost revenue from empty reserved tables, these missed bookings disrupt carefully planned kitchen and staffing operations.
The courses includes foundational knowledge on emerging green technologies, strategies for waste reduction, and operational efficiencies that align with sustainability goals. The goal of which is to provide a framework by which professionals can use to create more efficient, equitable, and profitable culinary ecosystems.
The future of restaurant success depends on streamlining processes, reducing food waste, and enhancing customer experiences—all while making the most of existing resources. Today, staying ahead means adopting a unified, flexible IT environment that gives operators the control they need to thrive.
Moving to more eco-friendly options like biodegradable materials using bamboo or already recycled paper helps reduce unwanted waste from clogging landfills. More than 63 percent of municipal solid waste in the US was a result of food packaging.
Minimizing wasted effort. Your employees are your most valuable asset; it’s difficult to lose even one. Driving productivity in your stores, the field, and HQ with the employees you have today means: Accomplishing more with fewer people. Improving the consistency of work.
From inefficient workflows to outdated equipment, energy-wasting mistakes in restaurants are more commonand costlythan most realize. In this post, well break down the top energy-related mistakes restaurants make and show how the right POS system can turn things aroundcutting waste and boosting efficiency where it matters most.
Recycling your restaurant’s used cooking oil isn’t just a way to address your waste problems – it can help fight climate change. Not only that, but in the United States restaurants generate about 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste annually. That’s a lot of waste.
Controlling food waste is a hot topic in the industry as well. Food Waste Management Food waste management has always been a challenge for the restaurant industry. Because each person is different and may not have been trained well in food preparation, the level of waste can be extremely high.
Optimize Supply Chains : Use AI inventory tools to reduce food waste and ensure your supply chain is as efficient as possible. Consider introducing smaller portions, value menus, or bundling options to manage both expectations and margins.
Think, a 25-75% reduction in food waste that translates to millions of dollars in savings. The digital transformation of restaurants and food service businesses represents major advances for the industry, especially when the driving force becomes AI. A fully automated supply chain.
AI-driven tools can help optimize everything from labor scheduling to inventory management, reducing waste and improving margins. Franchise brands need to integrate sustainability into every part of their business, from sourcing ingredients responsibly to reducing packaging waste and optimizing energy use.
Inventory management tools, for example, enable the real-time tracking of food stock, alerting staff to use items before they spoil and reducing waste. Back-office digital innovations are also helping restaurants manage costs and make the most of their workforce. Staffing and workforce management tools are also proving useful.
Control Odors Odor control is crucial, especially in the heat of summer when food waste breaks down much faster. Chris Picciano, PresidentofArea Disposalin Phoenix, Arizona says that it is critical for restaurant managers to always be in touch with their waste disposal providers.
From managing actual water use to reducing waste tied to drinking water, restaurants have a significant opportunity to save money and minimize unnecessary spending. While this uncertainty may seem like a challenge, it also offers restaurateurs the opportunity to step back and look at the factors that may be eating away at their bottom line.
Staff productivity plays the largest role in restaurant revenue, which is why it’s so important to invest in your recruiting and hiring strategies, finding like-minded individuals to move your restaurant forward while minimizing time waste. According to Forbes , 50% of employees waste parts of their day on their phones.
Predictive analytics powered by insights from this tech helps ensure everyone is prepared during peak hours while minimizing food waste and unnecessary cost, streamlining processes for front and back-of-house staff. Self-service technology allows restaurants to focus on what really matters–customer satisfaction.
This zero waste cooking technique will also allow chefs and bartenders to creatively repurpose leftover produce and give it new life. For instance, Metz is leaning into upcycling, zero-waste, excess food remediation initiatives, and providing compostable takeout dinnerware for eco-conscious dining. ” – T.J.
To maximize your existing resources: Reduce food waste. Restaurants toss a jaw-dropping 22-33 billion pounds of food each year, and food waste costs the hospitality industry an astonishing $100 billion annually. With prices skyrocketing, restaurants should focus on eliminating food waste.
This exercise can also help you identify – and resolve – issues that are wasting money, like over portioning, over ordering, and theft. Reduce food waste. In the US, we waste between 30-40 percent of our food supply, which equates to an astonishing 133 billion pounds and $161 billion in waste, according to the USDA.
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