Any industry that handles fresh produce daily must have a stringent waste policy in place. This is to minimise the harmful effects of such waste on the environment, planetary resources, and human health. According to statistics, the average household in Britain disposes of £2 worth of food daily, which adds up to a jaw-dropping £728 over a year.
If you think that’s bad, imagine how much is wasted by businesses in the food industry that deals with food on a much larger scale. Not only does it cause issues for our planet, but it can also create issues for business owners, which is why watching your waste is essential. To prevent this, we’ve outlined several tips that your bakery can use to avoid waste and save below.
Use Clean Label Bakery Ingredients
Some ingredients lose their freshness quicker than others, with baked goods being some of the most susceptible. Typically, bakery produce is given a shelf-life of 3-4 days before it needs to be consumed, which can pose a problem for independent bakeries that might need more time to shift their stock.
Due to this, it has become popular for bakeries to use ingredients containing synthetic preservatives as they help to keep baked goods fresher for longer. However, the use of such has been rapidly declining thanks to certain providers who manufacture clean-label bakery ingredients. Clean-label bakery ingredients provide independent bakery businesses with a natural solution to mould, staleness, and other freshness issues by extending the shelf life of their goods.
Connect With Food Waste Mobile Applications
Many businesses within the food industry typically deal with their surplus of unsold food by binning it, giving it away to employees, or turning it into new products. However, thanks to our digital age, there are now many mobile applications that businesses can partner with to connect customers to their unsold food.
Some of the best food waste mobile applications are Too Good To Go, Karma, FoodCloud, Nosh and many more. Whether the surplus food is collected and turned into subscription boxes or bundled up and sold as mystery bundles for a lesser amount, these apps can help your business profit from food that would have usually gone to waste.
Turn Waste Into Something New
One of the best parts about running your bakery is that you can experiment with a host of flavours and textures to create something brand-new! For instance, suppose you’ve got a couple of loaves of bread left over at the end of the day. In that case, instead of throwing them away, you could turn them into bread pudding or French toast, which can increase their shelf date for a bit longer.
So long as you communicate to your customers that you’re not throwing away food items but turning them into something new, you’ll find that you’ll have less wastage on your hands and more happy customers. It also helps if you knock a couple of pence off the original retail price since they’re doing you a favour, after all!
