Staff canteen
Staff canteen occupancy: how to cut queues and food waste.
Everyone goes down at the same time, the queue grows and the kitchen cooks just in case. Here’s how to spread the rush and cook just enough.
By Carles Morales, founder of Orpheus ·
Why there are queues
The queue isn’t about capacity. It’s about timing.
Most canteens can fit everyone. What they can’t fit is everyone at once.
Everyone at once
People come down in waves, at the same times. Between waves, the canteen is half empty.
Nobody knows when to go
You can’t see the queue from your desk. You go down, find it and wait, or come back later.
The kitchen cooks blind
Without knowing how many will eat, it cooks for the maximum just in case. What’s left over is thrown away.
What to measure
Three numbers are enough.
01
How many people are in now
With counters at the canteen’s entrance and exit. They count people; they don’t identify anyone.
02
How long the wait is
An estimate of the queue in minutes, from how many people come in and go out.
03
How it fills up each day
Footfall by time slot for each weekday: where the waves are and when there’s room.
Fewer queues
When people know when to go, the rush spreads out.
01
Show occupancy in real time
On phones, from a link with nothing to download, and on a screen at the entrance.
02
Recommend when to go
“Now is a good time”, or the time when it will be quietest. The rush spreads out by itself.
03
Adjust with what you see
Watch how the waves change week by week to adjust opening times, shifts and staff.
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How does your canteen fill up?
Leave your name and email and we’ll tell you how to measure it and show it to your people.
Less waste
By mid-morning, the kitchen knows how many will eat.
The people who eat in the canteen are the people in the building. With that morning’s real occupancy, the kitchen gets a headcount forecast and cooks just enough, instead of cooking for the maximum.
- The forecast comes from that day’s occupancy, not an average.
- It arrives by email mid-morning, with time to adjust.
- Menus and portions based on the people who really come in.
That’s how Cafe, canteen occupancy for the people who eat, and Kitchen, the forecast for the people who cook, work. Discover Cafe.
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So nobody goes down to queue.
Leave your name and email and we’ll tell you how to start with your canteen.