Food Waste Intelligence

This post is part of a Leanpath culinary blog series looking at ideas for repurposing commonly overproduced menu items.

Leafy greens are a commonly wasted food item in many foodservice operations due to their delicate composition and short shelf life. Spoilage of leafy greens can often occur earlier than expected due to poor storage and so having a well-considered storage protocol along with a range of back up plans for repurposing can help keep your food waste of leafy greens to a minimum. Here are some creative ways to use leftover leafy greens:

This post is part of a new series looking at ideas for repurposing commonly overproduced menu items.

We see carrots going to waste often across the wide range of foodservice operators we work with at Leanpath, whether it be raw unprepared carrot that was not used for its primary purpose or raw or cooked carrot that was overproduced and then wasted. In both of the above circumstances, there are many actions teams can take to prevent waste of carrots by either preserving or repurposing.

With a bit of foresight, whole surplus carrots that are not going to be used can easily be saved from spoiling by being preserved and stored for a later date, becoming a texture and flavor boosting accompaniment for many dishes.

This post is part of a new series looking at ideas for repurposing commonly overproduced menu items.

At Leanpath, we see a lot of potato waste across many of the foodservice organizations we work with. One of our largest customers recently recorded over 21,000kg of potato waste in one year. In many cases, food waste from low cost ingredients like potatoes and other starches or vegetables is considered low priority, but when labor and disposal fees are considered, there is a huge opportunity to cut costs and reduce environmental impact by giving more consideration to these ingredients. 

Repurposing leftover mashed potatoes is a great way to reduce food waste and get creative with your kitchen creations. So long as the mashed potato has been held to a safe temperature and environment, this humble food item can be the catalyst for a broad range of delicious, low waste menu creations. Here are some top ways a  professional kitchen can repurpose leftover mashed potatoes.

With food and labor costs still at record highs and supply chain disruptions continuing, an obvious point of leverage for the foodservice industry is buying more pre-prepped frozen foods. And a new survey shows that increasingly the industry is doing just that.

Despite the benefits to reducing the potential for food waste, there are still best practices to follow to make sure those increased purchases of frozen product don't lead to increased food waste.

I’m Ben Murphy and I have recently joined Leanpath as a Customer Success manager and Food Waste Prevention Chef. (That's me on the left with Leanpath Executive Chef Robb White.) Having worked in various types of kitchens over a 14-year period, I have battled face on with the issue of food waste from weekend brunch to corporate catering to fine dining. I completed a Masters in Environmental Science with a focus on food sustainability in order to better understand the interconnected and multifaceted connection between mass food production and our environment. 

I am delighted to have joined Leanpath in its mission to make food waste prevention everyday practice in the world’s kitchens. I will be working closely with clients globally to help them take action against food waste by way of the data they are able to discover through tracking food waste with Leanpath. 

I have been on the road for the last three weeks visiting client kitchens, engaging with chefs, managers and leadership on the challenges they face in curtailing food waste and seeing first hand the innovative and effective methods and best practices culinary teams have put in place to repurpose food that would have otherwise gone to waste. Some of the most impressive food waste repurposing actions I encountered were: