Actively combating food waste through smaller portions

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Visitors to restaurants sometimes wish they could just eat a snack. However, this wish is often seldom fulfilled due to correspondingly incomplete menus. This is because main dishes are rarely offered in different portion sizes. Those interested can only choose between appetizers and snacks or children’s or senior citizens’ plates. In addition, satiated visitors are still too rarely encouraged to take leftover plates home for later consumption. Yet these are such easy-to-implement measures against food waste.

In the context of out-of-home catering, 1.9 million tons of food end up unused in the garbage, as the consumer centers report. Whether the part of the restaurant operators against this high throwaway rate is addressed tried in summer 2022 to determine. They looked more closely at 153 online menus and found that only a few catered to individual quantity requests. Only 20% of them were smaller portions of individual main dishes offered.

Those forced to choose a standard portion and cannot finish it has no choice but to leave the dish on the plate and predict that it will be thrown away. Alternatively, a request can be made to take the leftovers with them. However, this option is only used by a maximum of 50% of visitors. Often there is a reluctance to ask for the pieces to be packed away. It would therefore make sense for the restaurant to advertise this option and thus motivate people to take their leftovers with them.

It is demanded to offer a better selection of main dishes in smaller sizes for every need. Appropriate portion sizes would have to belong to the natural standard. Ideally, this is the only way to ensure no leftovers are left on the plate. Instead of offering oversized portions, getting seconds for an additional charge should be possible.
Such recommendations can effectively help to counteract the progressive food waste. Last but not least, they would help to ensure that people do not eat food senselessly beyond their hunger, just so that the plate is eaten empty and nothing is thrown away. This is not good for the figure and general health. And we don’t believe in the saying “Eat up and you’ll have good weather tomorrow!” anymore…