TIL this Wednesday that over 40% of my Friday dinner service profits went to food waste

I was prepping for a busy Saturday night last week and actually weighed all the trim, scraps, and spoiled produce that went in the bin before service started. The number shocked me because I always thought I was good about using everything. Has anyone else done a serious waste audit and found out how much it's really costing them?

3 comments

3 Comments

seth_shah1mo ago

That audit idea is BRUTAL but necessary. I used to just eyeball my prep and toss whatever looked sad, figuring it was a small loss. Then I actually tracked a full week of trim from onions and celery, plus bruised apples I'd normally compost without thinking. It added up to almost $90 just in those three items alone. Really changed how I look at my produce order and what I'm willing to spend top dollar on.

nathan9011mo ago

$90 is a pretty big number, but I'm not sure that's a good reason to change how you stock your kitchen. You put that stuff in the compost or trash, and you're done with it. Nobody's paying you for that onion skin or those apple cores, they're paying for the final dish. If your food cost is in line and your customers are happy, counting every scrap of celery trim down to the penny just sounds like a way to drive yourself crazy over nothing.

luna_wright1mo ago

Counting every scrap of celery trim down to the penny just sounds like a way to drive yourself crazy over nothing" - but isn't that the whole point of a food cost audit? You gotta know where your money's going before you can decide if it's worth it... I mean, $90 is just three items, that's real money over a month or season. But I get your point about not losing sleep over a few onion skins. My real question is - once you see that number, how do you NOT let it change how you prep? Like, do you just ignore it and keep tossing stuff, or do you actually try to find ways to use more of the produce?