Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I need to monitor food waste?

According to WRAP on average hospitality businesses waste ¼ of the food they purchase. Monitoring food waste helps you identify why and where food waste is happening and make the appropriate operational decisions to minimize it. Winnow works with you in the first 12 weeks to train you on how to best make use of the reports and gain insights into your operations.

How much of my staff’s time will it take?

On average  the Winnow System takes 3 seconds per transaction and 15 min per day distributed between all staff members. The System is much more efficient than manual methods of recording waste on paper.

How does Winnow support my management team?

Our daily and weekly summary reports are clear, easy to use and delivered straight to your inbox. Reporting breaks down waste into categories, assigns financial values and tracks performance over time. For larger operations you are also able to benchmark performance across multiple sites.

Would the staff be interested in logging food waste?

Our System shows high levels of staff engagement due to the real time feedback of the cost of food waste. In fact, many of the staff start trying to cut food waste at their own homes after using the Winnow System at work.

Will the System pay off? How long does it take?

Customers can expect to break even on our fees shortly after the second month of operations. On our larger sites where we have worked for over six months, we have reduced food waste by value by 65% on average.

Are the results sustainable and will the savings fade away in the long term?

We have continuously observed a downward trend in the waste levels with our customers and there have been no case where levels have started going up after reductions have occurred.

Will trying to save food waste negatively affect the quality of my offerings?

No. At Winnow we have observed that the quality of the service actually improves, coming from a better understanding of where the inefficiencies in the kitchen are happening and paying more attention to valuable produce.

How will you support me and my team?

We provide support for the initial installation and setup including help configuring your menus. We hold an interactive training session with your kitchen team where we introduce the System and train staff to use it. We also provide ongoing support and maintenance to ensure that you are driving savings and making the most from the Winnow System.

Will it be hard to fit into the processes I already have established?

Winnow gives you control in monitoring your operations even when you are not there, making it easy to control multiple different sites at the same time. It is a few times quicker than current processes using pen and paper and provides much more accurate, granular, and insightful information.

Have more questions? We’d love to talk to you about how Winnow could help your kitchen.