Apr. 2009

This Issue:

The Lean Story:

Blinded by Compost!

Buzz Worthy:

Pre-Consumer Food Waste

WasteWatcher:

Nancy Darbut, North Memorial Healthcare

Reduction Tips:

Reduce waste on hospital patient tray lines

Data Discovery:

Monitoring Specific High Cost Waste Incidents

 
 

Welcome to the second issue of the Food Waste Flyer. We look forward to continuing to share food waste trends and strategies with you. We’ve also launched the Food Waste Focus blog, where you will see regularly updated information on food waste trends.

Latest Trend: Blinded by Compost!

At LeanPath, we’re big fans of composting and other waste diversion tactics. However, we’re finding that many foodservice operators confuse waste diversion activities such as composting with waste reduction.

  • Waste reduction involves minimizing the waste by preventing it in the first place. This involves tracking food waste and using that data to raise awareness and change production behaviors.

  • Waste diversion is what you do with the food waste that you simply can’t prevent after making a full effort at reduction. Such waste should be donated or composted.

The key point is that operators should start any waste management effort with true waste reduction: by tracking food waste and minimizing it as a first priority. If you’re composting but don’t have a daily tracking and reduction program in place, you may have been “blinded by compost.”

Yes, compost is tangible and feels good to create. But it won’t reduce your food costs or deliver the full carbon reduction benefits that waste prevention will. In these tough economic times, we need to be green while also saving greenbacks – and waste reduction can do that (often reducing food purchases 2-4%!).

Learn more about food waste reduction and waste tracking systems by contacting LeanPath.
   
       

Upcoming Events

April 21

North Dakota Dietetics Association Conference "Waste Management Strategies for Healthcare Foodservice" presented by LeanPath CEO Andrew Shakman. 

 

April 28, 2009

Foodservice Equipment and Supplies Magazine Webinar: A Sustainable Approach to Waste Management with panelists including LeanPath CEO Andrew Shakman.

 

May 19, 2009

CleanMed Conference, "Waste Prevention and Management Strategies for Healthcare Foodservice,"

Chicago, IL

 

      

What is "Pre-Consumer Food Waste?"

Pre-Consumer Food Waste is food waste discarded by staff within the control of the foodservice operator. This includes all waste in the back of the house including overproduction, trim waste, expiration, spoilage, overcooked items, contaminated items, and dropped items. It also includes all waste in the front of the house under the control of the foodservice operator. Items on cafe stations such as salad bars, steam wells, stations where guests build their own sandwiches, misordered product like erroneous grill orders, and expired "grab & go" items.

    

   
         
 

Profile: Nancy Darbut, North Memorial Medical Center

Robbinsdale, Minnesota

 

Nancy Darbut is Director of Food and Nutrition at North Memorial,  430-bed hospital located in a northwestern suburb of Minneapolis and serving approximately 3500 meals per day.

North Memorial has been using food waste tracking tools from LeanPath to track all pre-consumer food waste for 3 ½ years.  She says it's “an excellent program for saving money on food cost and engaging the work force in quality improvement.”  Food waste tracking “exceeded my wildest expectations almost immediately - the program was very revealing - we had a 48% reduction in food waste the first year, we learned a lot, and we had fun as well.  The fun is important.”

Read more about Nancy Darbut and her team's food waste reduction success.

    
   

Nancy Darbut

Director, Food & Nutrition

North Memorial Medical Center

 
   
Welcome, New LeanPath Customers!

St. Luke's

Cedar Rapids, IA

Providence Portland Medical Center Portland, OR

Swedish Medical Center, Ballard Campus

Seattle, WA

 

Reducing Waste on Hospital Patient Tray Lines

Often, healthcare foodservice operators feel that their patient tray line is too structured to be a candidate for waste reduction. However, through simple food waste tracking you can find ways to minimize the amount of waste without adverse impact to your service.

  • Track Leftovers: by recording what you have left over after your patient service (with paper logs or LeanPath automated tracking tools) you can build a pattern of the most wasted items and alter production accordingly.

  • Focus on The Simple Stuff: Operators often concentrate on the “center of the plate” items, but LeanPath finds that peripheral items (such starch, soups, sauces, etc.) are often the most overproduced, and over time, the cost of this waste adds up. Adjust Par Levels—Once you know which peripheral items are the most wasted, you can reduce the par levels for these items to avoid overproduction.

  • Train for Small Batch Cooking: If your pars are running low, train staff to produce small batches to meet the full projected need. Remember these peripheral items are often easy to heat or produce in small batches.

  • Long Term: Hotel-style room service will reduce kitchen (pre-consumer) waste somewhat versus a tray line

    

 

Waste Tracker:

% Waste Reduction for all ValuWaste locations in Iowa:

February 2008:

22,719 lbs.

 

January 2009:

13,458 lbs.

 

Percentage Decrease: 41%

Great job everyone!

 

 

Want printable  reference guides on waste management?

1. Read LeanPath CEO Andrew Shakman's recent article in The Consultant Magazine and

2. Download a free Waste Management Guide.

   

Research High-Cost Waste Transactions

While summary data (such as a waste trend chart) is very useful, detailed tracking data at a transaction level can also be extremely valuable (each waste recording is a "transaction"). 

 

Make sure to review the top 10 individual waste transactions each week. For example, if you see $70 of expired starch was thrown away on Tuesday at 11:05am by Sylvia, you can engage Sylvia in a positive way by asking for her thoughts on how that waste could be avoided in the future.

 

By making immediate changes to the production processes you can have on the spot impact and keep it from happening again. Using ValuWaste Advantage software, you can view detailed, ranked data about each individual waste transaction. 

 

    

   

 

Visit the Food Waste Focus Blog to learn:

  1. What is sneaky waste?

  2. Are salad bars going extinct?

  3. Why is wasted coffee invisible?

LeanPath consultants blog 2-3 times a week on waste related topics, so visit weekly or sign-up for a free subscription!

 

 

Learn more about how food waste tracking can help you cut costs in the immediate future!   Contact us for more information or visit www.leanpath.com.

 

    
   
LeanPath -- the experts in food waste tracking tools -- provides software and automated tracking tools to help foodservice operators reduce waste and save money.   We offer flexible purchase and service options, enabling customers to start controlling waste without making any capital investment, while using food cost savings to cover costs and put operating dollars back in the budget.
   

 

 LeanPath, Inc.

10180 SW Nimbus Ave. Suite J1, Portland, OR 97223

(877) 620-6512

info@leanpath.com

www.leanpath.com

 

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