Tonnes of reasons to be efficient

• Restaurants achieve savings of € 30 000 annually by reconsidering portion sizes and optimising stock
• Measures also cut back on food waste 

Two Glasgow-based restaurants (45 staff members) which offer a great range of Indian dishes were producing around 26 tonnes of food waste a year. It was found that about 70 % of that came from plate waste returned from their customers (rice was the most common plate waste, followed by salad, naan bread, and curry sauce). 

Following workshops on resource efficiency, several measures were put forward. The first measure introduced in the restaurants was optimised portion control, which was supported by customers and incurred no upfront costs. Reducing plate waste by 20 % annually saves around € 6 300. 

The second measure was an optimised stock management and tracking system for purchasing raw ingredients. This required a one-off investment of € 4 650, but it saves around € 22 000 per year. 

An additional measure was to extend the life of cooking oil by 50 % by using a filtration fryer, which cost around € 4 000, but leads to annual savings of € 1 800, ensuring a fast return on investment.

Key benefits

• Potential savings of 22 tonnes of food waste
• Reduction of 42 tonnes of C02 emissions
• Annual savings of € 30 000
• Optimised stock management and portion reductions leading to less food waste