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reducing wastage in the kitchen by 50%

1K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  foodpump 
#1 ·
hi guys, new to this forum so hopefully iv posted this to the correct area. I have been working for the past 3 years in a sizzler pub kitchen, which maily involves frozen foods and small amount of fresh produce. I have decided to go for kitchen manager position, i am fully aware of what this entails and beleive i am more than capable on the the practical front but would appreciate any ideas or info on how i will be able to reduce the kitchen wastage by 50% either and or energy saving, food wise , tools and staff, menu etc. i have a few ideas but know there must be more experianced ppl out there that i could benifit from there knowledge.

also i will need to improve empathica food quality scores by retraining the kitchen staff and setting goals.. anyone with experiance of this and would like to share there ideas would be great!!! thanx in advance
 
#3 ·
Energy saving?...........

You'll have to spend inorder to get that.  F'rinstance, refrigeration.  A 6' x'6' walk-in is much more efficient than two two door stand-ups and a low-boy, but it will cost. A new hot water heater is much more efficient, but will cost.

Start with baby-steps. If you could magically reduce operting costs by 50% in the first two months, the owner would be very suspicious, and then would become greedy.
 
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#4 ·
Thanx guys, but i am not manager as yet what i should have stated was that iv been offered the postion and as part of course work i have to come up with the things iv stated in my question. Iv been givin 6 months worth of course work today to be completed in the next week (totally dropped on me) so frantically trying to find advice and some input. cheers
 
#5 ·
You are asking how to almost instantaneously cut 50% of your kitchen costs? That sounds rather improbable unless the situation where you are is crazy bad. 

You could start with the basics. Frozen food generally costs more than making your own. Most of the time, the price per gallon/ounce is more for items you purchase. So, instead of buying in barbecue sauce and ranch you make your own. But this same principle applies to just about anything. Buying random chicken breasts and breading them yourself, for example, is almost assuredly less expensive than buying premade, frozen breaded chicken. And it probably tastes better too.

Make sure the equipment is running properly. Make sure the seals on the walk in doors are working well. Clean the compressor. Make sure the range is clean and getting the right amount of fuel. 

Try not to throw anything out. Save trimmings for soup specials, lunch specials, etc. Might be hard if you cook all frozen food. 

I don't know, cutting 50% seems like a lot to take on. Might be easier to take smaller steps toward that goal further down the road. 
 
#6 ·
Um, I think the OP wants to reduce kitchen wastage by 50%, not kitchen costs, there is a big difference.

Wastage is what is purchased but never makes it to the customer, trim, out of date food, gas and electricity consumed for no purpose (ovens on but nothing in them, etc.).
 
#7 ·
at the moment guys all the questions im asking is theoretical as im starting my kitchen linx books as part of my management training and part of it is im having to put in place a project piece to show and prove how i would go about changing gpm's and save on product waistage and kitchen productivity... i know where to start but its all about getting everyone on the ssame page and making sure that we ony use what we need but its getting that balance of what will i need in the fridges and draws day in week out... thats what im stuck on... our days vary sooo much and one week can be better then the last so its hit or miss... we probably have a good £1400 per day turn around on food consumption but its finding that balance... and as for saving energy by not using equipment when not needed is new to me i understand what to do but its getting use to putting it into practace and puting it down on paper to explaine...
 
#8 ·
You mean to tell me that upper management just woke up and decided"' Wow now after all these years we have to save 50%?""

To think this can be done at a fixed 50 is lunacy . It takes $ and time, and study. As well as reviewing all past practices..A time study as well as weather and days past, should also be studied
 
#9 ·
I think everyone here can't get over the 50% goal. Who decided that?

Every Chef uses diferent tools to manage costs. With 85% frozen/packaged stuff, your labour is at an absolute minimum, but costs are high. Then again, if you're operating a chain restauarant, you HAVE to use the pre-determined products and the pre-determined suppliers.

So, you need to have the big, big, picture. You're daily sales fluctuate, why? Did the chain put out advertising that week? Was there a huge event in town? Can you forecast a spike in sales? This is where you really have to work cloesly with f.o.h.

If you can establish par-levels for days of the week and enforce them, you can get a handle on wastage.

Twice-weekly deliveries instead of weekly deliveries. Of course the purveyor will fight tooth and nail over this one.

Like tincook says, put locks on the fridges if theft is a problem.

Who's ordering food? How well does that person understand the purveyor's pricing system and general B.S.?. Suppliers have a zillion ways to pad an order, and with chains its just so much easier.

Like I said, if you could magically get food cost by 50%, my first reaction as an owner would be to dig up the old Chef/kitchen manager and have him arrested for theft.

Of course, the opposite side of the coin is more volume. More volume = more sales, which usually means better food and labour costs

Do a lot of your planning on paper. If you can show the powers-that-be that IF you had some freedom with suppliers, you could bring down the foodcost by 4 or 5 percent--show them the prices for, say frenchfries (chips?) from supplier A B, and C, fryer oil, burger patties, etc. Shpw them on paper that IF you bought in frozen raw burger buns and proofed and baked them on-site, the costs for that would be almost 8% cheaper, with no more stale buns.

Don't know if this helps
 
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