TYSON FOODS, INC. TRADEMARKS AND REGISTERED TRADEMARKS ARE OWNED BY TYSON FOODS, INC. OR ITS SUBSIDIARIES.
Limiting Food Waste to Decrease Costs, Increase Efficiency
Written by Nation’s Restaurant News
Published: November 11, 2025
The right proteins and a strong supplier partnership can help operators mitigate loss.
Food waste has emerged as a central topic these days for foodservice operators. According to ReFED, a U.S.-based nonprofit that focuses on food waste, in its From Surplus to Solutions: 2025 ReFED U.S. Food Waste Report, in 2023 unsold or uneaten food totaled 73.9 million tons or 31% of the food supply.
The ReFED report also noted that 23% of food waste occurs at consumer-facing businesses such as retail, restaurants and other foodservice. In foodservice, 70% of food waste is due to plate waste from customers who don’t eat all that they are served.
From a business perspective, wasted food leads to inefficiencies and higher costs. “With increased cost, food waste negatively impacts profit margins,” says Steven Bell, Executive Chef at Tyson Foodservice. “The connection is based around inventory management and operational efficiency, which can lead to over-ordering and spoilage, which increases waste.”
In restaurants, Bell says, three major factors can cause food to be wasted: plate waste, menu mix and over preparation.
Plate Waste
Plate waste could be a result of a lack of training among kitchen staff or the inability to correctly measure portions during a busy meal service. One solution is to use products that are fully cooked and pre-portioned, which makes it easier to know exactly how much to serve each customer. Check the product packaging for guidance on portion size and select a protein form that is closest to what the menu entails. Certain product attributes—including cook state, tiering and sizing—can help operators mitigate loss that occurs through food waste.
For better control over servings and to help reduce waste, utilize fully cooked grilled chicken breast strips or fully cooked chicken breast chunks, as they work better for a salad or a wrap than cooking and slicing and dicing a filet. For example, Tyson Red Label® Fully Cooked Grilled Chicken Breast Strips are premium strips that can be served across a bed of zucchini noodles with fresh basil and tomatoes. These pre-cut grilled strips bring taste and protein to any kind of bowl, from quinoa to rice, and are quick and easy to add to sandwiches and pitas. Also, Tyson Red Label® Fully Cooked Authentically Grilled Chicken Breast Chunks are great in a Mediterranean wrap with sun-dried tomato pesto, fresh arugula, red onions, pickle pepper relish and feta cheese.
Menu Mix Offerings
Sometimes, big menus can be difficult to manage. Offering a wide range of menu items can lead to back-of-house food waste, if certain menu items are not popular and not ordered frequently. Those ingredients can go to waste if they are not used in any other menu applications.
Decreasing the number of menu items can help streamline kitchen processes. Also, it helps to have versatile ingredients that can be used in more than one dish. For example, Tyson Red Label® products are available in the most popular forms, whether breaded or unbreaded chicken, and are versatile, enabling them to be used in a wide variety of menu items. The products are also rigorously consumer tested for overall likeability, including aroma, flavor and juiciness so operators can ensure they are getting products that are well-received by consumers, and thereby helping to decrease risk whether that menu item might be ordered. For example, Tyson Red Label® Golden Crispy Chicken Breast Chunks are perfect for pairing with waffles for a fun breakfast option, with a range of sauces as an appetizer platter, for packing on the protein as a topping for salads or simply served with fries for a kid’s menu main dish.
Over Preparation
Preparing more food than is necessary based on daily volume can lead to excess prep that cannot be served. Operators need to tailor dishes to the right serving size, so the kitchen crew does not prepare more than the restaurant needs.
Fully cooked chicken products help ease back-of-house prep by not only reducing the risk for food safety concerns, having less cook time and less skill needed to achieve delicious results, but also offers a more consistent product with less shrinking after cooking. In addition, most fully cooked varieties cook from frozen, allowing your operation only to cook what is needed and have greater control over spoilage and wasted product. Fully cooked products also have a reliable level of consistency with product size and piece count per case helping with margins and budget planning.
Tyson Red Label® Fully Cooked Authentically Crispy Original Bone-In Chicken Wings are a pre-breaded and fully cooked offering that delivers full flavor with an exceptionally crispy and juicy eating experience that your customers crave, while also helping to save time, reduce labor and provide the consistency needed to reduce waste.
Purchasing the right ingredients and partnering with a reputable supplier are imperative to successful business. Tyson Red Label® products can help you reduce waste and mitigate cost by streamlining back-of-house operations by having product attribute options like cook state, value tier and sizing options that work for your menu needs, multiple forms and flavor varieties that are versatile and can work across your menu and product solutions that are tested and proven1 for consumer appeal and performance.
To learn more about Tyson Red Label® brand and the opportunity to menu products that help increase efficiency, visit the brand page.
Stay in the Know and Get Inspired with our Newsletter
Sign up for our newsletter to get on-trend menu ideas and more. You’ll be first to know about our great new products and get exclusive access to money-saving offers, business solutions, recipes and inspiration.
Sources:
1 Tyson Red Label® products score well on aroma, flavor, and juiciness. Tyson Foods Primary Consumer Research, 2025.
