General

No, we are not talking about theft of garbage cans, although that may certainly be happening at some businesses! We're talking about using the garbage can as a method of taking things from the business. Example: After placement of video systems directed at the garbage at a few different businesses, we learned two things: First, why were people searching through the dumpsters so often in the middle of the night? Second, once the video systems became common knowledge, why did the business food cost go down?

 

Raw Ingredients

Raw ingredients are things that you use to make various menu items. These can be eggs, spices, pasta and any other (usually) small items.  In this section, we discuss many ways in which raw ingredients are thrown away only to be retrieved later and before they hit the dumpster. You'll be surprised. We show you simple steps you can take to reduce and possibly eliminate the "trashing" of ingredients for later use. 

 

Meats & Cheeses

Meats and cheeses are some of the most expensive food items in your inventory. They are also the most important things that you shouldn't be throwing or giving away. Most restaurant owners, at one time or another, have had meat and cheese stolen. There are numerous documented ways people use the garbage to steal meat and cheese products and we present those in this section. Raw meat, cooked meat, meat that looks like a customer order, catering foods, cold beers, wines and many other items are all targets.

 

Can & Packaged foods

In this section, we list our top 10 can and packaged foods that seem to get used faster than you're selling it. There are certain foods that are more attractive than others for the garbage can (home-use) and simple signs that you can watch for that will help you get better control over the food cost and "waste". 

 

small wares & supplies

Small wares are knives, spoons, can openers, digital temp readers, spoons, ice-cream scoops and others that seem to get thrown away more than "normal. In this section, we present a list of items that seem to "wear-out" faster and get "thrown-away" more often than any others in the kitchen.