Wise up on waste

In a perfect world there would be no waste, in the preparation or on guests plates. This is not the perfect world, and there will always be a certain element of food waste. There are however creative ways of reducing waste and turning leftovers into profit.

Portion Sizes - Regularly check plates when they come back to understand which dishes are too heavy or too large. You may notice a lots of garnish left over or too much sauce.
Making adjustments can help save money.

Accurate Measuring - Use scales to measure out ingredients as well as portions. Your recipe should always be the basis for your selling price.
It’s not unusual for an over-service of more than 40% to occur.

Specials Board - A daily specials board can help to manage the extra throughput of ingredients.
Perfect for great value seasonal items.

Accurate Ordering - Employ accurate ordering and stock rotation to avoid ingredients going out of date.
If there is a booking cancellation use ingredients on specials board.

Get Creative - Be creative with vegetable trimmings to make tasty soups. Use toast from breakfast for breadcrumbs for fishcakes, and stale brioche for bread based puddings.

Use of off cuts to create tasty starters. eg, pork and chicken trimmings can be turned into pâtés and terrines. Turn excess produce into chutneys, pickles and jams.

Dehydrate excess fruit and vegetables to create highly flavoured powders. Dry out the fruit or vegetable in a low oven and whizz through a processor. Use the vegetable powder in sauces or and fruit powders over sorbets and ice-creams.