Reduce your business’ food waste

Food business managers and owners can reduce the amount of food being thrown out which will cut costs and increase profits.

Food businesses in NSW throw away around 30% of their food. That’s a lot of money going into the bin.

In fact, 74% of food waste happens before the food is even sold or served! Things like overproduction, spoilage, aesthetic specifications from retailers or wholesalers, and food preparation all contribute to food being wasted by businesses each week.

Most food waste in business is avoidable and is usually the result of poor stock management, poor food handling, or incorrect serving sizes. It doesn’t make sense to spend money buying and preparing food just to throw it away.

We're helping business reduce their food waste through our Your Business is Food program.

This program is free to join and provides business owners, managers and staff with information and resources to help reduce the amount of food thrown away. Participants will receive support from the NSW EPA and a free Your Business is Food Toolkit (680KB PDF) with handy resources such as stickers, posters, and coasters to engage staff and customers and help improve existing attitudes and behaviors.

A simple food waste review will be conducted to work out where food is being wasted. Businesses will learn how much wastage is occurring during preparation, storage, or from customers’ plates, and choose appropriate actions to reduce food waste.

After six weeks, a follow-up review is required to measure how much the business has reduced food waste by implementing smart initiatives and promoting its achievements to staff and customers.

Useful links

Sign up to our free six-step Your Business is Food online program and receive a digital toolkit and useful resources to help reduce the amount of food you throw away in your business.