Food waste is a significant challenge in efforts to create sustainable canteens. It is not only an environmental problem, but also an unnecessary cost that negatively affects the operating budget. For service providers, it is therefore important to ensure that canteen operations are both cost-effective and sustainable. While this requires effort, good routines and insights can help reduce the negative effects of food waste.
The hybrid working model, which is now the norm in many enterprises, entails great variations in the number of visitors in the canteen. This makes it difficult to predict how much food will be cooked each day, often resulting in food waste. The solution lies in developing smarter, more proactive solutions that can predict the number of visitors and adjust the amount of food accordingly.
Promoting awareness among employees about the importance of reducing food waste is a good place to start. Training on how to best manage surplus food and initiatives that raise awareness around food waste can create a culture of sustainable practices. Menus can also be adapted to use up ingredients left over, further helping to reduce wastage.
To achieve higher efficiency, analysis tools that collect data on canteen visits, number of dishes sold, and other relevant factors can be used. With algorithms and machine learning, this data can be used to develop prediction models that provide accurate forecasts of future visits and food needs. The more data that is collected, the more precise these models become, and they can detect patterns that are difficult to see with human analysis alone.
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Running a sustainable and cost-effective canteen requires good planning. Digital tools that collect and analyze canteen data can give you accurate forecasts, enabling you to implement targeted measures that reduce food waste and costs without compromising quality. At Izy, we work with prediction models that can give you figures for sales in the coming four weeks.
Many of our clients use the Izy app to raise awareness of food waste among their tenants. If too much food is made a day, the surplus food can be sold at discounted prices via the app.
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Canteen is just one of several features of the Izy app. It also offers solutions for booking meeting rooms, ordering meeting meals, and registering visitors, making everyday life easier for farm owners, service providers, tenants and employees alike.
