Reduce food waste with five useful reason codes

“Waste” is not a diagnosis. Use a small list that staff can choose correctly during a busy shift: expired, over-prepared, preparation error, returned by guest, and damaged or spilled.

Make recording easier than hiding

Put waste entry near the workflow, require the item and quantity, and make notes optional unless the value crosses a threshold. Never use the data to punish honest reporting; hidden waste costs more than visible mistakes.

Review the top reasons by cost each week. Expiry points to buying or rotation, over-prep to forecasting, errors to recipe or training, and returns to product or service quality.