Portion size in restaurants: time for action
Why reduced portion size?
A “portion size” is the actual food that is placed on your plate, reflecting your own choice or the choice of the restaurant or food producer. In recent times portion size of food served in restaurants has been receiving a lot of attention. This has not only been propagated by the 'do not waste food ' advocates but there are other factors which support it. Among them includes the variation in the menu giving customers a wider choice which in turn helps to meet the competition as restaurants have something new to offer. The need to check rising incidence of obesity leading to medical issues is also one of them.
But before anything let's understand the genesis of the portion size issue. Historically portion sizes of food served in restaurants were normal or average but somewhere around the 1980s things changed. Sizes increased and with-it calories. Therefore, we have the phenomenon of "portion distortion".
Source : https://www.yourweightmatters.org/portion-sizes-changed-time/
One report state that Hamburgers have expanded by 23 percent; A plate of Mexican food is 27 percent bigger; Soft drinks have increased in size by 52 percent; Snacks, whether they be potato chips, pretzels or crackers, are 60 percent larger. All of this has an effect on obesity with from 14.5 in 1971 to 30.9 percent in 1999 and is about 39.8% today.
What consumers want and effect of the market
Portion size of food have primarily been decided by the restaurants as part of their menu and based on market research. It is largely a business decision and does not take into account sustainability or health parameters. Lately, the option of serving "small plates" is being considered by some restaurants as a means to provide variety and some prefer to have many starters instead of one main dish. The market effect is also seen which has shown up in the concept of "value sizing " or getting more food for the dollar. This is one reason for food portions gradually becoming larger because that's what many consumers want. A range of factors could influence the size of the portion size chosen amongst others packaging, labeling, advertising, and the unit size.
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/WN/food-portion-sizes-grown-lot/story?id=129685
Benefits from reduced portion size
For the restaurant: Lower wastage and therefore lower cost of production (though this is somewhat offset by the fixed costs because smaller quantities are being prepared). An innovative menu which can help them be more competitive. Lower wastage can make them go green and do their bit for sustainability.
For the consumer: More variety - so they can be adventurous, staggered food arrival can reduce stress, reduction in intake of calories and better health benefits. senior citizens can take what they want without the guilt of wasting food or need to share.
For society: Reduced food wastage as a result of smaller portion size directly helps in preventing waste from going to landfills and reduces greenhouse gases. Reduced portion sizes help in control of calories and a step in reducing overweight and obesity. Small plates align with the sharing economy.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4337741/
Types of restaurants
Restaurants can be classified as Fast food, Full-service and Buffet and each of these have different attributes with respect to portion size. The option of smaller portions is most prevalent in fast food restaurants and least for Buffets (by its very nature it has a large size) with Full-service restaurants closer to the Buffet than to fast food. Some cuisines find it easier to offer reduced portions for e.g., Mexican, Italian, Spanish and Asian, where multiple dishes of smaller sizes are part of the norm in a regular meal. The move to offer reduced portion size is gaining ground and is being done in different ways. 'Small plates', 'Sides', Kid's meals, half orders, a la carte options etc. all are directed to the same goal of reduced size and enables the customer to decide what they want. Many of these imply reduced calories along with portion size which means healthier eating. Some restaurants are putting the concept into effect by using smaller or standardized crockery.
All the above factors do not take into account wastage and re-use of food which is a significant factor missed out in the analysis and decision making. One reason could be its possible low cost -impact perceived at the micro scale and therefore the low priority given to it by a restaurateur. However, this calls for informed study by them as if one considers the food supply chain then the situation could be quite different as compared to direct cost.
How to promote the use of small portion size?
For Restaurants
Restaurants have to be persuaded to look at reduced portion sizes as a way to diversify their menu options, reduce their cost of operations and in the larger interest to save food and the environment. This can be done by individuals and nonprofit organizations to advocate and promote the concept. It can also be done as entrepreneurial ventures through development of products, apps for websites and phones or providing consulting services and solutions to improve restaurant operations.
For Consumers
An understanding of the need to use smaller portions by consumers would reduce the food waste issue as they would go in for, what they need and not what is offered. In this here is the challenge in some situations, because though consumer would want smaller portions the same is not available, so they have to take recourse to either sharing or not choose the restaurant at all. Of particular help here would be to have easily accessible information on places where reduced portions are available and some details about them.
The way forward
This is the right time. Quite a lot of information and interest is being generated on the subject of reduced food portions in restaurants. Entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, sustainability advocates and public bodies should pitch in to do their bit. It will a low hanging fruit to mitigate the global problem of food waste and recovery.