Category Archives: Restaurant Inventory Management

JAMIX blog provides you insights on how kitchen management systems can help you in running restaurant operations including restaurant inventory management.

Profitability Food Service Restaurant

Tips For Improving The Profitability Of Your Food Service Operation

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By Anna Skyttä

Profitability is a precondition for operations and continuity regardless of the industry you are in. At a minimum, a profitable operation ensures that you can cover costs, and pay for your employees. Profitability that rises above the minimum level enables you to improve your operation through investments. Related to restaurant or food service operations, external factors influencing the profitability are often brought up. Such as the costs for the property, costs related to your employees, taxation, and competition, to name a few.

You cannot deny the influence of the external factors. Still there are many factors that are within the operator’s scope of influence. The right sized margin enables you to cover the necessary costs, and by minimizing waste you can make savings. And you shouldn’t have too much of ingredients lying in your inventory, as it ties up your capital. There are a lot of details related to all of these, which enable you to fine tune your profitability and make it better. And as we know, small streams have their own significance in the big picture.

Margin Calculation Forms The Base For Profitable Operations

menu online - JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence SystemThe margin is what is left in between the sales price and the costs. With the profitability in mind, you should always define a target level for the margin. Often the target margin is defined in percentage. Some times it might make more sense to define it in dollars.

You are often forced to set the sales price following the market situation or the competitors’ pricing. In order to reach your target margin the costs should not go over a certain price point. If the target margin cannot be reached with the current costs and you cannot raise the sales price, you need to find out if you can reduce the costs in some way. For example by changing some ingredient or supplier into another. If you are not forced to set the sales price into a certain level, you can calculate it based on your costs and the target margin. So depending on the type of operation or the competition, you can look at the margin calculation from different perspectives.

The margin calculation is basically quite simple mathematics. Simple can still become complex or at least challenging if there’s a lot of information to be managed in the background. A kitchen system will help you with this, as it calculates the costs and margins for recipes, portions or whole menus automatically and accurately. With the system it is also easy to experiment how different sales prices effect on the margin, or how different sized margins effect on the sales price.

Profitability Through Optimizing The Menu Items And The Portion Sizes

Serving JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System

The food that is left uneaten on the customer’s plate ends up in waste. This waste equals to ingredients, that have been prepared for nothing and tossed away in the end. However, these ingredients have already created costs and weakened your margin. So the food waste coming from the customers’ plates eats up your profitability in addition to putting strain on the environment.

In order to reduce the food waste from the leftovers you should look into your menu items, as well as the portion sizes. Is there some part of the dish that is left uneaten more often than others? If it is left uneaten completely, you might consider replacing it with something else or leave it out altogether. If it is left uneaten partly, you might reduce the amount of it in the portion. In a service line operation the previously mentioned are similarly valid for reducing the waste from the service line, and partly for reducing the leftovers on the plates, as well. For reducing the leftovers on the plates in a service line setting, reminding the customers to ’take only what you can eat’ is important, as well.

When you have the recipes and the menu items in a kitchen system, it is easy to make changes to them. When you change the portion size, the system automatically calculates the ingredients, the costs and the margins according to the new portion size. If you want to experiment a menu item or a recipe with a modified content, you can copy the original one as a base for the new version. This makes it easy to create a new version, and the original will still be available in the system, as well.

Sales Forecast To Promote Profitability

Menu Items JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence SystemWhen you are able to forecast sales as close as possible to the actual sales, you won’t be ordering too much of ingredients or preparing too much of food. The first mentioned will help you to reduce wastage in the inventory, and the latter wastage from the leftovers. Sales data from the past is often useful when forecasting future sales. When you have that data in your kitchen system, you can easily utilize it for planning. In the JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System you can easily utilize sales data from the past directly as the production quantities on the upcoming menu.

Despite precise and accurate forecasts, every now and then you experience situations, where the previously made plans are not valid anymore. With regards profitability, especially a need to downsize your forecast might lead to excessive amounts of ingredients ordered or excessive amounts of food prepared. In the JAMIX System you can easily make changes to the portion amounts even at the last minute. The system will automatically calculate the need for ingredients according to the new portion amount. If you made the changes before ordering ingredients, you will be able to order the right amount of them. If the need for changes turns up just before production, you can easily adjust the production quantities with the system.

Drive Profitability By Taking Control Of Your Food Inventory

Food Inventory JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence SystemWhen you are able to keep the quantity of the food items in the inventory at a level corresponding to the need, excessive capital won’t be tied up in the inventory. You could utilize that capital for something that develops your business. When the inventory balance is at an appropriate level you shouldn’t be experiencing problems coming from outdated items. JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System automatically calculates the need for ingredients based on the portion sizes and the portion quantities on you menu. You can use the shopping list directly as a base for you orders in the system. This makes it easy to order ingredients just according to your need.

The system helps you to stay up-to-date with the food items you have in the inventory. When you register deliveries, as well as withdrawals in the system, you will have the real-time inventory balance right on your screen. If you have several storage locations, the benefit of the system is emphasized even more. In addition to registering withdrawals related to production, it is important to register the wastage that originates in the inventory. Waste can be generated for many different reasons. When you register those reasons in the system, it is easier to get a grip of the big picture. Monitoring waste coming from the inventory enables you to set targets for reducing wastage. And less wastage drives you to better profitability.

A Kitchen System Increases Efficiency Which Leads To Improved Profitability

JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System

A kitchen system is a great tool for managing the previously mentioned things, which already improve profitability as such. Utilizing systems and technology comprehensively in the kitchen operations increases efficiency. In addition to the earlier mentioned costs related to ingredients and wastage, technology brings savings related to your staff. With the help of a system, you can perform many tasks in the kitchen simply faster, and partly even automatically. This reduces the need for staff related to those tasks. The system also reduces the amount of possible human errors. This in its part enables your operation to run more fluently.

In the labor intensive food service industry you should utilize the possibilities of technology to the fullest. In the kitchen there are still a lot of things to do, which the systems or the equipment cannot handle. If you are able to delegate part of your work to technology, you will have more time for the tasks which it cannot do for you … as decide, which means you want to implement in your restaurant in order to improve the profitability.

Contact us for more information on JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System

restaurant inventory management

How To Manage The Restaurant Inventory Efficiently

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By Anna Skyttä

”Recipe and ingredient databases establish the foundation for efficient kitchen management”. This is a quote from Certified Master Chef Ron DeSantis, from one of his newsletters. Once that foundation is in place, the kitchen needs to have the actual ingredients on hand in order to cook food according to the recipes. And in more detail, for you to be able to cook the needed amount of food at the time expected, the right amount of ingredients needs to be on hand at the right time. Seems obvious at this point: The ingredients and the solution accordingly can be found in the restaurant inventory. Might sound simple. You just need to order the ingredients needed at the right time. Could it be so simple?

 

Ordering Ingredients Requires Work On The Background

The answer to the previous question is basically yes. On the other hand, you could say that in a restaurant kitchen ordering ingredients already for one recipe requires work on the background. And the work required grows along with the amount of menu options to be prepared. First of all, you need to know what to order and how much. The planned quantity of portions along with the recipes effect on that. Secondly, before making the order it would be good to know what ingredients you already have in the food inventory and how much there is. In addition to these you need to take the supplier specific delivery times for different ingredients into consideration. And in addition to these… even more details could be added into this list. So what might sound simple at first, turns out to be quite complex in the end.

 

There’s a Lot Of Background Information Related To The Ingredients

So the ingredients build the restaurant inventory. Again, sounds simple. However, there’s a lot of background information related to the ingredients. Logistical information includes the size of the package, the product code, the bar code, the price and the supplier. Going further, information on the inventory balance is linked into these and it is needed for example for the production. The quantities determine the value of the food inventory, as well, which nearly without exception is significant information regardless of the nature of the food service operation. Other, very essential product related information includes ingredients, allergens, and nutrition facts.

How do you then manage all this information, and along with that the process which might sound simple at first, but which requires several details to be taken into consideration in the end? The best tool for this job is a kitchen system that keeps all the previously mentioned information safe, and that in addition to that works on that information for you.

 

A System Helps You To Manage The Restaurant Inventory And Procurement

JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System

JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System enables you to manage your food inventory and procurement in addition to recipes and menus. Best of all, all the information is linked within the system, and it utilizes the information automatically in several functions. When the suppliers’ product information can be found in the system, it automatically calculates costs and margins for the recipes. The system utilizes the product information also when calculating ingredient needs based on the menu or the production sheet. So it creates a finished shopping list for you, and you can then send it as a purchase order to your supplier – electronically and directly from the system.

Restaurant Inventory Management System JAMIXThe system provides you the general view into your food inventory without an effort. You can easily register information into the system on both delivered items, as well as on items withdrawn from the inventory. JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System can be integrated with your point of sale system, and the inventory balance will be updated automatically and in real time when menu items are sold. You can also track the wastage related to your food inventory so that you know how much waste is generated and for what reasons. With the previously mentioned actions you can keep your inventory balances up-to-date in the system. This way you don’t have to physically go to the food inventory to check up on things.

Even if you register the food deliveries and the withdrawals systematically into the system, you also need to take inventory periodically. Taking inventory is especially easy with the MOBILE application related to the JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System. You can register quantities directly into the application on a mobile device which you can carry with you in the store room.

 

Operation runs, when the restaurant inventory and procurement are in control

Whether you work in a full service restaurant where the same recipes are utilized every day, or in food services where the menu changes every day – along with the ingredient database and the recipes, the food inventory and the control of it ensure fluent production in the kitchen. A kitchen system that manages all of that is a crucial tool for food service operators regardless of size or type.

Contact us for more information on Restaurant Inventory Management and JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System
Restaurant Shopping List - JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System

Restaurant Shopping List is Easy to Create With a Kitchen Management System

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Shopping list is a critical tool for a restaurant when ordering supplies. JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System allows chefs to create the shopping list based on the menu with a couple quick clicks. Restaurant shopping list is one of the culinary topics in the following newsletter by Certified Master Chef Ron DeSantis.

Ron DeSantisFood Is Just the Beginning™
by Ron DeSantis

Volume 3 Issue 6
June 2020

CulinaryNXT
200 Totoket Rd
Branford, CT 06405
203-415-9190

www.culinarynxt.com

Come On, Already!

A couple weeks ago I went to the self-checkout at the supermarket. The card reader is freshly wrapped in plastic. Coincidentally the manager walks by and asks if I need any help. No, I don’t, but what’s with the plastic? Unless it’s changed after every transaction, it’s the same as touching the keypad……

Prost! Cheers! Saluti! Kippis!

Master Chef Insights

Sensory Evaluation

sensory evaluationThe great food equalizer is the blind tasting. During my CIA Consulting days, we conducted many sensory evaluations for food companies and manufacturers across the country. The CIA setting was great because we always had a mix of professional chefs and student chefs. Additionally, we could entice tour groups to participate as well. All this gave us significant data to guide product development.

There were some interesting moments during blind tastings. I recall conducting a barbecue sauce blind tasting. 5 different national brands of barbecue sauce were evaluated. The tasters all had personal favorites and each taster was convinced his or her favorite was the top scoring sauce. The outcome was that the brand no one considered was the top scorer – Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce. There was A LOT of head scratching and bewildered expressions. Another was involved canned tomatoes. This tasting involved 14 different cans of tomatoes. They were imported Italian and domestic Californian tomatoes. The cans were on display but the identify of the tomatoes during tasting was unknown. Here, most evaluators believed the best tasting tomatoes were imported Italian San Marzano. The high scoring canned tomatoes were Californian tomatoes from Stanislaus.

Blind tastings provide the most accurate evaluation of food products. We are all influenced by many factors. In this case, simply removing labels forces us to evaluate the flavor, aroma, texture, and appearance of the product. I still continue this practice. I am convinced that it provides the most accurate and useable feedback regarding food products.

The White House

Ron DeSantis with his teamAlmost two years ago I wrote about a cooking at a location that I couldn’t reveal. Well, it’s time for sharing. I was invited to be the guest chef at the White House Mess. The White House Mess is under the Oval Office and is used by the staffers in the Oval Office, and occasionally by the VPOTUS. I didn’t see the VP at lunch, but I did meet him on the driveway between the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Building. It was short hello, how are you, what are you doing here meet, but I was there to feed people not blabbing with the VP.

The White House Mess is operated by the U.S. Navy and staffed with Navy Culinary Specialists. This tradition goes back to 1880 aboard the Presidential Yacht. Later, President Roosevelt established Camp David at a Naval Retreat and the U.S. Navy continued the tradition of serving the Commander in Chief (incidentally, I served 5 presidential visits at Camp David). Serving at the White House Mess continues the Navy’s tradition of providing professional foodservice to our nation.

My team was made up of the top chefs I worked with at Yale University. Dan Flynn, Cyon Jones, Dave Kuzma, and Chase Sobelman worked with me on the menu, preparation, and serving the guests. The menu (you may remember this from my October 2018 newsletter) was:

Green Goddess and Grilled Chicken Salad – little gem romaine with late season corn, grilled chicken breast with smoked salt, and Black Label Bacon.

Crispy Sicilian Stuffed Turkey Paillard with Meditarranean SaladCrispy Sicilian Stuffed Turkey Paillard with Mediterranean Salad – Sicilian sausage on a turkey scaloppini, breaded and pan-fried with a Mediterranean-style chickpea, cucumber salad.

Vegan Crab & Noodle Kung PaoVegan Crab & Noodle Kung Pao – Hungry Planet vegan crab, lo mein noodles and kung pao sauce with a vegan crab spring roll.

‘nduja Seared Halibut in Summer Cioppino‘nduja Seared Halibut in Summer Cioppino – spicy New England Charcuterie ‘nduja seared on halibut filet in cioppino-style broth with summer squash.

Red Velvet Panna Cotta

Red Velvet Panna Cotta – vanilla- buttermilk laced panna cotta with red velvet crumbles.

Culinary & more…

Kitchen Tech – Shopping List

The shopping list gets no respect. However, try ordering supplies for a commercial foodservice operation without one. It will be a disaster. That’s when the value of a shopping list become apparent.

Itemizing the ingredients needed to prepare recipes is the foundation of the shopping list. Additionally, the shopping list will total all like ingredients. The shopping list can be created for a recipe, a dish, a menu and for a selected timeframe.

The Jamix kitchen intelligence system will generate a shopping list with all the information above. It will also consider trim loss of ingredients. Knowing the as-purchased (AP) amount ensures the culinary team will have the correct quantity of ingredients for production. A comprehensive shopping list also helps to manage waste. I’m a firm believer that waste management starts with purchasing the correct amount of food.

The shopping list is also useful in the production kitchen. A cook can use the shopping list to gather the ingredients needed for the recipes he/she is preparing. This saves time going back and forth to the storeroom/walk-in and allows the cook to focus on culinary preparation (that means great food!).

Creating a shopping list manually is a serious undertaking, but Jamix allows chefs to create the shopping list with a couple quick clicks. So…..the shopping list may not be as cool as the menu, but it certainly deserves a lot of respect.

Fresh ThymeIngredient of the Month

Fresh Thyme

Thyme is a perennial so right now it’s HUGE in the garden. This little leaf packs a flavor punch. Add it to fresh vegetables, chicken, and marinated roasted peppers. It’s great with potatoes and any big flavored food. Also, it dries nicely so you have plenty during the winter months.

Cooking Tip

Cast Iron PizzaCast Iron Pizza

You want great pizza at home? Break out the 12” cast iron frying pan. Place the pan in a cold oven and dial it up to 500°F. When the oven is heated, so is the pan. Now slide your pizza into the pan (NO FAT) and bake until done, golden, and crisp (about 6-9 minutes). Slide out of the pan, cut and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Buon appetito.

CulinaryNXT is a food service advisory practice drawing on Ron DeSantis’ 30 years of experience in all facets of the food industry.  Ron is one of only 70 Certified Master Chefs worldwide and has advised organizations of all sizes and types. His strengths include culinary innovation, menu and recipe development, culinary assessment, bottom-line results, and communication skills that allow him to implement solutions effectively.

CulinaryNXT’s base is in New Haven, but its reach is truly global. CulinaryNXT’s relationships extend to numerous countries around the world in a client and alliance network that has been built over many years. These relationships provide both global support and local knowledge.

JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System is a comprehensive restaurant software providing shopping list based on your menu. The following short video shows how JAMIX makes your work in the restaurant kitchen easier including the shopping list feature.

Ron DeSantis Certified Master Chef

Updating information in real-time allows restaurant operations to act quickly

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Restaurant inventory management is easy and efficient with a kitchen management system and a mobile device including a scanner. This is one of the topics in the following newsletter by Certified Master Chef Ron DeSantis.

Food Is Just the Beginning™
by Ron DeSantis

Volume 2 Issue 9
September 2019

CulinaryNXT
200 Totoket Rd
Branford, CT 06405
203-415-9190

www.culinarynxt.com

Come On, Already!

One would think choosing orange juice in the supermarket would be a simple task. Think again.

One brand has 11! varieties. Original, Homestyle, Grovestand, Calcium + Vitamin D (No Pulp), Calcium + Vitamin D (Grovestand), Low Acid, Heart Healthy, Healthy Kids, Antioxidant Advantage, Vitamin C + Zinc (No Pulp), Vitamin C + Zinc (Some Pulp), and this list doesn’t include the orange juice blended with other juices!

I wonder, is nature’s original orange juice not up to the task any more?

Cheers!

Master Chef Insights

Temperature & Time

Cooking is all about temperature and time.

I’ve been cooking food for many years and this statement becomes clearer each time I prepare something. Generally speaking, low temperature will require more cooking time, and conversely high temperature will shorten the cooking time.

The next factor to consider is the food. Now the simple statement, “temperature & time”, becomes intricate. Understanding the structure of what is being cooked allows the cook to apply temperature and time. A whole “beer can chicken” will cook at a moderately high temperature for a longer time than marinated zucchini planks. Both foods will use moderately high temperature, but time varies. I am convinced that once the properties of raw ingredients are understood, temperature & time can be accurately dialed in.

Accurate temperature & time will result in better tasting food that is more nutritious. Another quality characteristic is consistently delicious food. Consistently delicious food is the goal in professional kitchens. It doesn’t matter if the operation is a restaurant that changes the menu daily, or the military on a cycle menu, consistency makes happy guests.

How to implement temperature & time starts with accurate recipes. If you are an operator, take the time to document temperature & time when preparing foods. Record that best results and the worst. Then repeat the process. YES, it’s hard work! I never said temperature & time was easy, I said it was best. If you use recipes, look for reliable sources AND test once again. To support the temperature & time process have a calibrated thermometer to check the food’s internal temperature, and record that. If the food is slow cooked, have kitchen fork on hand to test for tenderness. Always capture the information and update the recipe.

The process will provide your operation with consistently high quality, delicious food.

Culinary & more…

Kitchen Tech – Kitchen Proof Scanner

Believe it or not, this scanner can withstand chef handling.

And it is a very useful inventory management tool. This handheld computer is very robust, and scans supplies for efficient inventory control. It then uploads to the Jamix Kitchen Intelligence System for accurate inventory management. Chefs and managers who in the past have spent hours with a clipboard and inventory sheets can now speed things up. This scanner can take the impact of hitting the floor, it has a gorilla glass front (sounds cool), has a 2D bar code scanner, Bluetooth connectivity, and operates on Android platform. The beauty of this tool is, point the scanner at the bar code and you’re in business. Here is useful technology designed for a rough environment with easy-to-use connectivity to the kitchen intelligence system.

Updating information in real-time allows restaurant operations to act quickly. The restaurant management team has current and accurate information to make decisions. Look for this type of technology to streamline kitchen operations and allow the team to focus on guests.

Links

Here are a couple links. One has my insights to using naan as an ingredient.

The other highlights recent awards garnered by Attention Span Media. The Team at Attention Span Media “analyze problems, identify opportunities, create scenarios, and build solutions.” And they are a great group of pros to work with.

Naan is a superior bread for small bites (www.nrn.com)

25th annual communicator awards (www.attentionspan.com)

Ingredient of the Month

Roasted Peppers

Something so simple and abundant is so incredibly good! Roasted peppers are last summer’s gift to the flavor of summer all winter long.

Peppers are in peak season right now. They are CHEAP. So, what are you waiting for? Buy a basket full of peppers, fire up your grill, lay the peppers on until black, let them cool and slide off the black char. The result is deliciousness.

Make a lot of roasted peppers and put extra in ziplock bags, then freeze for a flavor burst later in the year.

Cooking Tip

Deep-Frying

Summer is a great time to deep-fry….outside.

Deep-frying creates that craveable crispy texture to foods. I love frying a few pounds of potatoes into chips seasoned with salt and smoked paprika. These are the “bet you can’t eat just one” kind of chips. Fresh fish with a fried to a crispy golden panko coating is very satisfying!

When done properly, fried foods have a crispy coating and a tender moist internal. Furthermore, properly fried foods are not greasy. Non-greasy fried food is a result of clean cooking oil, proper temperature, and the right amount of food added to the fryer. The right amount of food is one of the critical steps to great fried food. Too much food and the oil cools. When the oil cools, extra oil is soaked up by the food’s coating. This results in greasy food.

Having a table-top deep fryer is the easiest way to fry food. The next method is to use a pot of oil with a thermometer that will read up to at least 425°F. Once the temperature is set/achieved for the type of food being fried, get cooking.

One last note: fried food is best eaten immediately – crispy and hot!

Bon Appétit!

CulinaryNXT is a food service advisory practice drawing on Ron DeSantis’ 30 years of experience in all facets of the food industry. Ron is one of only 70 Certified Master Chefs worldwide and has advised organizations of all sizes and types. His strengths include culinary innovation, menu and recipe development, culinary assessment, bottom-line results, and communication skills that allow him to implement solutions  effectively.

CulinaryNXT’s base is in New Haven, but its reach is truly global. CulinaryNXT’s relationships extend to numerous countries around the world in a client and alliance network that has been built over many years. These relationships provide both global support and local knowledge.

Read more on Restaurant Inventory Management in JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System

Reducing Food Waste will save you money and make your environmental footprint smaller

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Kitchen management system helps restaurants and other food service operations in reducing food waste with versatile and comprehensive functionalities.

by Tuulia Heiskanen, Trainer

Reducing food waste with Jamix Kitchen Intelligence System

Food is thrown away every day in households, restaurants and the industry as well as already at the producers. You probably throw away large quantities of food yearly yourself, without even noticing it. Most of this food waste is a result of both unmade plans, but also of not following the plans that have been made. When you cook food in advance for more than one day, as you often do, you might end up eating something else the next day just out of an impulse. After a while, the ready made meals or untouched out-of-date packs are on their way from the fridge into the garbage bin. So there is a place for improvement.

I looked at some statistics on food waste and on the impact it has. Here are some figures:

  • One third of all food produced is lost or wasted (Source: FAO)
  • 150.000 tons of food is wasted each day in the United States (Source: The Guardian)
  • Households are responsible for almost half of the food wasted, but restaurants and other food service operations build up a notable 25 % share, as well (Source: Statista). Food waste could be avoided by better forecasting, or by preparing and storing food in another way.
  • Food that is produced for nothing puts a load both on the economy and the environment. Environmental effects are huge: the carbon footprint related to food waste is almost as big as the road transport emissions globally (Source: FAO).

Food waste is something that we most probably cannot get rid of completely, but it is clear that there is a need to reduce it.

 

New goals and legislation planned for reducing food waste

Fortunately the excessive amounts of food waste have been noticed in the past couple of years. The UN Sustainable Development Goals include cutting down food waste in half on the retail and consumer levels by the year 2030, as well as significantly reducing food waste within the whole production-distribution chain. Reaching the goals requires functional tools for continuous monitoring and reducing of food waste. Reaching the goal set by the UN, that is cutting down the food waste in half in a decade’s time, requires involvement from each food producer, business, retail store, restaurant and consumer.

Legislation needs to support the reduction of food waste. In France there is a legislation that forbids tossing food in retail stores and restaurants. Legislation really should be revised: The other day I heard from the radio that a part of food goes to waste already at the producers. This is caused almost solely by too strict quality standards for products: If the appearance of an item is not according to the standard, it doesn’t qualify to be sold in a store and it gets thrown away.

In addition to legislation, you need to educate people both at home and at work places, and provide tips and tools for reducing food waste. In Finland the Consumer’s Union has taken a grip on this and the national Food Waste Week is being arranged yearly in September. The campaign aims at encouraging everybody in reducing food waste and at the same time increasing the appreciation of food by providing information and practical tips. The campaign welcomes businesses and organizations as partners, and JAMIX has also been participating the Food Waste Week for several years now.

 

Restaurant management system helps in reducing food waste

As mentioned before, the lack of planning or the lack of systematic practises cause a major part of food waste. This applies both to households and to restaurants or other food service operations. Just implementing a kitchen management system with basic functionalities often already results in reduced food waste. But you can also maximize the benefits of the system with regards food waste by exploring it more extensively, and utilizing all the functionalities provided.

JAMIX KITCHEN MANAGEMENT system provides a great menu planning tool along with procurement management, which together aim at the best possible match between the amount of prepared food and the sales or consumption. The amount of diners and the portion sizes are easy to plan on the menu, and the system will automatically calculate the right amounts for recipes to be produced. The system creates a shopping list based on the menu, so you will have the exact need for ingredients for producing the meals on the menu. When you compare the list to the existing inventory, you will avoid ordering excessive amounts of ingredients which could end up in wastage.

In JAMIX software, you can also register the sales and wastage on the menu. This enables you to check the figures next time you are producing the same recipe, how much was produced for a certain amount of diners, how much was consumed and how much was left over. This makes updating of portion sizes on the menu easier. You can even let the system update the portion sizes automatically based on the sales and wastage registered in it.

In addition to well executed menu planning, the inventory management functionalities in restaurant management systems and separate HACCP systems support food waste management. Inventory balance monitoring and inventory-take are useful tools in preventing out-of-date items from ending up in wastage, and by setting par levels for items you can prevent excessive ordering.

Customer feedback is another good tool for preventing food waste. Through collecting feedback either with a restaurant management system or otherwise, by listening to it and taking it into consideration in menu planning you can both increase your sales and prevent food waste.

By not producing food for nothing, or by not having out-of-date items to be tossed away, has an impact on the environment as well as on the costs for a kitchen. Ingredients are the biggest individual cost for a kitchen in addition to labour costs, and by forecasting the amount of food to be produced as precisely as possible and by monitoring the wastage you will quickly gain savings. The reduction of food waste might be pushed by legislation in the years to come, so it is worth while to start giving it a thought already now.