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So how do you know if your employees are over por- Improper storage is another way that product can be
tioning? You have to watch them work, and verify their portions. lost. Pastries, breads, meats, cheeses, etc. not being carefully
Stand behind your baristas during the rush, and make sure they wrapped before being put into storage will certainly result in
are dispensing the proper portions of ingredients into your unusable product. Your barista leaving the whipped cream and
drinks. Watch your prep cook make sandwiches and salads, and smoothie puree on the counter top for extended periods of time,
make sure they are using a scale to achieve accurate portions. If (instead of placing them back in the refrigerator immediately),
during your day you see a sandwich or salad that seems overly might also result in spoiled product if they are not used up in a
generous in ingredients, disassemble it and weigh the ingredients reasonably short period of time.
to make sure they were portioned properly. If they weren't, make
sure you correct and educate the person who was responsible for Improper handling includes things like unacceptable
preparing it. methods of thawing frozen product. Leaving frozen turkey breast
to thaw on the prep table at room temperature, or worse yet,
Product lost to spoilage zapping it in the microwave, will certainly shorten its shelf life.
Spoilage of product can happen for a number of reasons, Frozen product should be pulled from the freezer and moved to
including: over ordering, over production, improper rotation, the refrigerator 48 hours prior to being needed, or in a worst case
improper storage, improper handling, cross contamination, and scenario, force thawed by submersing under cold running water.
malfunctioning equipment.
Also, food that is not being heated or cooled properly
First, make sure you are not ordering excessive amounts will also be more prone to spoilage. Hot foods should be heated
of perishable products. Be aware of what you can order weekly, from a refrigerated state to 140°F as quickly as possible. And
and also those products that don't hold up as well for an entire when it is time to store these foods under refrigeration, their tem-
week. If your salad greens seem to wilt after four days, you may perature should be lowered to under 40°F as quickly as possible.
need to split your normal weekly order and order them twice Bacteria grows rapidly between 40°F and 140°F, so minimizing
a week. The ordering system you are using should allow you to the time your food will spend between those temperatures is
understand what your usage has been. Knowing your usage will critical.
allow you to order just enough to get you through to the next or-
der day. I like to use an order form that provides 3 spaces for each Cross contamination occurs by bacteria transfer from
product on each order day. The first space is for the amount of unwashed hands, work surfaces, tools, or direct contact with
product you have on hand when you take inventory for ordering. other foods. This will cause products to spoil prematurely.
The second space is for the amount you are ordering. The third And finally, there's malfunctioning equipment. If your cold
space is to record the amount that was used. It will take two orders foods are being held in a refrigerator that can't maintain proper
to figure out usage. This is done by taking the amount that was on temperature (under 40°F), because of a leaking door gasket, or
hand, plus what you ordered, and then subtracting what is on hand because it needs a coolant charge, it will tend to spoil rapidly.
the following order day. So, for example: Do you check the thermometers in all of your refrigerators each
day? You should!
Beginning inventory 3 bottles of vanilla syrup
+ Purchases (your order) 12 bottles of vanilla syrup For many owners, just discovering they are losing prod-
- Ending inventory 4 bottles of vanilla syrup (the amount on hand ucts to spoilage is a challenge. Do your employees tell you if they
before your next order) run across spoiled ingredients, or do they just throw things in the
= Usage 11 bottles of vanilla syrup used trash without you knowing? Make sure that you tell all your em-
ployees to inform you, without failure, whenever they encounter
Similar to over ordering, over production can also result unusable product. You need to see it, determine why it happened,
in spoilage. If you are only selling 6 turkey sandwiches a day, and and make sure it won't happen again.
they are only good for one day, (because the bread gets soggy, or
the lettuce wilts), then don't produce 10 sandwiches each day! Use Losing product because of waste in production
a form similar to the order sheet I just described to gear production The efficiency with your employees prepare your
to demand, and make sure your prep cook knows how to use it. products is probably the one area where the most loss can
occur. Do they maximize the yield from ingredients, or are
Of course, if you end up with leftover sandwiches, be they throwing away useable product? Here are some things
sure to recycle ingredients if useable. While the bread and lettuce to watch for:
may need to be thrown out, you can probably reincorporate the • not getting the last bit of product out of containers (not
meat & cheese into the sandwiches you prepare tomorrow. placing empty sauce bottles – in hot water to liquefy what
remains so it can be married to the new container; not scrap-
Improper rotation of product can also lead to spoilage. ing out the remaining mayonnaise from its container with a
First in, first out is the mantra in the foodservice business. Label rubber spatula, etc.)
perishable products when they arrive from your purveyors with • peeling off excessive leaves of lettuce from the head, or not
the date written on a piece of masking tape. Also, make sure that processing the full useable amount
the new product is being placed behind older product when it is • throwing away the heels of roasts, or bricks of cheese, because
put away. When it's busy, and employees are scrambling for more employees don't know how to process the entire amount when
product, they may not take the time to look at the dates affixed to slicing, or don't understand it can be utilized in other menu
the product, so you'll want to make sure that the older product is items
in front of the new.

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