How Can We Effectively Cut Down Food Waste in Our Automotive Industry Canteen?

Steps to Reduce Food Wastage in the Canteen

I am looking for some steps for the reduction in food wastage in the canteen for the automotive industry. Your kind suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Tanu

Dear Tannu,
Below are a few suggestions which you can apply to reduce food wastage:

1. Introduce a buffet system so employees can take food according to their requirements.
2. Reduce the quantity of the first serving. If necessary, employees can ask for the next serving based on their requirements.
3. Decrease the number of additional dishes such as papad, salad, pickle, etc.
4. Redesign the menu based on observations of wastage.

I hope these suggestions are helpful in minimizing food wastage at your establishment.

Thank you.
Regards

Dear Giridhar, thank you for sharing your experience.

@ Tannu -
1. You can also post information and quotes about food wastage.
2. Charging a fine may not be effective, in my opinion.
3. You can also consider partnering with social groups (I believe the number is 1098, but I am not entirely sure) to collect unused fresh food and distribute it to those in need. This could be beneficial for the social branding of your company.

I hope this helps.

Regards

By and large, human beings by their very nature will only do something under two circumstances:

1. If their safety or survival depends upon it; and
2. If they believe their actions or omissions will attract a penalty which will be enforced and cause them embarrassment.

However, in India, we have added a third item to this list:

3. We take pride in doing what we know is not correct, breaks the rules, is against the norms of civil society, etc.

Your problem is not merely confined to wasting food in the canteen. It shows itself every day on the roads, outside our houses, in movie halls, food courts, malls, etc. We blatantly break every rule that we shouldn't. And when called to account for our behavior, we either grin stupidly or display our 'connections' with the eternal - 'Don't You Know Who I Am?'

Why do I write this? Because the people you refer to are the same as you and me. They are no different. So, what works for you and me will also work for them.

The German story left me absolutely stunned. And I've lived in Australia for 17 years - a country with probably the highest standard of living globally. Yet, even there I never witnessed that mindset.

My suggestion is to hit your people where it hurts them the most - their hip pocket.

While it's okay to proclaim penalties, fines, and the like, their problem is that they are 'after the event' solutions and more often than not, result in never-ending arguments and some idiot flagrantly displaying his chest accompanied with loud fist-thumping. All this in front of some poor attendant who's working for 5 to 6 thousand rupees per month and simply doesn't have the time, inclination, or the appetite to engage the chest pusher and fist thumper. That's why most penalties are rarely realized.

Instead, introduce a cost per meal with an additional surcharge for wastage. Charge it all upfront before the first morsel has even been served. Make it non-negotiable and declare that the surcharge will remain in place until wastage has been completely eradicated. No doubt you'll have a fight on your hands. However, what you will also have is people who are paying for their meals. And we all know that we don't like wasting what we pay for - at least in the majority of instances.