Food Waste Focus

Day of the Week Waste Reports – Match Waste and Menus Many operators have menus that stay mostly the same day-to-day while others run cycle menus and specials that create regular change.  Regardless of which type of menu you have, it’s very useful to review waste by day of the week.  This step can reveal [...]

What is “Utilization”? When chefs talk about “utilization”, they’re usually referring to finding a “profitable or practical use” for the food they purchase. The most obvious use is within the menu item for which the food was purchased. But often there is more food purchased than ultimately is required for its intended purpose (due to [...]

The ‘A-ha’ moment.  It’s that very second when something becomes suddenly obvious to you.  You didn’t realize it before, but you do now.  That a-ha moment takes place throughout life in many different areas.  Today we want to talk about those a-ha moments in food service. We have been speaking with a lot of customers [...]

We know about big food holidays – Christmas, Easter, Passover, Ramadan (fried honey donuts!).  We know about other holidays that include a particular type of food in their celebrations like St. Valentine’s Day (chocolate), St. Patrick’s (green beer, green cookies, green everything), Oktoberfest (beer).  But what about those ‘other’ food holidays? You see them sometimes [...]

We try to use every available hint and tip to reduce food waste.  You never know what someone might need or use.  But sometimes… they get a little crazy.  Check this out: If you are planning a romantic meal for a loved one on St Valentine’s Day you may get some inspiration from some food [...]

It seems that Food Waste and Food Waste Reduction strategies have finally made it to the ‘hot topic‘ list. We have seen a huge increase in the number of webinars focused around food waste and reduction strategies in recent months.  Below are just some of those available in the coming months. Check out these TWO [...]

We ran across this cool calculator today and wanted to pass it along.  Originally intended for K-12 school foodservice, it can be applied to most other foodservice groups (hospitals, university, corporate dining) with a little adjustment. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture created this produce calculator so that when a foodservice director  says, “I need enough [...]

LeanPath coaches speak with clients on a regular basis.  Often we learn new information that can help others reduce waste and we like to share those Hints and Tips with you.  Eggs are an item we often see high on our clients initial reports. Eggs are an item often mass produced in the morning and if focused on by the [...]

New York City – the Big Apple…wasting apples?  Is this true?  No.  But it’s an excellent video demonstrating the huge amount of food waste generated.  Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V5fKX_U3qY&feature=player_embedded Sometimes it takes an example like this to help everyone get a grasp on the true volume of food waste.  A single item, filling up a [...]

Profile: Jennifer Bargisen, Executive Chef – Banquets, MGM Grand Conference Center Las Vegas, NV Chef Jennifer Bargisen has been with the MGM Grand for the past four years and has 17 years experience working in the US and internationally. She has dedicated the past eight years primarily to large volume and 5-diamond operations. Chef Jennifer [...]