Restaurants introduce fines for customer food wastage
Some restaurants are now charging customers for leaving too much on their plate after they’ve finished eating.
Buffet and all-you-can-eat restaurants around Melbourne in particular are imposing fines to minimise waste.
Popular Japanese all-you-can-eat restaurant Okami, which has sites across Victoria, charge $15 for uneaten items exceeding 200g and an additional $5 for every extra 100g.
Okami’s website states: “Please note that leftovers from our all-you-can-eat menu cannot be taken away and all-you-can-eat food cannot be shared with a la carte customers.”
BBQ King Melbourne and Paroro Korean BBQ in the CBD also charge $15 per person for food wastage, while Hawthorn’s Chinese BBQ buffet Chako Chako charges $15 per 100g of waste.
Mulgrave’s Garden State Diner has a $15 per person charge for wastage exceeding 300g.
Victorian hospitality businesses are generating a staggering 5.6 tonnes of food waste annually, with 85% of operators identifying it as a major problem, according to new research from Sustainability Victoria.
Garden State Diner owner Mike Su says the issue is so serious that he only needs to charge a small number of customers for food wastage each year.
“I think wastage fees are primarily used by restaurants that have adopted the all you can eat business model,” Su told The Herald Sun.
“In many cases, including our own, this is the main way we are able to attract business in this economy.
“While we do want to make sure everyone is full, the wastage fee is just there to discourage any unreasonable ordering, such as ordering everything off the menu and not touching it.”
Su said razor-thin margins for all you can eat restaurants have an impact on costs.
“The wastage fee is not a way to make more revenue but more so to ensure people aren’t abusing the system, as even a five per cent change would mean we are losing money,” he said.
“This is pretty commonplace in the restaurant industry these days as the entire industry is struggling to stay afloat, so it’s more a mechanism to ensure our survival until the government can do something or inflation cools down.”
Jonathan Jackson, 14th August 2024
