3 Ways to Protect Against Food Spoilage Losses

When it comes to restaurant management, throwing out spoiled food is essentially throwing money down the drain. Financial losses from food spoilage can have a very big effect on your restaurant's bottom line, so it's important that you do all you can to protect against them. Here are three ways to reduce your risk of losing money over spoiled food.

Invest in an Inventory Management System

Poor inventory management can be a restaurant's biggest enemy. If you're not properly keeping track of your stock levels, you could quickly find yourself overstocking—and overstocking is one of the biggest causes of food spoilage. When you have too much fresh food for the number of customers you'll serve, it's impossible to prevent that food from spoiling before it's used. That's why it's best to invest in a robust inventory management system. Nowadays, there's software on the market that can look at your past sales and effectively forecast your inventory needs for the upcoming weeks or months to stop you from overstocking. It may cost a little more upfront, but better inventory control will save you a lot of money on food spoilage in the future.

Always Double-Check Your Deliveries

Another major cause of losses from food spoilage is lower-quality produce. Even if you order the exact right quantity of food for the upcoming week, if some of it is already on its way to spoilage, it will likely expire before you've had a chance to use it. After receiving a delivery from your vendor, check all food for freshness. Make sure leaves are green and healthy, fruits are ripe or ripening and nothing shows signs of discolouration. You should also make sure refrigerated foods arrive at the correct temperature. If anything isn't in top condition, reject it and ask for a replacement. This can take a few extra minutes, but it's worth it to avoid receiving food that's about to spoil.

Take Out Inventory Insurance

Insurance is key in protecting any business from losses, and restaurants are no exception. Many restaurant owners are surprised to learn that there's a specific type of insurance that can protect against food spoilage losses called inventory insurance. No matter how much effort you put into inventory control, mishaps can happen. An overnight power outage, for example, can lead to you turning up to work and finding everything in the refrigeration system spoiled. In another scenario, a nearby incident may stop you and your customers from reaching your restaurant one day, leading to the stock going to waste. With inventory insurance, you can be sure that you're covered against any income you'd lose over tossing away spoiled food and replacing it.

For more information on your restaurant and cafe insurance options, contact an insurance company.

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