How to Prevent Food Waste at Your Hotel’s Breakfast Buffet

Why are breakfast buffets so wasteful?

The buffet style of foodservice is a problem for at least two reasons: buffets increase food consumption and consequently food production, and they encourage food waste.

• Breakfasts are often available until 10 or 11am, and the buffet needs to look as lavish and enticing for the late arrivals as it does for the early birds. This encourages staff to replenish late in the shift when food is more likely to be left behind.
• Most of the commonly-served foods at the breakfast buffet are perishable, including cooked dishes like porridge and eggs as well as things like chopped fresh fruits, meats, fish and cheeses.
• Because breakfast is usually included in the price of their hotel room, customers are often inclined to try to ‘get their money’s worth’, often taking more food than they can finish.

Could you wave goodbye to the buffet?

First things first: could you ditch the buffet altogether? It’s important to consider this as an option. In addition to reducing waste, a small, thoughtfully planned, cooked-to-order breakfast menu can provide a more restful and luxurious experience for your guests. Breakfast is the final part of your offering that they’ll experience before check-out – why not leave them with a feeling of being pampered, rather than asking them to stand in line to get to the toaster?

If this isn’t an option and the breakfast buffet is an important part of your offering, read on for some practical advice on how your hotel can make sure food waste is never on the menu.

How to reduce waste at the breakfast buffet

Using data to drive waste reductions

Measurement is always the first step. Tracking waste will help you identify how much food is being wasted at the breakfast buffet. Over time, this will allow you to make more accurate predictions for how much food is actually needed, based on your number of guests on any given morning, providing the kitchen with valuable information when it comes to prepping. 

Physical changes to the buffet

Making changes to how your buffet operates can also be a big help. First, reconsider under-consumed items: once you’re tracking your food waste, you can start to make individual decisions about the foods you’re offering. If an item is consistently left behind in significant quantities, start prepping smaller volumes or remove it from your offering altogether.

Replacing parts of the buffet with cook-to-order stations for particular items can also help to manage waste. Eggs, omelettes and pancakes are all good candidates for this. Another tip is simply to reduce the selection of items on offer. A vast array of foods can lead to a fear of missing out: customers want to make sure they sample as much as possible. A tighter selection of quality foods and dishes can eliminate this effect. 

Consider reducing prep volumes towards the end of shift, too, aiming to strike a balance between satisfying late-coming customers and communicating when things are out of stock. It’s important to normalise some foods being unavailable toward the end of the shift; a culture where everything is available all the time will inevitably result in food left behind when breakfast is over.

If you’re worried that not replenishing it as often may have a negative effect on the aesthetic appeal of your buffet, find other ways to keep it looking beautiful. Can you rearrange things, use smaller displays and/or add extra decorative elements to keep everything appearing full and opulent?

Influencing guest behaviour

In 2020, the World Resources Institute published their fantastic ‘Playbook For Guiding Diners Towards Plant-Rich Foods’ (an updated version is coming later this year!). This highlighted that decision-making around food is not driven by logic or rational thinking, but is instead influenced by a wide variety of factors in the food environment in question – meaning that restaurants have the opportunity to influence consumer choices through ‘nudges’. These influences are often working on a subconscious level and don’t need to be explicit to have an effect. Examples include informative signage and descriptive language used on menus, as well as the placement, size and pricing of the food or drink in question.

“An interesting example of this sort of work was highlighted through a project we carried out with The Restaurant Group,” says our Head of Projects & Consultancy, Martina Dell. “The main takeaway was that restaurants really do have the power to shift the dial on plate waste. Brands can influence portion size, remove regularly wasted ingredients and consider plate and dish design to influence consumption and perception of value for money.”

One effective option is to use smaller plates and ditch the trays – an incredibly simple approach that really works. Larger delph can result in guests piling their plates high on their first trip to the buffet counter. Swapping to smaller sizes makes it more likely that guests will take it in stages, going back for more if they’re still hungry. One 2013 study found that decreasing plate size by 3cm reduced plate waste by 22%, while plates that were even 1cm smaller reduced waste by 7%. A similar study showed that people eat 45% more food and waste 135% more food at buffets with large plates than at those with smaller plates. For the same reasons, having trays available can also encourage guests to take more food; consider eliminating trays altogether.

Aiming to prevent people from feeling embarrassed by serving themselves multiple times, one study in Finland tested the use of a sign on each table with the following words: “Welcome back! Again! And again! Visit our buffet many times. That’s better than taking a lot once.” This simple intervention reduced food waste by an incredible 21%, with no negative effect on guest satisfaction.

Three finishing touches to your reduced-waste buffet

1. Make sure you have a Plan B. Preventing food waste is the goal, but it’s important to have a back-up plan in place for occasions when something unpredictable occurs and you are left with surplus breakfast foods. Find ways to use leftover foods in other dishes, connect with food waste redirection apps like Too Good To Go to sell them at a reduced rate or donate to a local food bank or relevant charity.
2. Involve your team. For any food waste reduction programme to be successful, you’ll need your staff on board. Educate staff on the changes you’re making and what they can do to make a difference, and make sure the front-of-house team is confident in talking about it to customers.
3. Share your story. Make sure to communicate your food waste reduction strategies with your guests and the reasoning behind the changes you’ve made. This can include website and special media messaging, but signage at the buffet itself can also be a fantastic way to make your guests feel like they’re part of the solution.

Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn or sign up to our newsletter for more practical advice on making your operations more sustainable. Ready to make some real moves when it comes to sustainability? Sign up to the Food Made Good Standard today!