How Restaurants Can Reduce Food Spoilage

Food waste is one of the leading contributors to wasted capital in restaurants and bars. Upwards of $2 billion worth of food is wasted per year as a result of the vast network of American restaurants. In hopes to avoid contributing to that total, restaurant owners and management work to identify the ways in which they can reduce how often they’re allowing their goods to become squandered. Of the most effective, adhering to a food cost formula is essential for restaurants. This takes the total cost of ingredients divided by the menu item price for a food cost percentage. The idea is to determine how much is being spent on ingredients compared to the money earned per served dish with those included ingredients. Ideally, the percentage should fall somewhere between 15% to 30%, giving you a gross revenue per item of 70% to 85%. By understanding these costs, you can improve food cost control and better determine where your restaurant is lacking, and then improve it. These percentages help give way to a chance at optimizing inventory. Limiting food waste doesn’t have to be impossible. For more information on how your restaurant can keep food spoilage and waste to a minimum, read on to the infographic accompanying this post.