The average restaurant wastes 4-10 percent of their purchased food, according to a study by the National Restaurant Association. Foodservice operators who conduct weekly inventory turnover calculations tend to uncover sources of waste, save time and boost their bottom line – and automated inventory management is becoming a commonly used tool to help with this process. But before operators can draw reliable information about their inventory, they need to first understand their menu inside and out – what equipment they need for each item, what ingredients are critical and which can serve as substitutes, how to standardize recipes across locations where specialty ingredients may differ, and where there might be opportunities to innovate, for example. Technology is helpful here too. Modern Restaurant Management reported recently that the bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien adopted an AI tool that serves as a clone of its founding chef, Alain Coumont. The tool, which they call Alain.AI, is used by the bakery’s locations around the world to standardize recipes and get help developing the menu. It has compiled the bakery’s 10,000 historic and current recipes into a closed database that the team can use to develop new recipes more efficiently. Going forward, they plan to plug food and beverage trends into the database so they can develop recipes that reflect those trends, as well as create clones of consumers to better understand and support their food and drink preferences. Tech-driven tools that support recipe consistency and menu management are becoming increasingly common – and can help you ensure that your business prepares a dish to the same high standard each time, all while providing the foundation for you to better manage inventory costs from there. Looking at your database of recipes, how consistently do you include elements such as your yield, portion size, ingredients, mise en place, cooking instructions and methods, plating instructions, photos and other information that ensures consistency?

Foodservice operations need every cost-savings opportunity they can get. Chances are, there are wasted dollars lurking in your food waste – even though the industry has made significant strides in this area in recent years. You may already use tech tools in your kitchen at the point of preparation to help guide consistent portioning of ingredients, or to ensure you’re using an ingredient as efficiently as possible. Once a guest has finished their meal, are there additional steps you take to monitor and reduce the items left behind? According to a recent report from Restaurant Technology News, a rising number of restaurants are implementing smart waste management systems that can sort and track waste, streamlining recycling and composting. Others are using technology to convert food waste into energy – a step that has helped participating restaurants reduce their waste by an average of 30 percent, according to a 2023 study by the Waste Management Association. Of course, there may be waste in other areas of your business too – water, energy, paper or other supplies, to name a few possibilities. Considering your largest monthly costs, could tech tools help you monitor your use more closely so you can determine how to minimize some of those expenses?

Foodservice sustainability was a key theme to the recent National Restaurant Association Show – and the tools and systems on display promoted benefits well beyond the environment. According to a Nation’s Restaurant News report, highlights of the show supported restaurants’ efforts around waste management, operational efficiency and food safety. Think eco-friendly fryers that reduce frying time, use less oil and may reduce oil vapors; AI-supported tech that helps operators track their food consumption and waste in real time; and sensors connected to the Internet of Things that can inform staff with greater precision when food that has been sitting out needs to be discarded, or if it’s still safe to serve.

Research from Recycle Track Systems found that the restaurant industry spends an estimated $162 billion every year in costs related to wasted food. That’s money that can fund critical tech investment, new hires, or other areas of your business. While tech tools to help restaurant operators manage restaurant waste have been on the rise, food waste continues to be a costly challenge for many oeprators. When Nation’s Restaurant News surveyed 600 operators as part of their second annual Restaurant Technology Outlook this year, they asked what features are most important when considering tech upgrades for the back of house. The top answer, for 35 percent of respondents, was reducing food waste. So what can be done? Assess how well your business understands the sources of loss. There could be many, including inventory over-ordering or other mismanagement, inconsistency in portioning, coupon abuse, or problems with food spoilage along the supply chain. A recent Forbes report advises operators to create prescriptive models to avoid over-preparing food items. For instance, could you provide your staff with workflows that incorporate waste reduction practices as part of your efforts at continuous improvement? Doing so could not only cut waste but also boost staff productivity. Improving your view of the supply chain through Internet of Things-connected sensors can help too, as well as ensuring you and your suppliers have a shared commitment to transparency.

For every dollar a restaurant invests in food waste reduction, it generates $8 in savings, according to the World Resources Institute.   In a business of slim margins, that can add up to significant savings – and that’s just counting food waste. Are there areas of your operation where waste management in general could be better? Your technology can help you identify and manage them on an ongoing basis. Start with your food and the other supplies you need to serve guests and run your business. Your inventory management system can help you improve your order precision and ingredient use so you avoid spoilage and can more readily identify when theft occurs – or be alerted in the moment if there has been a run on a particular supply. Using tech tools to manage portions (and measure discarded ingredients) can help you ensure your staff, regardless of how long they have been working in the business, are serving dishes of a consistent size and using ingredients tip-to-tail. Energy waste can generate significant expense too – one study found that 45-70 percent of electricity is wasted in commercial kitchens due to insufficient training and poor equipment maintenance, for example.  Tech-based training and digital maintenance logs can help you manage that waste and alert you to potential problems. Beyond that, consider energy-efficient lighting and equipment, as well as sensor-monitored equipment that can be controlled remotely and also help you monitor malfunctioning appliances before they become a problem that generates significant waste.

​As restaurant operators know, money is made at the back of the house. The steps you take to get a better handle on everything from portioning food to managing inventory translate into important savings. Adopting tools to monitor waste is a big one. Research from the Natural Resources Defense Council estimated that 22-33 billion pounds of food is wasted by restaurants every year, with about 7 percent of it wasted before it even reaches the customer. To get a better handle on how much food you’re wasting, you have to track all possible sources of it. A report from The Rail advises operators to have staff keep a log – ideally a mobile app connected with your inventory management software – of every instance of spills, misfires, burned or ruined orders, spoiled or expired ingredients, comped meals, theft, and scraps from paring, cutting or butchering. Patterns may emerge from this that allow you to zero in on the habits and practices that generate waste for you.

Restaurant waste equals money lost. Artificial intelligence is helping operators increase the rigor of their waste management practices at a time when managing aspects of a restaurant operation is critical to staying in business. Restaurant Business reported recently that Taco Bell and KFC had adopted Yum Brands’ “Recommended Ordering”, a machine learning program that predicts and suggests recommended quantities of product to order each week. The objective of the tool is to reduce food waste and lower cost, but it also offers the potential benefit of lightening the load for managers tasked with making accurate orders each week.

​An app-based reusable packaging system that has been piloted in restaurants this year might provide a model for how sustainable packaging can improve sales and loyalty (and harness the valuable guest data that comes along with it). A company called R.ware (an offshoot of the reusable R.cup often found in stadiums) allows restaurants to get propylene hard plastic packaging in a range of sizes and styles that can be washed and sanitized multiple times. Restaurants are given a small collection bin equipped with an iPad. After guests are finished with a take-out container, which is labeled with instructions on how to download an app and scan a QR code, they can return the container to the collection bin and start earning rewards. Participating restaurants have freedom to customize those rewards to entice guests to return. In the process, they are reducing waste – and likely gaining some fans who want to reduce their takeout waste too.

Robotic chefs may still sound futuristic – but they already have a place in restaurant kitchens. That’s particularly true for restaurants struggling to hire and retain staff, and those eager to get a better handle on food waste (so in other words, everyone). While Spyce claims to be the first restaurant with a kitchen run entirely by robots that can prepare complex recipes, a rapidly increasing number of brands are offloading repetitive kitchen tasks to robotic assistants. And as more venture into this territory, look for prices for this technology to fall. A sign of things to come: This year’s Consumer Electronics Show featured a kitchen robot from Moley Robotics that can prepare thousands of dishes, avoid allergens when requested, or simply guide a person through the steps of a recipe as they prepare it. While the price tag is steep at $340,000, it’s likely to challenge other companies in the space to accomplish similar tasks less expensively in the not-so-distant future.

Waste generated by the restaurant industry costs around $25 billion annually, according to Restaurant Hospitality. But on the flip side, efforts to prevent food waste can cut an individual restaurant’s food costs by between 2 and 6 percent. At a time when community needs are great, you can use technology to not only help get a more accurate handle on how much you order based on the supply available, but you can also connect leftover food with people who need it – all while cutting your costs. With help from an Oracle system, the restaurant Panini Internazionale reached its goal of zero waste. Restaurant Technology News reports that the brand uses its system to offer a 50 percent discount to students during the final two hours of business. Then at the end of the day, it alerts local charities to pick up their remaining stock.