The Queens

SUMMARY

When new tenants took over the Queens at Warwick on Eden, Carlisle they knew the kitchen team needed some support and there was an opportunity to be more efficient with the operation and produce less waste. The opportunity to take part in the Guardians of Grub food
waste reduction trial came at the perfect opportunity for them to help influence and engage the existing team in the new business.

“There are always excuses not to start a project like this but being new in the business was a great opportunity to just get on with it”

 

Nicola Underwood, Food Support Manager, Thwaites

IMPLEMENTATION

Nicola briefed the team on how to separate and record their food waste to understand exactly what they were
wasting and to help identify how to reduce this.

“The new tenants quickly engaged with the processes and worked hard to get the rest of the team on board. The chefs started to see results come through immediately which helped the project to gain momentum and deliver some staggering results.”

 

Nicola Underwood, Food Support Manager, Thwaites

 

Once the first week of data was recorded it showed that the largest amount of food waste was coming from preparation.

After the first week, when results were recorded with the team working as usual, changes were made to try and impact the amount of waste produced.

The waste results were written down on the Guardians of Grub tracker sheet and submitted to Thwaites every week for recording and to help with the analysis process.

KEY FINDINGS

In the first week of measuring, the business operated as usual to see what the real volume of food waste was. The average amount of waste per cover was 431g which would cost the business over £11,000 over the course of a year using the Guardians of Grub Tracking Calculator and showed where the savings could be found.

• 66% of food waste came from preparation and was the result of incorrect equipment being used in the kitchen and unclear direction for the team from previous business operators
• 21% of food waste came from plate waste
• 5% came from spoilage
• 9% came from buffets the business does a small amount of buffets so doesn’t record waste here every week

RESULTS

Through effective implementation of some simple changes, significant results were delivered in just four weeks:

• Prep waste down by 81% this was the biggest wastage area and easy to influence. More specific preparation instructions for the team, using peelers to peel vegetables such as potatoes and carrots in place of a knife and
  closer supervision delivered this outstanding result.
• Spoilage waste down by 3% as well as tightening up on the preparation techniques, the spoilage was also managed more effectively over the course of the trial through a more disciplined approach to ordering and more effective use of ingredients.

SAVINGS

Over the four week period, waste was down by 62% overall which equates to an approximate saving of around £7,000 over the course of a year. This will have a positive impact on GP for the business and allows for a more efficient operation and also engaged the team with the new operators.