Fixing Food Waste Where It Starts: What I’ve Learned From Working Inside Commercial Kitchens

When I first started working with large dining operations, I was surprised by how often kitchens were asked to make high-stakes production decisions with very little real-time information. These teams are feeding thousands of people across multiple lines, often within short windows of service, yet the tools they rely on were designed for a slower, more predictable world.

Over time, a few consistent lessons have emerged that I think are worth sharing.

First, most food waste is not caused by careless behavior. It comes from overproduction driven by uncertainty.

Kitchens prepare extra food because they do not want to run out. They want to avoid long lines. They want to be prepared for an unexpected surge. Without accurate, in-service demand signals, the safest decision is often to produce more than necessary.

In many operations, overproduction can reach 20 to 30 percent of total volume. Once that food reaches the end of service, everyone can see the result, but by that point the decision window has already closed. 

Second, historical averages are not enough to guide daily production.

Past data is useful for planning, but it does not account for what actually happens during a meal period. Weather shifts, schedule changes, athletic events, seasonal transitions, and small menu variations can all produce meaningful swings in demand.

The staff makes best efforts to track consumption by remembering which items used which pans, how many were used, by using temp probes and clipboards. These heavy burdens compete for the staff’s focus on food quality and patron experience.

One dining director put it well. “We don’t operate on averages. We operate on Tuesdays at 12:05 p.m.”

What kitchens need most is a continuous feedback loop that connects prep, service, consumption, and leftovers so they can understand how each decision played out in real time.

Third, the most effective operational improvements are simple, visible, and usable by the people closest to the work.

If information only exists in post-service reports or back-office dashboards, it does not change behavior during production. The teams who are portioning, replenishing pans, or deciding whether to start another batch need clarity while they are still in motion.

The kitchens that reduce waste most successfully tend to:

• slow or pause production earlier instead of waiting until the end of service 

• adjust batches gradually based on live movement of items 

• identify low-performing menu items during the meal period, throughout menu cycles

• connect leftovers to specific causes rather than treating them as a single metric

These are operational habits, not technology features. Technology only works when it supports those habits instead of replacing judgment.

Finally, solving food waste requires focusing on prevention, not just measurement.

Tracking what ends up in compost bins tells part of the story, but it does not explain why the excess was produced in the first place. The real opportunity is upstream, where small adjustments during service prevent waste from occurring at all.

That is where we see the greatest impact. Less stress for staff. Better alignment between production and demand. More predictable ordering and inventory. And significantly less food prepared that never needs to be made.

Working with kitchens has reinforced something I already believed from my cybersecurity background. Good systems do not just collect information. They create timely signals that help people make better decisions in the moment.

That is what the seasoned executive chefs call actionable insights. That is where meaningful change begins.