Buffet management: How hotels can use psychology to save on food waste

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We’ve all been there; an amazing buffet spread that looks too good to resist, piling a plate with interesting items, then leaving more food than usual.

This is the cycle of buffet customers across the world, and it’s no surprise that customers leave over twice as much food when eating from a buffet (300g on average) compared to an a la carte menu (130g).

Not only does this waste impact a hotel’s bottom line, but it also has harmful effects on the environment, contributing to the 920,000 tonnes of food waste created every year by the hospitality industry in the UK – equivalent to 18 million tonnes of CO2.

So, what exactly causes this increase in food waste?

There is a more complex psychology behind buffet behaviour than you may think. From mindless eating to choice overload, we explore the primary causes of buffet food waste and provide our top tips on how hotels can tackle it.

Abundance

Buffets look enticing and are unlike most of our typical meals; they create a sense of excitement. With mountains of different food laid out aesthetically, human curiosity kicks in, leading people to load up their plates with multiple dishes, just to try them.

Sensory satiety

Humans crave variety and can easily get bored with one flavour. With multiple options on offer, customers are often unwilling to restrict themselves to one dish, as they want to experience a range of flavours and colours.

‘Value for money’

People often struggle with loss aversion, and buffets usually exacerbate our need to ‘get our money’s worth’, especially when the meal is included in a fixed price for a hotel stay.

Customers will be looking to maximise their spend, and eating in abundance is part of this. We are also victims of the ‘fear of missing out’, and when people are faced with food they may never experience again (whether they enjoy it or not!), they grab the opportunity to try it, leading to increased food wastage.

Social cues

Humans tend to subconsciously follow others. For example, in group dining situations, if some people visit the buffet multiple times, the rest of the group is likely to follow suit.

Additionally, dinner conversations and distractions can also lead to mindless eating, and this combination of factors can result in people ignoring their own satiety cues and loading their plates unnecessarily, creating more food waste for businesses.

Biology

We are programmed to stockpile! Humans are biologically designed to feast on high-calorie foods when presented with the opportunity, to fight periods of famine. When food is readily available in abundance, such as in a buffet setting, we are more likely to overload our plates, overriding our body’s natural hunger signals.

So, what can hospitality businesses do to manage these factors? Here, our Founder and Michelin-starred chef, John Wood, shares his expert insight into methods to CUT buffet food waste.

#1. Control portions with smaller serving plates

Using smaller plates for serving food and for customers to use is an effective way to reduce portion sizes. This may mean that buffet food needs to be replenished more frequently, requiring extra effort from staff. Nonetheless, the increased turnover leads to warmer, fresher food for guests and less food waste, as customers become more selective with their portions.

#2. Be strategic with the order of your buffet

Research shows that 75% of customers select the first foods they see at the start of a buffet. Based on this, businesses can arrange their dishes accordingly, placing cheaper foods at the beginning and using eye-catching displays, with the more expensive foods towards the end on smaller platters.

Making cheaper foods more visually appealing at the beginning of your buffet is a sure way to entice customers to eat them, thereby reducing costs and minimising the risk of waste.

#3. Offer pairing and meal guidance

Useful signs that detail recommended food pairings can reduce customers experimenting with different dishes, by creating meals that are more likely to be finished. By suggesting combinations, research shows that businesses can significantly reduce the size of servings on their buffets, thereby cutting food waste and saving costs.

#4. Create interest with colours and contrast

Buffet psychology studies indicate that consumers are more aware of their food intake when the colour of the food contrasts with the colour of their plate. For example, dark and vibrantly coloured food creates a high contrast, giving customers visual cues as to how much they are eating, which encourages better portion control.

Warm colours like red, yellow and orange are known to stimulate appetite, and we can all think of multiple fast-food outlets that use these colours within their branding to entice customers!

Bright, vibrant colours allude to freshness and flavour, perfect for selling cheaper food options. Dark colours are shown to evoke a more formal dining feel; this also applies to lighting, décor and crockery, which can be used to create a more luxurious customer experience. 

#5. Use specialist technology

Specialist hospitality software, such as Kitchen CUT, helps chefs and business owners accurately record what is served at their buffet each day and what is left, enabling them to identify star dishes and the biggest causes of waste. With smart waste analysis, Kitchen CUT can identify specific areas of food waste, helping businesses to spot the largest culprits and uncover daily trends.

Data-led analysis of buffet wastage automatically connects to profit and loss insights, enabling hospitality managers to more accurately calculate orders and stock requirements, thus reducing waste and cutting costs.

What’s more, Kitchen CUT enables you to calculate the average cost per cover to compare real-time buffet data against KPIs and targets, keeping your operations on track.

For businesses with multiple sites or franchises, Kitchen CUT’s CPU management system ensures consistency in each dish, seamlessly tracking ingredients and stock to maintain the highest level of food quality across all locations.

Kitchen CUT enables buffet owners to boost profits by identifying areas of loss, measuring the extent of food waste and tackling it head-on.

Explore our software further and see how a personalised demo can help you better control your hotel’s F&B costs to maximise your GP.