Going Trayless Saves Food Services More

The econimic recession has hit the food service industry pretty hard. The recent spike in food prices was actually the apex of a long, ten-year trend in rising food costs.  So, even now that the real prices of foodstuffs is falling, food industry insiders are still scrambling to cut corners.

Shaving portion sizes has been one recent tactic.  The move was heraled by the communities that blame America’s outrageous restuarant portion sizes for the obesity epidemic.  Even a penny’s cut in portion size saves high volume stores a lot and helps restaurant goers trim calories, too.  Managers of dining halls and all-you-can-eat cafeterias have found another trick up their sleeves: ditching the trays.

Dining hall supervisors have long since been astonished by the amount of food left on the trays of overzealous eaters, and now they believe they have found how to help eliminate this waste.  By going trayless, pilot dining halls have found a 25-30% drop in the amount of waste produced.  In an all-you-can-eat environment this means major savings.trays1_medium

In addition, cutting tray means cutting labor and equipment costs.  Because the managers neither pay people to clean the trays nor do they worry about replacing broken or missing ones their overhead goes down.  They also tote the positive environmental impact.  Besides creating less food waste, not cleaning trays means water and energy savings. Furthermore, fewer chemical agents are used in the kitchen.

Importantly, consumer value has not diminished with the absence of trays.  A survey by Aramak, a foodservice provider to 500 campuses nationwide, found that 79% of students, faculty, and staff supported the elimination of dining hall trays.  Moreover, many eco groups are pushing for the switch in order to help make their colleges more sustainable (for example).  ”Noting this, Aramark estimates that half of its 500 campus partners will be trayless by spring 2009.” (link). trayless

What do you think?  How attached are you to your trays?  Will this affect you in anyway?  What about emotionally?

January 19, 2009  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: Science & Technology

One Response

  1. Jillian - January 26, 2009

    I don’t know if I could handle no tray. Balancing a plate, drink, napkin, silverware… I’d definetly be worried about spilling something with my hands that full. I could never be a waitress, I don’t know how they do it.

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