Somebody always pays for what is left over. In a canteen it is the kitchen, with a caterer whoever ordered too much, with a fruit bowl the office manager throwing out brown bananas on Friday. So anyone who wants to reduce food waste at work starts with the question of who carries the loss, and whether they can do anything about it.
Most food waste at work comes from one source: a fixed amount of food for a number of people that changes every day. A canteen that cooks for eighty and sees fifty throws food away at the end of service. What that does to the cost of a canteen is covered in what a staff restaurant costs.
The second source is follow-up. A fridge or fruit bowl that nobody keeps track of fills up with out-of-date products. Nobody throws them away on purpose; they just sit there until they have to go, and then everything goes in the bin at once. In the office, that is the fruit-bowl story in office snacks.
| Canteen | Caterer or sandwich service | Fruit bowl or snack drawer | Chilled fridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who carries it | You or the caterer | You, if you over-ordered | You | Whoever carries the stock |
| Steered by consumption | By estimate | By order | Hardly | Per product, by what sells |
| When it shows | After service | After lunch | On Friday | At every restock |
The right-hand column is what we make, so weigh it with that in mind. For a canteen it matters most when attendance drops; see alternative to a staff canteen.
The fridge counts per product what goes out, and every next order is based on that count.
What stays on the shelf leaves the range; what sells gets more space.
At every restock, what is nearing its date comes out, before someone finds it at four in the morning.
With low footfall, a range with a longer shelf life beats fresh food that gets left.
Why freshness and footfall go together is covered in fresh meals at work.
Whoever buys the stock and carries what does not sell has every reason to keep the range as tight as possible. If you buy or rent the fridge, that is you or your supplier, and the sales per product give you the numbers to do it. Make sure your arrangement with a supplier puts that incentive in the right place. Write-offs also count in whether a fridge pays off; see when a smart fridge pays off.
We make no promise here about what happens to products that are taken back. The aim is that as little as possible has to go back. What the fridge costs is in what a smart fridge costs.
They come out before the date is reached and are a loss for whoever carries the stock. The aim is to keep that number as low as possible, which is why the range is steered by what sells.
That depends on your canteen and your attendance, and we give no comparative figure. What is certain: a fridge is restocked to what actually goes, whereas a canteen has to estimate in advance how many people will come.
Yes. The fridge shows per product what sells and what stays, so you can see for yourself where the range was too generous.
A completely free range increases uptake, but also what is taken and not eaten: what costs nothing is more easily taken and forgotten. A subsidy on certain products usually works better than everything free.
They belong in your own kitchen. Anything that has been out of its packaging does not go back into the fridge. If you use packed products from the fridge for a meeting, what stays unopened can simply be taken later.
Eight short questions about your site and your current food offer. We tell you whether a fridge restocked by sales would leave you with fewer leftovers.
Takes about 90 seconds · no obligation · no contact details until the last step