Tips on minimising waste
This time we'd like to pass on comments caterers have made to us about how they do their best to reduce waste back of house. This is so important because otherwise hard earned profits go in the bin!
Some of the points that kept being repeated by caterers are as follows...
- Getting your kitchen organized is an obvious one, but many aren't. So have separate fridges for: meats, starters, puddings etc
- Make sure you have clearly designated work stations for the different key components of your menu
- Training staff to do specific jobs in the kitchen improves quality and cuts waste
- Getting the prep done before the shift or table service starts keeps you organized and stops the waste caused by 11th hour prep panics!
- Make sure your staff are clear on what is a portion (eg: scampi starter portion = 5 pieces and scampi main course portion = 10
pieces) this cuts out both a loss of profitability and disappointed customers because of small portions
- Don't over order on short life fresh products. Use the special board here to get them to sell through. Note - rub the dish off your specials board once the last one sold to prevent the next set of customers choosing this dish only to then be told its off and causing disappointment.