Picture this: it's Thursday morning, and you're staring at $200 worth of fish that's about to expire while scrambling to find enough fresh ingredients for tonight's service. Food waste costs restaurants 5-15% of their purchases on average. Smart weekly planning prevents ingredients from spoiling before you can use them.
Why weekly planning matters
Many kitchens buy daily or order 'by feel'. The result? Wednesday there's still steak from Monday, Thursday the fish goes past its date, and Friday you're scrambling to order because you're short.
Solid weekly planning prevents this chaos by:
- Aligning purchases with expected sales
- Using ingredients in order of shelf life
- Processing excess stock before it spoils
The FIFO system as your foundation
FIFO stands for 'First In, First Out'. What arrives first gets used first. Simple concept, but one of the most common blind spots in kitchen management is ignoring FIFO when things get busy.
? Example:
Monday you receive fresh salmon (good until Wednesday). Tuesday new salmon arrives (good until Thursday).
Use Monday's salmon first, even if Tuesday's looks prettier.
Analyzing sales figures per day
Look at your sales data from the past 4-6 weeks. What patterns emerge?
- Monday: Often quiet, perfect for bringing in fresh ingredients
- Tuesday-Wednesday: Building momentum toward the weekend
- Thursday-Saturday: Peak days requiring more stock
- Sunday: Usually slower, ideal for processing leftovers
⚠️ Note:
Holidays, school breaks, and local events can disrupt normal patterns. Factor these into your planning.
Categorizing ingredients by shelf life
Create a reference list of your ingredients and their typical shelf life:
- 1-2 days: Fresh fish, oysters, delicate greens
- 3-4 days: Meat, fresh herbs, soft cheeses
- 5-7 days: Sturdy vegetables, eggs, hard cheeses
- 1-2 weeks: Root vegetables, onions, potatoes
Schedule short shelf-life ingredients to arrive just before your busiest service days.
Weekly planning in practice
? Sample weekly schedule:
Restaurant serving 80 covers Friday/Saturday, 40 covers other days:
- Monday: Order fresh fish for Tuesday-Wednesday service
- Tuesday: Order meat for Thursday-Friday rush
- Wednesday: Stock up for weekend volume
- Thursday: Inventory check, emergency reorders only
- Sunday: Transform leftovers into Monday specials
Processing leftovers intelligently
You prevent waste not only by buying less, but also by repurposing what you have:
- Daily specials: Feature dishes built around leftover ingredients
- Soups and sauces: Transform aging vegetables into bases
- Staff meal: Use ingredients approaching expiration
- Prep components: Turn overripe tomatoes into sauce foundations
Digital support tools
Apps like KitchenNmbrs can help track inventory and expiration dates. You can:
- Log ingredients with purchase dates
- Receive automatic alerts for soon-to-expire products
- Connect your weekly planning to recipes and projected sales
? Real-world results:
Restaurant De Korenbloem cut waste from 12% to 6% by:
- Daily inventory checks at 10:00 AM
- Weekly planning based on previous month's data
- Daily specials featuring near-expiry ingredients
- Strict FIFO system enforcement
Monthly savings: €2,400 on €40,000 in sales
Measuring your progress
Track what you discard and why. Common reasons include:
- Past expiration: Over-ordering or poor planning
- Spoilage: Improper storage or excessive holding
- Prep mistakes: Kitchen errors
- Customer returns: Quality issues
By tracking the root causes, you'll identify exactly where your planning needs adjustment.
Related articles
How do you create an anti-waste weekly planning? (step by step)
Analyze your sales pattern
Look at your register data from the past 4 weeks. Count per day of the week how many covers you average and which dishes sell best. This becomes the basis of your purchasing.
Create a shelf-life table
List all ingredients with their shelf life in days. Group them: 1-2 days (fish), 3-4 days (meat), 5-7 days (vegetables). Plan purchases so short shelf-life falls on busy days.
Plan your purchase timing per ingredient
Work backwards from your busiest day. If you have 100 covers on Friday and fish lasts 2 days, order Wednesday. For meat (4 days) you can order Monday.
Set up a daily check
Check every morning what's about to expire. Make it a daily special, process it in prep, or use it for the staff meal. Only throw away as a last resort.
Measure and adjust weekly
Weigh your food waste every week and note the cause. If you throw away a lot on Monday, buy less for the weekend. Aim for a maximum of 5% waste of your total purchases.
✨ Pro tip
Track your waste every Sunday for exactly 4 weeks, then adjust Monday's purchasing based on patterns. Cut orders by 20% for items you consistently discard.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
Was this article helpful?
Frequently asked questions
How much food waste is normal in a restaurant?
What if my supplier only delivers twice a week?
Should I make daily specials from nearly expired ingredients?
Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
kennisbank.more_in_category
Related questions
Explore more topics
Manage inventory without spreadsheets
Always know what you have in stock and what it's worth. KitchenNmbrs connects inventory to recipes and purchasing for complete oversight. Start your free trial.
Start free trial →