How Training Saves Food Waste And Benefits Your Restaurant

Chef Ali Gonzalez

Ali Gonzalez

Sustainable Culinary Solutions

A well trained chef cutting vegetables and using as much of each fresh pepper as possible.

Food safety and food waste go hand in hand. Every day, your kitchen staff members make decisions that have a direct impact on your profit margin and bottom line.

Whether they are deciding to add extra cheese to their friend’s sandwich or simply made too much of the night’s special. It is imperative to monitor and properly train your team.

Being trained in food safety is the law, and is required for all food handlers. However, part of that training should extend to include proper food preparation and waste reduction. Poor practices in food preparation and storage are a big contributing factor to food waste. It will cost you money, time, and resources.

The best and most effective option as a restaurant owner or manager is to properly train your staff in food waste management. This includes having the best products and practices for your staff, as well as streamlining the tools they will utilize. You will quickly see how this will drive greater productivity and even greater profitability.

If you and your team are aware of waste management and its impact, your wariness will lead you to incorporate efficiencies ahead of time.

Dangers of not having a rotation system in place:

Cross-contamination, improper storage, improper labeling, and improper order taking all affect your food waste and ultimately, your profit margin. If your staff doesn’t understand or take caution when prepping food, cross-contamination occurs.

This is particularly dangerous when handling products that can trigger food allergies. Proper labeling can prevent cross-contamination. The solution to many of those issues lies within a food rotation system.

This system provides a concise and organized way to label and store your inventory.

Food rotations systems help you improve inventory management. It also helps monitor expiration dates. You avoid cross-contamination and ensure customer safety. Lastly, it will assure health inspectors that the kitchen is within code. Having a system in place will reduce waste and save you time and money.
Another way food is wasted is through improper order taking. Not writing down an order allows many mistakes to happen. The wrong orders will be put in. You will have mixed-up requests or forget small relevant details. At times even forget to place an order altogether.

Streamlining your business with proper tools is essential to waste reduction and profit increase. Providing your staff with an easy-to-use and efficient option for order taking will greatly reduce food waste.

The True Cost of Not Providing Employee Training:

When a lightbulb burns out, do you throw away the lamp? If you do, then you are either incredibly rich or possibly have a weird thing for new lamps, I guess. But, if you’re like the majority of the lamp-owning world then you likely just replace the bulb. Which allows you to save money and enjoy a brighter room too. Unfortunately, when it comes to “fixing” an existing employee, over hiring a new one, managers often throw out the lamp. So to speak. While companies have a pretty clear idea of what it costs to train an employee they ignore the real question: what is the cost of not training an employee?
If you believe that training is expensive, it is because you do not know what ignorance costs. Companies that have the loyalty of their employees invest heavily in permanent training programs and promotion systems.

The problem is that many organizations see training as an expense and not as an investment. Untrained employees will, inevitably, lack the knowledge to use company resources properly. This will lead to waste. In a service industry; a lack of knowledge about procedures will affect customer interaction and retention. Because of this, your employees, your company, and your clients will all suffer.

The Top 5 Reasons Why Employee Training Is So Vital To Your Organization:

  • Professional Development and Training Make Your Employees Happy.
  • Happy Employees Equals Happy Customers Too.
  • Training and Retaining Current Employees is Cheaper Than Hiring New Ones
  • Well-Trained Employees Work Smarter as They Operate More Effective & Efficiently
  • Effective Training Equals Increased Productivity and Customer Service & Care Efforts

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