The problem: waste you can smell but cannot see
Every kitchen throws food away: milk that turned, bread from yesterday, a tray of rice made for a rush that never came. In the heat of the Gulf, fresh stock spoils fast. When nobody writes it down, waste hides inside your food cost and stock stops matching the shelf. Food waste tracking turns each loss into a line with an item, a quantity, a reason and a value, so you can see the pattern and act on it.
Waste is also one of the few costs you can cut without touching the menu or the price. You do not need a perfect system on day one. A habit of logging every bin with a reason, kept up for a few weeks, already shows which items, which shifts and which reasons cost you the most. From there the fixes are usually simple: smaller orders, smaller prep, better storage, or a quick word with the team.
How to log waste in Wink You
- Open Inventory, then Wastage, and click Log waste.
- Check the Branch and choose a Reason for all items, for example Spoiled.
- Under Add an item, search for the item and enter the quantity, for example two kilos of tomatoes. Each line can carry its own reason.
- Add an optional note for your team.
- Click the save button, which shows how many items you are saving, such as Save 1 item.
The items come off stock at their cost, and the loss is recorded. The reasons are Expired, Spoiled, Damaged, Made too much, Preparation mistake, Staff meal, Quality check and Other, and Other needs a note. You cannot waste more than the branch has, which keeps the numbers believable.
Waste that is logged for you
Two kinds of loss reach the Wastage page without anyone typing them. An item voided on the POS without being returned to stock is added automatically, because the food was made and is gone. Goods lost on a branch transfer are booked as Lost in transit at the receiving branch. Together with manual entries, the page shows the real picture of what left your shelves without being sold.
Reading the waste report
The top of the Wastage page has four cards: Waste cost for the period, with the change against the period before, Top wasted item, Top reason, and the number of Entries. Filter by branch, period or reason, or pick a from and to date, and search by item, reason, note or person. Each line shows who logged it and its value. Pick one branch to see the money for a period.
The reasons tell you what to change. A lot of Made too much points at prep levels. Expired and Spoiled point at ordering and storage, and Wink You can record use by dates to help with that. Preparation mistake points at training or recipes. Staff meal shows food given to the team that was never sold, which is fair, as long as you know its cost.
What is and is not included
A wastage entry cannot be edited or deleted once saved, so the record of losses stays complete. If one was a mistake, open Inventory, then Movements, click Correct stock, add the amount back with a reason such as Entered wrong before, and save; the correction sits next to the waste. Logging waste needs the Manage stock, purchase orders and counts permission. Wink You does not weigh bins or connect to smart scales; someone on your team logs the waste. Differences found in a stock take are tracked as count differences, separate from logged waste.
Tips for getting it right
- Log waste when it happens, not at the end of the week, while the reason is still clear in everyone's mind.
- Agree who logs waste on each shift, so entries do not depend on one person remembering.
- Pick the reason that really fits. Other needs a note, and a vague reason teaches you nothing.
- Review the Top reason and Top wasted item cards every week, and compare the Waste cost with the period before.
- Act on what you see: lower prep levels for Made too much, order smaller packs or record use by dates for Expired.
Frequently asked questions
How do I record wastage in my restaurant?
Open Inventory, then Wastage, click Log waste, pick a reason, add the items and quantities, and save. Stock goes down at cost and the loss is recorded.
Can I delete a wastage entry?
No. Use Correct stock on Movements to add the amount back with a reason. Both the waste and the correction stay on record.
How do I see what we wasted this month and what it cost?
On the Wastage page choose the branch and the period. The Waste cost card shows the total and the change against the period before, with the top item and top reason beside it.
Does a voided item count as waste?
Only when it is voided on the POS without being returned to stock. Then it is added to Wastage automatically.
Why can't I log more waste than we have?
Because stock at a branch cannot go below zero. If the shelf really holds more than the system shows, correct the stock or count it first, then log the waste.
Does a staff meal count as waste?
It is logged on the Wastage page with the Staff meal reason, so it comes off stock at cost and you can see it separately from food that spoiled.
Start measuring waste
Wastage is part of Inventory at winkyou.com/products/inventory. The short guide is at winkyou.com/support/inventory/how-to-record-wastage.
