When you own a restaurant, you know that one of your biggest concerns is reducing waste. The easiest way to reduce waste, of course, is to ensure that you use all of the products that you buy.
Unfortunately, however, some of the most commonly thrown away items are produce, meaning fruits and vegetables.The good news, though, is that if you know how to properly use overripe fruits and vegetables with the right equipment in restaurant, you can avoid waste and make more profit.
Remember, Your Freezer is Your Friend
The first thing to remember, when dealing with overripe fruits and vegetables, is that the freezer is your friend.
Ideally, your restaurant should have a large walkin cooler that you can use. Even if it does not, however, you should have some type of freezer or undercounter refrigeration.
Whatever the case may be, remember that freezing or at least cooling fruits and veggies can keep them fresh and useable for longer.
If you happen to notice these items are not faring well, putting them in the freezer or any refrigerated area is a good first step for prolonging their lifespan for a few days.
Offer Up a Soup of the Day
There is a good chance that, at one point or another, you have been to a restaurant that offered a “soup of the day.”
What you might not have realized about this soup, however, is that, more often than not, it is made up of ingredients that are about to go bad or that simply need to be used up to make room for new stock.
You can employ this same trick in your own restaurant. If you have a lot of vegetables on hand, for example, make vegetable soup as your soup of the day.
Or, if you have a lot of corn that needs to go, choose corn chowder for your soup of the day.
This is a clever and effective way to use up ingredients that are on their last limb. It even has the advantage of making the food item sound desirable and “for a limited time,” so you should have no problem getting rid of the ingredient or ingredients in question.
Turn Bananas into Banana Bread
Bananas taste absolutely delicious but, unfortunately, they also have a habit of going bad quickly.
If you’re dealing with almost-bad bananas, one of the simplest solutions is to bake up a loaf of banana bread with this fruit.
You can offer it as a special dessert, which everyone is sure to eat up, none the wiser that you have created this dish to get rid of unused stock.
Just Pickle It
One final idea that can work really well for many items is to choose to pickle them.
Obviously, cucumbers, even on their last legs, can be turned into pickles. But, other items, like asparagus, artichokes, and more can also be pickled to preserve them for longer.
True Tricks of the Trade
As you can see, there are many options available for not wasting overripe fruits and veggies. Try these and other tricks to help reduce your waste and increase your profit.
