Cost control
How to Reduce Food Wastage in a Restaurant: 8 Practical Steps
· 6 min read
Wastage is food you paid for and never sold. It rarely shows up as one big loss, so it hides inside your food cost percentage. The fix is to measure it first and then work on the few causes that account for most of it.
Step 1: Measure before you change anything
Keep a waste log for two weeks. Record the item, quantity, estimated cost and the reason: spoilage, over-prep, plate waste, mistakes or returns. Patterns appear quickly, and a few items usually account for most of the rupees lost.
Steps 2 to 8
Work down this list in order, because the early steps are cheapest.
- Forecast prep from past sales by day of week, not from habit
- Store by FIFO (first in, first out) and label dates on everything opened
- Set par levels so you reorder before you run out, not in bulk after
- Standardise portions with scoops, ladles and weighed recipes
- Use trimmings in stocks, staff meals or specials rather than binning them
- Review slow-moving menu items and cut the ones that need unique ingredients
- Train the team on why it matters, and share the weekly waste number
Where software helps
When every sale deducts ingredients from recipes, the system knows what stock should be on the shelf. A gap between expected and counted stock points to wastage, theft or over-portioning. Low-stock and expiry alerts help you use items before they spoil, and a waste log with reasons shows which fix to try next.
A simple weekly routine
Once a week, count your top 15 ingredients, compare against what the system expects, and read the waste log. Fix the biggest cause first. Repeat monthly and compare your food cost percentage.
Run your restaurant on one system
GST billing, KOTs, inventory and reports from Rs 1,499 per month.