Did you know that food waste is one of the primary drivers of greenhouse gas emissions that lead to global warming? This is because food waste emits methane upon decomposition – the same compound emitted in the production of coal and oil. Follow our simple tips to see how you can manage food wastage.
Compost
You can start by investing in a food composting machine. Some of these machines can take up to 100 kg of food waste and turn it into compost, which then can be used as fertilisers for the plants in your hotel: a cost-efficient way to maintain your beautiful landscape while taking care of nature!
Reuse leftover ingredients
Stay creative! Using leftover ingredients like fruit rinds to decorate is an innovative way of reducing food waste. By serving pickled watermelon rind as bar bites or hollowed-out vanilla pods as a straw and telling your patrons about it, they’ll not only have a good night, but the utmost respect for your establishment, too.
Donate to the hungry
One man’s waste is another man’s treasure. Donating your extra food to soup kitchens would help you cut down waste as well as help those in need. Locally, try approaching these soup kitchens for your donation:
- Kechara Soup Kitchen – Justin Cheah, 010-333 3260
- Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur – Pakwan, 019-267 1285
- Pertiwi Soup Kitchen – Munirah Hamid, 012-236 3639
- Assumption Soup Kitchen – Alice Massang, 012-212 2397
- Grace Community Services – 03-3371 7378
- Asian Youth Ambassadors – 03-5637 8737
- Mercy Mission – 03-6151 5952
- Reach Out Malaysia – MK Rahman, 019-226 3569
- Soup Kitchen, Jinjang Utara – 03-5880 5027
- The Nasi Lemak Project – Mastura, 013-466 7833
Prevent food wastage at the core
As they say, prevention is better than, well, investing so much in expensive solutions. So here are some steps to get started:
- Measure how much waste your outlet is producing by identifying which ingredients have the most leftovers over a period of time.
- Review your restocking and stock management processes. Reduce the most wasted ingredients, and be sure to practise FIFO, i.e., the first ingredients to come in should be the first to come out.
- Plan your menu over a practical period, be it for the next week or two, or even across the whole month. This way you won’t end up with unused ingredients.
- Review this waste-management flow monthly or quarterly to ensure the system works as efficiently as possible.
- Reward your staff so they’ll stay motivated to keep wastage at the absolute minimum. Share your effort and results with them as well as the rest of the industry to encourage this endeavour.
At the end of the day, everyone has a part to play, be it recycling food waste, reusing leftover ingredients or donating excess food to those in need. Start the change in your establishment today!
