5 ways to reduce food waste and your environmental footprint

According to Stopwaste.org, most foodservice operations are throwing away or composting between 4-10% of the food they purchase as pre-consumer food waste.

But there are things you can do to reduce your food waste and environmental footprint. Here are five easy ways your business can make a difference:

1. Shop smart and only buy what you need – One of the biggest expenses for any restaurant is food, and by purchasing only the necessary amount of ingredients, you can save money and improve your bottom line.
2. Store food properly to extend its shelf life – If you enjoy buying fresh produce and seafood, freezing food can make sense. It keeps produce fresh and makes raw food safe to eat after delivery. You can also freeze pre-cooked food if it is going to be stored and consumed at a later date. Some food, like ice cream and yogurt, can go bad quickly. Freezing them takes the worry out of using natural ingredients in recipes that require a liquid dairy base.
3. Compost your food waste – Cover food waste with wet compost material like straw, sawdust or dried leaves to help retain moisture and heat. Put your food waste in layers alternating wet with dry to facilitate aeration and create healthy compost.
4. Donate excess food to those in need – Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, the charitable arm of Sodexo, Inc., works to ensure that every child, especially those most at-risk, grows up with dependable access to enough nutritious food to enable them to lead a healthy, productive life.
5. Advocate for change – Tackling food waste is one of the most effective and simple ways to shrink its impact on the planet. If we avoid producing food that goes uneaten, we can save the land, water and energy that would have been used to make it. And awareness is a good first step. According to ReFED, educating consumers about food waste could prevent 7.41 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

How Entegra can help

By implementing these five easy ways to reduce food waste, we can all make a difference in reducing our environmental footprint. However, individuals are not the only ones who can make a difference. Businesses, such as foodservice operations, can also take steps to reduce their food waste.

Entegra's partnership with Leanpath offers a solution that allows businesses to leverage AI-powered analytics to identify and prevent potential food waste in their kitchens, resulting in significant cost savings and a reduction in their environmental impact. With Leanpath in place, some clients have reduced waste by 50% and saved up to $100,000 per year.

Together, by taking action and implementing these measures, we can all work towards a more sustainable future and a healthier planet.

Download our new sustainability white paper now.