Initial Expectations

The team at Riverside has been using the LeanPath system since June 2009. When they started the program they were hopeful that it would be able to reduce their food costs and waste. “This is especially important considering the current economic climate and the continued drive to do more with less. The system has allowed us to identify some products that were in need of replacement or general system improvement around their production.”

Experience with Waste Tracking

Her overall impression: “[LeanPath's] ValuWaste is great. It helps to raise the awareness for the associates and gives them a chance to contribute ideas to improve the operation. That is an aspect that we pride ourselves in as an organization, so it fit in with our culture. Another component that she enjoys about the LeanPath system, “It is very efficient to process the data and gain action steps so that keeps it achievable”.

“I think it is the right tool for the job. Prior to this, we were manually tracking waste which was very time consuming”. Because of the detailed reports, Jill was able to see how much food was being wasted due to expiration. “With The Joint Commission expectations on holding times, we need to utilize any remaining products or split cases quickly and safely. With an operation of our size, these items were adding up quickly”. She feels that when you look at what a wasted item costs in a week and then take the time to annualize it, you can really see the impact this has on your budget. (One of the features of ValuWaste Advantage 4 is a dashboard that shows how much food is wasted per week and what that adds up to over a full year.)

Recommendations

Her advice to managers new to the LeanPath system is to stay consistent with the program so the associates stay with it. “Make the information a part of associate meetings and recognize them for participating. We build the participation expectation into the annual evaluation review”.

Takeaways

Jill’s initial goal was to reduce food cost. Was this achieved? “When we started the program in June [2009], we were over 8% unfavorable on food cost compared to our budget. We are currently 10% favorable to budget for our YTD”.

To answer these questions, you don’t need to start from scratch. Operators should check out a new class of green restaurant and foodservice “standards” (such as Green Seal’s GS-46 standard and the National Restaurant Association’s soon-to-be-revealed Greener Restaurants program) that provide excellent prioritized checklists for your waste management toolkit. These tools leverage the knowledge and experience of industry experts, providing a roadmap that shows what matters most and which steps simply should not be missed along the journey. They also speak to foodservice sustainability and green practices beyond waste management.

Additionally, there are other tools which address specialized foodservice areas such as convention centers, colleges and hospitals (the convention industry APEX standards, AASHE STARS program, Green Guide for Healthcare, respectively). The US EPA also has a powerful central organizing framework called the Food Waste Recovery Hierarchy which helps prioritize.

At LeanPath, we’re excited that most every one of these standards recommends tracking or auditing food waste as a first step in a waste management program. They recognize that waste prevention is the place to start and you can’t make any progress toward that goal without food waste tracking. (Learn more about LeanPath’s automated tracking tools.)

So check out these standards and compare with what you are currently doing. Are you missing a key area? Are you spending a lot of resources on something that doesn’t rate highly or appear at all? Are you addressing food waste prevention by tracking all your pre-consumer food waste every day?

Once you’ve done a self-assessment using the checklists provided by these tools, you can decide whether you want to pursue an official certification or recognition. Green Seal offers formal, third-party certified recognition while most of the other players allow for self-certification. What’s important is to tap into the knowledge underlying these standards first and then, once you’ve started down the path, go get credit for your hard work.

VA Senior Sustainability Officer James M. Sullivan praised staff as “an excellent example to other VA facilities on how to employ innovative waste reduction strategies.”

MVAMC’s Chief of Nutrition and Food Service Barbara Hartman says that “Receiving this award recognizes and validates the importance of proper food waste management to the environment.”

View the entire notice at: www.leanpath.com/nwsltr/VA_Award.pdf

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 forecasting issues, excess purchasing, or overproduction). In these cases, chefs must use judgment and creativity to get value from that food before it expires: this is a “utilization.”

For example, a chef might say “I found a utilization for these cooked carrots” meaning they were put toward a secondary use in soup, stew or pot pie filling. Utilization (when practiced with full regard to food safety considerations) is not only a practical use, but profitable because you found a valuable use for what would otherwise become food waste.

Excerpt from LeanPath’s Food Waste Flyer Volume 6  http://www.leanpath.com/lpweb/newsletter_vol_6.htm

LeanPath has been in contact with a class from East Academy in Tennessee.  A group of kids there have started a food waste study of their own, as part of a school project.  They recently asked us for sample reports about the kinds of waste a typical foodservice operation produces.  I hope they aren’t too shocked by the information!  Like a typical large hospital can throw out $300 of ‘overproduced’ eggs each week.  Also, a typical university dining hall can toss out about 2,000 pounds of food per week.  That’s just pre-consumer waste, not tray waste.

I felt this was also an excellent example of teaching kids about food waste.  Read this blog snipet from http://fruitguys.com:

I’m a chaperone on my son’s 3-day, 5th grade outdoor education trip. We’re on a bus heading back from a camp in Santa Cruz…when a 5th grade girl in front of me leans around…“Wha-cha-do-in?” she chimes…She takes a bite of apple. She’s eaten it from the top – core and all. “I’m part of the hard-core-apple-club” she beams. “Red Tail showed me how.” Red Tail was the nature name for the camp counselor who led the garbology exercise. After each meal the kids scraped leftovers onto a scale and weighed them. Then they talked about how what remained affected the energy cycle. I also really appreciated the cabin rules my student group laid down such as “no using big words” and “absolutely no gambling,” but it was the garbology experiment that really caught my attention.

In three days our group of 60 kids went from producing 9 pounds of leftover food at the end of their meals to 3 pounds. A pretty good change just because they were conscious of it. Taking what you need and not more is a good lesson for kids (and adults). What I really liked about the experiment was that it taught conservation and in my book—whether you’re a business owner looking for efficiencies, a farmer hoping to reduce waste and increase yield, an individual looking to lessen your carbon or energy footprint, or a city looking to reduce waste—conservation is an important lifelong lesson that has only positive implications for everyone. No doubt that good habits start young but we all can create new habits at any age. – blog by:  Chris Mittelstaedt chris@fruitguys.com

Both groups are learning the importance of conservation.  Being aware of your food choices and the food waste you produce.  Great lessons to teach the next generation.

Please feel free to visit this site anytime:  http://shop.cafepress.com/leanpath

All merchandise has either the LeanPath or ValuWaste logo.  Some of the items that you will find are coffee mugs, water bottles, and t-shirts.

Other fun items are aprons, bumper stickers and clocks for the kitchen.    These can be posted around the kitchen or shared by a group at their station.

At the request of a few of you – we also have created blank note cards.  Use those as ‘Thank you’ cards or for any other occasion – ‘Most transactions’, ‘most consistent’, ‘mystery item winner’.

Have fun!

Catering orders typically increase during the holiday season, making this the perfect time to focus on reducing catering food waste. Changes you make now will benefit your operation year-round, especially as catering growth returns in 2010. Whether you offer buffet, banquet, off-premise, or drop-off services, you have a big opportunity to save food cost by reducing pre-consumer food waste.  We will post 5 tips on reducing Catering Waste over the next few days.

1. Slay the Myth: “It’s Already Paid For – Waste Doesn’t Matter”. Some well-intentioned staff members may believe their hands are tied controlling food waste because the customer paid upfront for a “guaranteed” guest count.  In most cases, our customer  actually hired us to provide a super catering service (e.g. dinner for 100 with a certain menu) and will defer to our judgment on the best way to purchase, prep and serve that meal.  Be confident in your judgment – based on your experience there are usually ways to control waste while still meeting the guarantee.  Ask questions at catering meetings about the needs of the group, including gender, generational, and demographic preferences.   Adjust production lists and prep sheets based on what you learn (and prior history, if it’s a repeat customer).

Check out the full issue of the LeanPath newsletter: Food Waste Flyer – Volume 5

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:

 Avoiding Pastry Waste:

1. Who’s placing the order? Put ordering in the hands of the front-line manager or Chef. Some facilities put the ordering in the hands of purchasing who may not have information to view current sales behavior leading to excessive inventory. ‘On-hand’ levels should be reviewed by front-line manager vs. inventory and daily usage ; the front-line manager/chef can then adjusted the next day’s order accordingly.
2. Keep an eye on the satellite locations to target Pastry waste. Satellite locations are often managed by hourly staff who order to a par level regardless of inventory on-hand. If the location is closed on the weekends, take into account current levels and move product around and adjust par levels down as the weekend nears.
3. Keep pastry offerings uniform for multiple uses.  Purchase the same types of pastries for catering and retail, that way if a catering gets canceled or attendance is below the guarantee the excess pastries can be moved to retail for sale. Be sure to adjust the next day retail orders to account for this extra inventory.
4. Consider alternative uses for leftover pastries.  Donation to a food rescue organization is always an alternative as is turning pastries into other desserts such as bread pudding or cinnamon roll french toast.
5. Get creative with your sales.  Look beyond the usual “Day Old” bin that could erode you next mornings sales and perpetuate the problem of having leftover inventory. Target a “Snack-Time” sale (or “Third Shift Special”) in the afternoon to capitalize on the afternoon snacker, this gives you an extra sales boost in the afternoon without having these discount items cut the next mornings sales of the fresher product. 

 For more tips, return to this Food Waste Focus blog and search the “Tips” tag and remember to subscribe to the Food Waste Flyer Newsletter.  Both contain fresh, real-world insights on food waste management from LeanPath, the experts in food waste tracking systems

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:

 Avoiding Casserole Waste:

1. Review popularity on a regular basis, adjust par levels and adjust cycle menus.  If your tracking shows that waste is high on a certain type, consider making a half pan instead of a full pan of that item.  Also, don’t get cornered by your cycle menu, if the item is not popular, make a change before the next time it’s due for production.
2. Consider your merchandising, a change in vessels could be a big hit.  Move away from large pan production to individual portioning in tart style dishes.  This increases appeal (individual serving vs. slice).  It also helps give better portion control and is easier to batch cook as service dictates.
3. Focus on the seasons and key into the calendar when making the menu.  Comfort food such as casseroles are big sellers as the season turn colder. So don’t just keep the same production levels throughout the year.  As summer approaches, look at the menu and lighten the production load on hearty casseroles. 

 For more tips, return to this Food Waste Focus blog and search the “Tips” tag and remember to subscribe to the Food Waste Flyer Newsletter.  Both contain fresh, real-world insights on food waste management from LeanPath, the experts in food waste tracking systems

They need to get the calculations right or risk a culinary disaster due to over/under production, over/under purchasing or quality problems.

Bryan  Bowers, the production manager with ARAMARK  at Bayhealth Kent General Hospital in Dover, Delaware recently recommened the following site for unit-of-measure conversions:  check it out and see how a simple, free web resource like this can help you improve your accuracy versus hand-held calculations.

Another important resource is the Book of Yields.  This incredibly handy reference book includes information on most weight-to-volume conversions and other factors effecting yields.  You can find it online.

Get the Book of Yields and a good web conversion tool and you will be on your way to greater accuracy.  Or better yet:  invest in an automated food production system PLUS a food waste tracking system from LeanPath.

Getting your math right with recipe scaling, purchasing, and yield calculations will really help you avoid food waste!