How to Implement the First In, First Out Principle to Minimize Household Food Waste

Imagine opening your fridge, only to find wilted lettuce, expired yogurt, and a forgotten container of leftovers. Frustrating, right?

If you love cooking at home, you know how quickly food piles up. Without a system, older ingredients get buried behind new ones, leading to waste — both food and money!

The First In, First Out (FIFO) principle solves this problem. It’s a simple yet powerful method that ensures older food gets used before newer items, keeping your kitchen organized, preventing spoilage, and saving precious dollars. 

This article explains what FIFO is, why it works, and how you can implement the FIFO inventory system in your kitchen. Try incorporating this into your daily cooking activities for a more organized and waste-free kitchen. Start by reading below!

What is the FIFO principle?

The First In First Out (FIFO) principle is a food storage and rotation system that ensures the oldest food items are used before newer ones. This means that when you store groceries, the items with the shortest shelf life should be placed in the most accessible spots so they are consumed before newer purchases.

Originally used in inventory management for restaurants and fast food, the FIFO inventory system ensures that older stock is sold before newer stock to prevent spoilage and financial loss. The FIFO inventory method is also used in FIFO accounting to manage costs, as older inventory often has lower costs than newly purchased items.

Applying this principle in the kitchen helps you manage food effectively, preventing expired items from being wasted. Eating food before its expiration or ‘use by’ date reduces waste and ensures you and your household consume food while it’s fresh and safe.

Why FIFO is effective in reducing food waste

Food spoilage is a leading cause of household waste. When food is not used in time, it becomes unsafe and must be thrown away.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in 2022, the world generated 1,052 billion tonnes of food waste, with households accounting for 631 billion tons — nearly 60% of the total.  

The FIFO system helps reduce this waste by organizing food based on purchase and expiration dates. 

By using FIFO, you can:

• Ensure that food stays fresh and is consumed before it spoils
• Avoid unnecessary spending on replacing wasted food
• Organize your fridge and pantry to make meal planning and grocery shopping easier

With a proper FIFO inventory system, you can minimize food waste by consuming food in the correct order and reducing the risk of forgotten or expired items.

How FIFO promotes sustainable consumption

Using the FIFO inventory management method at home aligns with sustainable living practices. 

When you waste food, you’re also wasting the natural resources used to produce it, including water, energy, and labor. By following FIFO, you better use what you buy, reducing your overall environmental impact.

Additionally, FIFO helps lower household expenses by ensuring that everything purchased is actually consumed. When you waste less food, you also reduce the demand for excessive food production, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving valuable resources.

Common challenges and solutions when using FIFO

Like any system, FIFO can present challenges, especially if you have a busy schedule. Here are some common difficulties and how to overcome them:

Forgetting to rotate food

When new groceries are added, older items often get pushed to the back and forgotten. To prevent this, set a weekly reminder to check your fridge and pantry. Arrange food items by placing older products in the front and newly purchased ones behind them, making them easier to use before expiration.

Lack of time for organization

A busy schedule can make it difficult to sort and label food items consistently. However, dedicating just a few minutes each week to checking expiration dates and labeling food makes a significant difference in maintaining an effective FIFO system.

Disorganized kitchen

A cluttered fridge or pantry makes it hard to see what you have, increasing the chance of food going bad. Cleaning and organizing your storage areas regularly can make FIFO easier to follow. Grouping similar items and keeping older products in clear sight will help you use them before they spoil.

By taking small, consistent steps, FIFO can become a seamless part of your household routine. 

Practical steps to implement FIFO at home

Now that you understand how FIFO helps minimize food waste, here are some practical steps to apply in your home.

Organizing your fridge and pantry for FIFO

A well-organized kitchen is key to minimizing food waste. Use these steps to implement FIFO in your fridge and pantry:

1. Sort. Organize all food items in clear, visible containers.
2. Label. Each container should have:
   1. Date stored: Helps track how long food has been kept.
   2. Best before date: This date indicates when food quality may begin to decline. Some foods, like canned or frozen items, can still be consumed after this date.
   3. Use by date: Indicates when food should be eaten for safety reasons. Do not eat the foods after this date.
3. Arrange by date. Arrange food with the oldest items at the front and newer items behind them.
4. Free up new space. Transfer food from larger containers to smaller ones as it gets used up. This frees up space and makes it easier to see what’s available.
5. Inventory. Keep an inventory list of food items, including their quantities and expiration dates, to track what needs to be consumed first.

Creating a shopping and meal planning system with FIFO

FIFO doesn’t just apply to storage — it also helps with grocery shopping and meal planning. Here’s how:

• Check. Before making a grocery list, check your inventory to see what needs to be used up first.
• Plan. Plan meals around the oldest food items in your kitchen.
• Restock. When restocking, replace only what has been used, ensuring that newer items don’t push older ones further back.
• Sort. Sort food items by date as soon as you get home from grocery shopping.
• Maintain. The FIFO inventory management approach helps you buy only what you need, preventing unnecessary purchases and keeping food fresh.

Read more: How Smart Meal Planning Maximizes Nutrition With Minimal Effort

In conclusion 

How often do you throw out food you never got around to using? That half-full tub of yogurt. The wilted spinach at the back of the fridge. That loaf of bread became rock-hard before anyone touched it. Wasted food, wasted money. It adds up.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

The First In, First Out system takes the guesswork out of managing your kitchen. No more forgotten leftovers. No more expired groceries hiding in the back of the pantry.

The best part is, it doesn’t require a total kitchen overhaul. You can start small. Tonight, check your fridge and move older items to the front. Tomorrow, label leftovers with dates. For the next grocery run, sort new purchases behind the older ones.

One step at a time, you’ll create a more organized, efficient, and — most importantly — waste-free kitchen.

With FIFO, you’ll save money, reduce food waste, and make the most of everything you buy. And once it becomes second nature, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

If you want to see more resources on food waste, check out the Household Management Science Labs. The lab uses the research of the Institute for Life Management Science to produce courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and other tools. Visit the Household Management Science Labs today.

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