Apr
10

Efficiencise Your Cafe with These Simple Tips 

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Ash Bennett

As a business owner, you hate to see waste going out from your cafe day after day. That’s more trash going in a landfill, more chances for your customers to encounter an overflowing rubbish bin if your employees don’t change it in a timely fashion, and more money coming out of your business bank account. These easy-to-implement tips may not seem like much, but they add up to less waste and more savings over time.

 

Use Concentrates

From cleaning supplies to liquid sugars, coffee flavourings to milkshake syrups, concentrates provide a simple way to increase efficiency around your cafe. Use less of a concentrate to make the bottle last longer, and less plastic ends up in the landfill. You can water down your concentrated cleaning supplies ahead of time to make sure your employees don’t use too much, and choose syrups and flavourings with a pre-measured pump so you don’t have to fool with measuring spoons — or worse, guess.

 

Paper Products on Request

Disposable products, such as utensils, plates, cups, and napkins, are among the most wasted products in any food service business. When you leave utensils and napkins out for customers to get their own, the chances are pretty good that many of your customers will get more than they need, then throw the extras away. Instead, have your employees serve a few napkins to each customer, and only give out utensils where needed. If your diners need more, they can ask.

 

More Refills in Smaller Cups 

The American habit of handing out pints and pints of a beverage in huge cups is spreading all over the world, but that’s not the way we do it in Australia. Preserve paper, plastic, and beverage by serving your coffee and tea in smaller cups, with unlimited refills for your customers. They will love hearing the word “unlimited,” and you will love knowing that they will actually drink that normal-sized latte they bring home rather than throw half of it away.

Portion Your Self-Serve

If self-serve options are part of your cafe’s atmosphere, you can portion out the food into suggested serving sizes so your customers will be less likely to make plates bigger than their stomachs. You can also use small serving trays on a salad bar or buffet table, refilling them often, and set out smaller plates for customers to use as well. When diners see that food quantities are limited, they may be less inclined to pile their plates with more food than they can eat.

Smaller Cups and Plates, Bigger Napkins

Smaller plates for self-serve and smaller cups for tea and coffee create less waste, both for food and products; bigger napkins create less waste as well, however, and keep customers happy.