Will selling more food lead to increased beverage sales? Which private equity firm added another chain to its portfolio? These stories and more This Week in Foodservice. 

With increasing environmental concerns, rising operational costs, and growing consumer interest in supporting eco-friendly businesses adopting sustainable practices has never been more important for today’s restaurant chains.

Sustainability seems to be top of mind for many consumers and business owners alike, yet better managing food waste is not something they often consider. Jim Ottmer, national sales manager for Salvajor, discusses the role managing food waste can play in helping a foodservice operation lessen its impact on the environment. 

Sustainability is the philosophy underlying a set of systems and practices designed to meet the needs of people today in such a way that the needs of people tomorrow will also be met. In a world of climate destabilization, resource depletion, population pressures and rapid technological change, the old ways of using energy and resources need to be transformed.

Restaurant operators have options when it comes to preserving food quality, which is not only important from a customer standpoint but also helps control food waste.

Among national and regional restaurant chains today, those not making plays in the virtual brand and ghost kitchen arenas are quickly becoming exceptions. But small, independent operators and entrepreneurs continue to find a home in ghost kitchens too, shifting their focus from that most fundamental barometer of success — butts in seats — to clicks on apps. Here’s how Ghost Truck Kitchen is tapping in and what they’ve learned by crossing over into the virtual sphere.

Foodservice consultant Joe Sorgent at Cini•Little International Inc. offers a consultant’s take on which pandemic-induced changes will be for good and which may fade away. 

With the complexity of running a restaurant or other foodservice institution, it’s all too easy to lose track of the waste stream. “Controlling waste is about menu, mindset and management,” says foodservice consultant Arlene Spiegel, FCSI, of New York-based Arlene Spiegel & Associates. “At the end of the day, did you sell out or throw out food? Did you overproduce, or are you forecasting production correctly?”

With food costs on the rise, making the most of every ingredient may be worth the effort.

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When determining what type of waste collection system suits their businesses, foodservice operators can choose from a variety of options in terms of size and function. These systems can be as small as an under-sink garbage disposer or a big remote pulping system that includes a built-in grinder to send trash through pipes with water to create a sludge for disposal.

Many restaurants and operators are going beyond simply composting scraps and otherwise discarded pre-consumer food to actually using it in dishes, getting closer to zero-waste kitchens.

Solutions being put into practice include donations, animalfeeding and technology.

Content sponsored by: Alto-Shaam

Increasing food costs is a top concern for foodservice operators. Sixty-six percent of commercial operators and 58 percent of non-profit operators cite food costs as an overall business concern, according to research recently conducted by the Zoomba Group.

While beef and other meat prices have stabilized in 2016, the amount still remains significantly higher than in the past. Consequently, these prices add additional pressure to already tight

“Fatbergs” was the term used to refer to the masses of FOG (fats, oils and grease) found in the sanitary sewer lines surrounding the second oldest residential dining facility operated by the Housing Dining Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Five years ago the University’s Facilities and Services department asked us: What are you going to do about it? The Housing Maintenance department already had a contractor jetting out the sanitary sewer ejector system with ever increasing frequency. But it wasn’t enough. We couldn’t allow the sanitary sewer system to back up into the dining and

Offers Solutions and How-To Advice for Manufacturers, Retailers and Restaurants

Almost like a celebrity on a red carpet, food waste has begun to receive significant attention within the foodservice industry. This has occurred, in part, as a result of increased interest in foodservice sustainability and early regulatory requirements to remove food waste from landfills in places like Seattle and San Francisco.