A pair of photos has started a discussion on food waste in restaurants across the country.
On February 28, Reddit user u/Beneficial-Ad-3192 shared a look into the closing process of one Domino’s Pizza location in the subreddit r/dominos. The entry inspired a heated discussion in the comments section on the subject of food waste.
“Does anyone else’s store waste this much dough?” the user wrote in a caption accompanying two photos.
The first image shows a stack of dough bins that Domino’s uses to store prepared dough for upcoming pizza orders. The other image shows the employee in a Domino’s hat standing in front of the pile.
“Not very often we waste dough but today we had so much the stack of trays was taller than me 🥲,” wrote the Reddit user. “makes me feel so guilty lol.”
Reddit user u/Beneficial-Ad-3192 did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
This short post drove quite a few people to weigh in in the comments section, and a lot of them found the situation no laughing matter.
“Almost never. I haven’t seen waste like that in person, and I’ve been here since 2009,” answered one commenter.
“That’s extra money that could be put towards employee pay. This is disgusting,” wrote one Redditor.
“Worst I’ve ever seen was maybe a stack of 8. My GM was stressing hard, too. This stack might’ve killed them lol,” wrote another, to which the OP replied, “mannn 8 is practically nothing 😭.”
The original Reddit poster also said in the comments that the dough bins contained a mixture of all sizes, but were mostly for large pizzas. They also noted that after speaking to management about the waste, they were told they weren’t allowed to donate “Dominos rules we’re not allowed to do it :/,” they wrote.
Still, other commenters who claim to also work at Domino’s shared what their locations do to minimize food waste.
“If my store has that much extra dough, and we don’t expect to use it before it expires, we’ll usually make like 5-6 pies and send em off to local Police Departments, EMT Centers and Fire Departments,” one commenter wrote. “They usually love the donation and it makes the location look and feel more local.”
For its part, Domino’s explained why its stores dispose of dough at the end of the workday.
“Domino’s franchisees and store managers everywhere work tirelessly to minimize food waste,” a Domino’s spokesperson tells TODAY.com. “When dough or other items expire, they are disposed of in the interest of safety.”
Food waste, particularly from restaurants, is a significant problem in the United States. According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurants generate approximately 11.4 million tons of food waste annually, which ends up costing more than $25 billion.
