Easy adjustments you can make to your restaurant menu and processes that will help customers waste less food.How to reduce customer plate waste

Write a children’s menu

Children will naturally have lighter appetites and are highly likely to have different tastes. (In short: they’re far more likely to gobble up a side of chips than a side of miso mashed cauliflower). By offering a children’s menu that offers a handful of appropriately portioned (and flavoured) dishes, you’re less likely to end up with waste on their plates.

Create portion options

A study carried out by Love Food Hate Waste showed that 41% of plate waste occurs because the portion was too big.

It’s a difficult predicament to navigate: on one hand, you don’t want to leave diners hungry - but equally, it’s senseless to serve people more food than they can eat.

One way of combating these challenges is by offering ‘small appetite’ and ‘large appetite’ plates on the menu, with sensible price points for each option. This gives people the power to decide their portion size based on factors such as what they’ve already eaten that day, nutrition-related portion control, or even whether or not they’re planning on ordering dessert.

It’s key to make sure these portion sizes are clearly labelled on the menu, and that staff know how to explain and recommend an option in a discretionary way.

Offer a choice - or refills - of sides

Side salads and chips are the two foods left on plates most often. Many diners simply see these as ‘plate fillers’ - and therefore less valuable - compared to the food they ‘actually ordered’.

By offering a choice of side dishes - for instance, side salad, chips, rice, or mash - you give diners a sense of ownership over their meal, and you can serve it knowing it’s something they’re keen to eat.

Alternatively, serving smaller portions of sides - but ensuring diners know that refills are available - is another way of ensuring people aren’t served more than they want.

Train staff to be proactive about offering doggy bags

Too Good To Go recently discovered that 23% of UK adults are embarrassed to ask for a doggy bag - even if they want one.

Stock up appropriate containers, and ask staff to be proactive about offering doggy bags at all times - even if only a small portion of food remains on the plate.

Analyse your plate waste

Not sure where to start? It might be useful to begin by seeing how big your problem is. Spend a few weeks tracking the food left on people’s plates; ask kitchenhands to snap a quick photo of each plate once it’s been cleared from the table, or keep a written record.