Food waste in the large kitchen — measure it and plan it away
Denmark wastes over 800,000 tonnes of food per year — and large kitchens can make a measurable difference
Introduction
Food waste is food that could have been eaten but is thrown away. According to the government surveys used by, among others, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency and the think tank One\Third, Denmark's total food waste is over 800,000 tonnes per year, and it costs society billions of kroner annually. Institutions and large kitchens account for around 30,000 tonnes of it — and in addition there are hotels and restaurants with roughly the same amount. For a single kitchen, waste can easily add up to many thousands of kroner per month.
Where does waste occur?
In professional kitchens, food waste typically occurs in three places: in production (peels, trimmings, rejected production), in serving (overproduction — more has been made than is eaten) and on the plate (portions returned). Research points out that overproduction is the single largest source in large kitchens: 'a bit extra for safety's sake' is made — every day. There is also stock waste when goods reach their date because purchasing and menu planning don't align.
Handle that works
- 01Order according to actual attendance: link production to number of registrants instead of fixed quantities.
- 02Plan the menu over at least a week at a time so variation can be seen over several days — not each individual meal.
- 03Serve smaller dishes more often instead of one large fill — what has not been out can be saved.
- 04Adjust portion sizes for the target group and offer an extra portion rather than a large plate back.
- 05Use 'ugly' fruits and vegetables and whole raw materials — e.g. broccoli stalks in soup carrot tops in pesto.
- 06Review inventory regularly and work according to first in, first out (FIFO).
Residues and the rules
Reuse of leftovers is permitted but must happen food-safely: Food that has been kept warm and displayed for serving cannot generally be saved, while produced food that has been properly cooled and kept on cold storage can be incorporated into new dishes. The cooling rules (from 56 °C to 10 °C in at most four hours) and reheating to at least 75 °C also apply here. Food waste work and self-inspection are not contradictions — on the contrary, good temperature control is a prerequisite for being able to use the leftovers.
| Waste type | Typical cause | Counter-pull |
|---|---|---|
| Production waste | Rough preparation, failed production | Better use of raw materials, precise recipes |
| Service waste | Overproduction, large trays | Production after appearance, smaller batches, restocking |
| Plate waste | For large portions wrong consistency/taste | Smaller standard portion, option for extra, sensory quality |
| Warehouse waste | Date overage, poor rotation | FIFO, inventory review, menu plan linked to purchasing |
Food waste is also a job-satisfaction matter. Few things are more demoralising to a kitchen than scraping hours of work into the bin. Conversely, a visibly falling waste figure — for instance a board in the kitchen with the week's weighed waste — is something the whole team can feel part of. Many kitchens set concrete goals, for instance halving plate waste in a year, and use the figures actively with management: saved raw material costs are one of the kitchen's strongest arguments.
“The cheapest meal to produce is the one that is not thrown away.”
— Basic rule in kitchen economics