Wise up on waste

In a perfect world there would be no waste, in preparation or guests plates. While there will always be some level of waste, there are creative ways of reducing it and turning extra food into profit.

Portion Sizes - Regularly check plates when they come back to understand which dishes are too heavy or too large. Even lots of extra garnish or sauce can help save money when adjustments are made. Put one person in charge of noting this for a week.

Accurate Measuring - Use scales to measure out ingredients as well as portions. Your recipe should always be the basis for your selling price.

Specials Board - A daily specials board can help to manage the extra throughput of ingredients. Perfect for great value seasonal items.

Accurate Ordering - Employ accurate ordering and stock rotation to avoid ingredients going out of date. If there is a booking cancellation use ingredients on specials board.

Get Creative - Be creative with vegetable trimmings to make tasty soups. Adding a variety of extra foods to bases or standard soups is a great way to make a signature dish. Meat trimmings or excess produce can always be used for delicious chopped or bound salads with a little mayonnaise or salad dressing.