Food Waste Intelligence

Picture this: you’re the head chef of a foodservice operation, it’s Friday evening, and it’s time to close the kitchen doors for the week and start prepping for the coming one. The thing is, you have a refrigerator full of leftovers from meals earlier in the week, and they’ll undoubtedly go bad. This scenario isn’t unfamiliar to many chefs in large foodservice operations, so what can be done to fix it?

Earlier this month, we facilitated a session with some LeanPath clients to discuss best practices to utilize the LeanPath System and reduce more waste. Throughout the conversation, there was a common theme: Reducing food waste starts with cultivating a positive, waste-aware culture in the kitchen. Once your team is on board, reducing waste becomes second nature, resulting in less food wasted and more money saved.

Orlynn Rosaasen has been at the University of North Dakota for 19 years, working in his current position as Director of Dining Services for 12 years. He oversees all of the dining initiatives across three large residential dining halls, as well as a multi-concept retail food operation. He was the key decision-maker for the LeanPath System, which was implemented at UND in September of 2011 with four Trackers across the three dining halls and one café.

Nancy Goergen has been at Sanford USD Medical Center for over 35 years—watching the organization grow from two buildings to two full city blocks. As the Training and Development Specialist for Food and Nutrition Services, she was integral to the implementation and roll out of the LeanPath system, which Sanford launched in May of 2011. Sanford currently utilizes two LeanPath Trackers at their operation—one in the main kitchen and another in the retail location.