Food waste costs restaurants an average of 5-15% of their purchases. By planning smarter on a weekly basis, you prevent ingredients from spoiling before you can use them. In this article, you'll learn a practical system to drastically reduce waste by basing your weekly planning on sales data and expiration dates.
Why weekly planning is so important
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 have to rush to order because you're short.
Good weekly planning prevents this by:
- Aligning purchases with expected sales
- Using ingredients in order of shelf life
- Processing excess stock in time
The FIFO system as a foundation
FIFO stands for 'First In, First Out'. What comes in first, you use first. Simple, but crucial for reducing waste.
💡 Example:
Monday you receive fresh salmon (good until Wednesday). Tuesday new salmon arrives (good until Thursday).
Use the salmon from Monday first, even if Tuesday's looks nicer.
Analyzing sales figures per day
Look at your sales data from the past 4-6 weeks. What patterns do you see?
- Monday: Often quiet, bring in fresh ingredients
- Tuesday-Wednesday: Building toward the weekend
- Thursday-Saturday: Busiest days, more stock needed
- Sunday: Often quieter, process leftovers
⚠️ Note:
Holidays, school vacations, and nearby events can disrupt your normal pattern. Take this into account.
Categorizing ingredients by shelf life
Create an overview of your ingredients and their typical shelf life:
- 1-2 days: Fresh fish, oysters, delicate vegetables
- 3-4 days: Meat, fresh herbs, soft cheeses
- 5-7 days: Hard vegetables, eggs, hard cheeses
- 1-2 weeks: Carrots, onions, potatoes
Plan your purchases so that short shelf-life ingredients are used on busy days.
Weekly planning in action
💡 Example weekly planning:
Restaurant with 80 covers on Friday/Saturday, 40 on other days:
- Monday: Order fresh fish for Tuesday-Wednesday
- Tuesday: Order meat for Thursday-Friday
- Wednesday: Extra stock for the weekend
- Thursday: Check inventory, reorder if needed
- Sunday: Process leftovers into specials
Processing leftovers smartly
You prevent waste not only by buying less, but also by using leftovers smartly:
- Daily specials: Make a special from leftover ingredients
- Soups and sauces: Process vegetables that have seen better days
- Staff meal: Use ingredients that are nearly past their date
- Prep work: Make overripe tomatoes into a sauce base
Digital support
An app like KitchenNmbrs can help you track inventory and expiration dates. You can:
- Register ingredients with purchase date
- Get automatic alerts for soon-to-expire products
- Link your weekly planning to your recipes and expected sales
💡 Real-world example:
Restaurant De Korenbloem reduced their waste from 12% to 6% by:
- Daily inventory check at 10:00 AM
- Weekly planning based on previous month
- Daily specials from nearly expired ingredients
- Strictly maintaining FIFO system
Savings: €2,400 per month on €40,000 in sales
Measure your results
Keep track of how much you throw away and why. Typical reasons:
- Past expiration: Bought too much or planned poorly
- Spoiled: Wrong storage or kept too long
- Failed preparation: Mistake in the kitchen
- Guest return: Not to taste
By tracking the cause, you'll see where your planning needs to improve.
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
Check your waste every Sunday from the past week and plan your Monday purchases based on it. What was thrown away a lot, buy less of. This way you improve your planning every week.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
How much food waste is normal in a restaurant?
Standard is 5-15% of your total purchases. Restaurants that plan well often achieve 3-7%. More than 15% means you're probably buying too much or planning poorly.
Can I prevent waste completely?
No, some waste is unavoidable. Guests sometimes leave food, things go wrong in the kitchen, or a product is unexpectedly bad. Aim to minimize, not eliminate.
What if my supplier only delivers twice a week?
Plan your order extra carefully. Order Monday for Tuesday-Thursday, Thursday for Friday-Sunday. Choose ingredients with longer shelf life if you have limited deliveries.
How do I prevent my chef from buying too much?
Create a shopping list together based on expected sales. Set maximum quantities per ingredient. Discuss weekly what was thrown away and why.
Should I make daily specials from nearly expired ingredients?
Yes, that's a smart way to prevent waste. Just make sure the quality is still good. Guests don't need to know it's a 'leftover' - present it as a creative special.
📚 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
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (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.
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