Attention Culinary Entrepreneurs! Let's Understand How to Prevent Food Waste

According to data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, last year throughout 2023, we generated waste totaling 19.56 million tons in Indonesia. It's serious, right? Most of it comes from food leftovers, around 41.55%. Even though food waste remains a significant and challenging issue to solve, as a culinary business operator, it's time to break that habit.

With this article, let's find out how to reduce food waste! Read on till the end.

Understanding the Concept of Food Waste

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Food waste is food that could still be eaten but is instead thrown away. It's serious, isn't it? This truly becomes a serious threat to our environment. You should know that Indonesia is one of the countries that produces the most food waste in the world. It's not just at the consumption level but also at the distribution level.

So, at the distribution level, food waste comes from products that have expired in markets or supermarkets. Then at the consumption level, it comes from people who don't finish their food. Come on, admit it, who still throws away food stock?

Preventing Food Waste in Your Business

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After understanding what food waste is, it's time for you to understand how to prevent it from happening again. It's really important to know tips and tricks that can be done before you shop at supermarkets or traditional markets. So, here are ways to prevent food waste that you can practice. Let's check it out!

1. Manage the need for raw materials and only buy what is necessary.

Before you buy raw materials at the supermarket or market, make sure you have a list of previously available and out-of-stock food items. Don't be tempted by raw materials that you've never used before. Buy what is essential and truly needed, not just what you want!

Similarly, if you order raw materials online, try to choose according to the needs of your restaurant business. This way, not only will your needs be more economical but it also reduces food waste.

However, restaurants are indeed the biggest source of food waste. The problem usually lies in inadequate stock management. Restaurants should have enough stock to meet customer demand.

Stock management is crucial so that your restaurant doesn't incur losses. If there's too much stock, the food items may expire and become unusable.

But, there's a way to avoid such problems, namely with advanced inventory management systems. For example, ESB CORE, an ERP system that can help you reduce food waste in your restaurant. With features like Usage Management, it helps you compare the actual stock used in the kitchen with what should be used, based on the stock deductions made at the end of the day. If a recipe isn't set in the menu, this feature won't show any reports.

Then there's the Item Journal, a feature for recording incoming and outgoing stock, aside from regular purchases and sales. It's usually used to record free items from suppliers or items that haven't been added to the stock previously. For outgoing items, it could be items that are disposed of, damaged, or used for research and development purposes. So, can food waste in your restaurant be minimized?

2. Turn food waste into compost

Besides being smart in managing raw materials, you can also reduce food leftovers by making compost!

Compost can be made from food leftovers like vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, fruit, or tea. So, there's no more wasted food. Everything can be utilized well! But make sure to separate the waste that will be used for composting!

3. Organize the storage of raw materials properly

Make sure your food items are stored in the right place. For example, meat, fruit, and vegetables are stored in the freezer, while kitchen spices are stored in airtight containers. With proper storage, your food items will be safe and won't be wasted.

4. Conduct a food waste audit process

The last step is to conduct a waste audit. You won't know how much food becomes waste if you don't audit it. This step can be started by categorizing the types of waste or food leftovers every day.

For example, separate paper, plastic cups or plates, fruits and vegetables, and plastic or meat. Then, after everything is separated, weigh and record the weight. Each time you collect trash, record the weight again. This way, you'll know how much waste your restaurant generates each year.

Conclusion

Food waste really threatens the Earth's life. Leftover food can also damage ecosystems, deplete oil resources, and degrade soil. Moreover, for restaurant owners, food waste can also cause losses due to suboptimal inventory management.

So, to reduce food waste caused by stockpiling in the warehouse, restaurant owners can utilize technology from ESB CORE, a solution to help manage your restaurant kitchen stock with just one system. Curious? For more information, you can click on the ESB page.