Key points
- FIFO: whatever arrived first gets used first. FEFO: whatever expires soonest gets used first, even if it arrived later.
- When a delivery arrives, check its condition and dates, add masking tape with the date received, and put new stock behind the old.
- Label every opened pack and everything you prepare yourself: the date opened or made, and its use-by limit.
- Once a week, find items whose date falls within two weeks, move them to the front, and adjust your next order.
Picture this: you're tidying the storeroom and find two cartons of UHT milk past their expiry date at the very back of the shelf. In front of them sits a carton that arrived yesterday. Your staff always grab whatever is closest, so the old cartons never got touched. You paid for that milk, and it never turned into a sale.
The habit that prevents this has a name: FIFO, and its close cousin FEFO. Neither needs expensive equipment. All it takes is a way of stacking your shelves, a roll of masking tape, and a marker.
What FIFO and FEFO mean
FIFO stands for first in, first out: whatever arrived first gets used first. FEFO stands for first expired, first out: whatever expires soonest gets used first.
Most of the time the order is the same, because stock that arrives first also expires first. But not always. A supplier can deliver a carton with an earlier expiry date than the stock already on your shelf. So the rule is:
- Items with an expiry date printed on the pack: use FEFO. The earliest date goes first.
- Items with no date, such as vegetables and fruit from the market, or anything you prepare yourself: use FIFO, going by the date received or the date made.
Why it matters:
- Your menu tastes the same from day to day, because ingredients get used while they're fresh.
- Less gets thrown away. Every expired carton is money that went out and never came back as a sale.
- Nothing past its date reaches a customer.
When a delivery arrives: check, date, put it at the back
The FIFO order is set in the first few minutes after a delivery arrives. If new stock gets stacked in front, the order is wrong from the start.
- Check the quantities against the delivery note. How to record deliveries is covered in the guide to daily ingredient stock checks.
- Check the condition: leaking, dented, or bulging packs, or broken seals. Chilled goods should arrive cold. Refuse or note any problem before the driver leaves.
- Read the expiry dates. If a date is too close for you to use it all in time, raise it with the supplier then and there.
- Put chilled and frozen goods away first, then dry goods.
- Stick a strip of masking tape on the pack or jar and write the date received with a marker. If the printed expiry date is small or hard to read, copy it in large letters too.
- Move the old stock to the front, then put the new stock behind it or underneath it.
Example: Two lines on the masking tape are enough: "Rec'd 12 Oct" and "Exp 30 Nov". Write the month as a word, not a number, so no one misreads it.
Set up shelves and the chiller to keep the order
Stacking habits only last if the shelves make them easy.
- One item, one place. Label the shelf edge with the item's name, so new deliveries always go to the same spot.
- Take from the front, fill from the back. Tell every staff member, including whoever usually receives deliveries.
- Don't stack too high. Whatever sits at the very bottom or the very back is easy to forget.
- For jars, don't pour new coffee beans or sugar on top of what's left. Use up the old first, or keep two jars: one in use and a spare behind it.
- In the chiller, keep raw ingredients like meat and chicken on the bottom shelf, below anything ready to use, in covered containers. That way nothing drips onto other food.
- Don't pack the chiller too full. Cold air needs room to move, and crowded packs are hard to read.
- Follow the storage instructions on the label, such as keep dry, keep out of direct sunlight, or refrigerate after opening.
Label anything opened or prepared
The expiry date on a pack applies while it's sealed and stored as instructed. Once opened, many products have rules of their own, such as refrigerate and use within a few days. The pack usually says so.
The same goes for anything you make yourself, like palm sugar syrup, cold brew, or sauces. There's no factory date, so you write one.
| Item | What goes on the label |
|---|
| Sealed pack from a supplier | Date received, plus the expiry date if it's hard to read |
| Opened pack | Date opened and the use-by limit from the pack's instructions |
| Something you prepared | Name, date made, use-by limit, and the initials of whoever made it |
| Contents moved to a jar or another container | Name, date moved, and the expiry date from the original pack |
You set the use-by limit for anything you prepare yourself, based on your recipe and the instructions on its ingredients' packs. When in doubt, pick the shorter limit. Write it down as a kitchen rule so every staff member uses the same limit.
Two rules for all staff:
- An item without a label has an unknown age. Ask before using it.
- If you're not sure an ingredient is still good, don't serve it.
A weekly check of what's close to its date
Labels only help if someone reads them. Pick one day a week, ideally the day before you usually order from suppliers, and go through the shelves, the chiller, and the freezer.
- Look for items whose expiry date or use-by limit falls within the next two weeks.
- Move them to the very front, and tell your barista or cook to use them first.
- Work out whether you'll use them up before the date. If not, find a way to use them: a daily special, part of a set menu, or moved to an outlet that goes through them faster.
- Set aside anything past its date. Don't use it, and write down how much before you throw it out.
- For items that keep showing up on this list, order less next time or buy a smaller pack.
Example: At Wednesday's check, there are 4 cartons of UHT milk that expire in 5 days, and you use about 1 carton a day. Used first, all four are gone in 4 days, so putting them in front is enough. There's also 1 kg of cocoa powder that expires in 10 days, but you only use about 50 g a day. In 10 days you'll use just 500 g, so half of it is at risk. Put a chocolate drink on the daily specials this week, and order a smaller pack next time.
Stock thrown out because it expired is one source of ingredient waste. How to track and reduce it is in the article on ingredient waste.
Where Kazeer helps
You still read the dates from the labels on the shelf. Kazeer helps with the quantities:
- Kazeer's Inventory holds your list of items and ingredients. That's where you check stock and see what's left, so at the weekly check you know how much you still have before you reorder.
- Ingredient stock goes down automatically with each sale. If your count on the shelf is lower than the stock Kazeer shows, the gap points to ingredients thrown out or used without being recorded, such as expired stock that went in the trash.
- Your sales records show the items sold. From them you can see how many servings you sell of the items that use a given ingredient, and estimate whether the stock that's piling up will run out before its date.
- If you run more than one outlet, stock is managed per outlet, and you can move items to the outlet that needs them. Ingredients close to their date at one outlet can go to an outlet that uses them faster. Record the transfer at both outlets. See an example in the multi-outlet section.
FIFO and FEFO checklist
Keep this list near the shelves, or send it to your staff WhatsApp group.
Every delivery
- Check quantities against the delivery note, then check condition and expiry dates.
- Put chilled and frozen goods away first.
- Add masking tape and write the date received.
- Move old stock to the front and put the new stock behind it.
Every day
- Take from the front.
- Label every pack you open and everything you prepare.
- Don't use anything without a label until you've asked.
Every week
- Find items whose date falls within the next two weeks, and move them to the front.
- Plan how to use anything that won't run out in time.
- Set aside and record anything past its date.
- Adjust your next order for items that often get close to their date.