FIFO and Food Storage in Restaurants
Store food safely and cut waste: FIFO rotation, labelling, date marks, shelf order, fridge and dry store layout, deliveries and checks you can record.
Updated 6 min read
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Key takeaways
- FIFO means first in, first out: use the oldest stock first, as long as it is within its date.
- Label everything you open or prepare with what it is and when it must be used or thrown away.
- Store raw food below ready to eat food, covered and off the floor, to prevent cross contamination.
- A use by date is a safety limit; a best before date is about quality. Never use food past its use by date.
In short: FIFO means using the oldest stock first. To make it work, give everything a place, label what you open or prepare, store raw food below ready to eat food, respect use by dates and check storage every day. It protects guests and cuts waste.
About 7 minutes to read. General information as of October 2026. Storage temperatures and date rules differ by country; check your authority.
Most storage problems are not dramatic. They are an unlabelled tub, a delivery pushed to the back, a shelf that nobody cleaned. Together they cause waste, a failed inspection or, in the worst case, food poisoning.
FIFO in plain words
When a delivery arrives, the new stock goes behind or below the older stock, so that the older stock is used first. Check the date on each item as you put it away. FIFO is a habit, not a system, and it works only if the store is organised so that the habit is easy.
It reduces waste because less food reaches the end of its life unused. It also reduces risk because older stock is not forgotten at the back of a shelf.
Use by and best before
Understand the two kinds of date mark.
- Use by is a safety date. After it, food may be unsafe even if it looks and smells fine. The Food Standards Agency says not to use food after its use by date.
- Best before is about quality. Food may be safe after it, but it may not taste or look at its best. Use your judgement and your food safety plan.
See the FSA's pages on best before and use by dates. Other countries use other terms, so check your own rules. When you open a product or prepare food in house, set your own use by time and write it on the label.
Organise the store
Fridge
- Top shelves: ready to eat and cooked food.
- Middle shelves: prepared items awaiting cooking.
- Bottom shelf: raw meat, poultry and fish, in sealed, covered containers so nothing can drip.
- Keep the door closed and do not overload the fridge, so air can circulate.
- Check the temperature at least twice a day and record it. See temperature logs.
Freezer
- Label with the date frozen.
- Keep a first in, first out order, and do not store food indefinitely.
- Defrost in the fridge or under a controlled process, never at room temperature on a bench.
Dry store
- Keep food off the floor, away from walls, on shelves that are easy to clean.
- Use sealed containers for open dry goods, with the original label or a new one.
- Keep chemicals, including cleaning products and pest control, in a separate area, never above food. See pest control.
- Keep the area cool, dry and ventilated.
Receiving area
- Check deliveries on arrival: temperature, dates, packaging and signs of pests.
- Reject anything that does not meet your standard.
- Put chilled and frozen items away first.
Label everything
A label turns an anonymous tub into something safe to use.
| Item | Label |
|---|---|
| Prepared food | Name, date and time prepared, use by date and time |
| Opened product | Name, date opened, use by date |
| Defrosting food | Date and time it went into the fridge |
| Allergen items | Name and allergens present |
Use waterproof labels, a marker that does not smudge and a standard format. Colour coded labels by day of the week make it easy to spot old stock at a glance. Throw away items past their time, and record what you discard. See reducing food waste.
Prevent cross contamination
- Raw below cooked and ready to eat.
- Separate boards, knives and containers for raw and ready to eat food.
- Cover everything.
- Keep allergen ingredients stored carefully, sealed and labelled, to avoid cross contact. See allergens and calories.
- Wash hands after handling raw food and before handling ready to eat food.
GOV.UK sets out the general duties on food businesses in its food safety management systems guidance, and the FSA's Safer Food, Better Business packs include guidance on cross contamination, chilling and cleaning for small caterers.
Plan orders to match storage
Over ordering fills the fridge and hides old stock. Set par levels for each item, based on how much you use between deliveries, and order the difference. See suppliers and ordering and stock control.
DineHarbor's inventory tools keep stock items, purchase orders, receiving and stock counts, with waste records and reasons, so you can compare what you ordered, what you counted and what you threw away. The storage routine itself stays physical: labels, shelves and people.
Build FIFO into your day
- At delivery: check dates, rotate stock, put new items behind old.
- At opening: check temperatures, check dates and labels in the fridge you use first.
- At closing: check labels, discard what is out of date, cover and store prepared food.
- Weekly: full tidy, rotation and clean of fridges, freezers and the dry store.
- Monthly: compare waste records and adjust pars.
See opening and closing checklists and the cleaning schedule.
Train the team
Show new staff the layout, the labelling standard and what to do with old stock. Explain why: the difference between use by and best before, and why raw food goes at the bottom. Test them: "this tub has no label, what do you do?" See staff training.
Keep records
Record fridge and freezer temperatures, discards and the weekly check. These are part of your food safety records. See HACCP for restaurants and food hygiene inspections.
Common problems
- New stock put in front of old.
- Unlabelled prepared food.
- Raw meat above ready to eat food.
- Overfilled fridges.
- Chemicals stored near food.
- Delivery boxes left in the walk in, bringing dirt and pests.
- No one responsible.
A checklist
- Everything has a place and a label.
- New behind old, oldest first.
- Raw at the bottom, ready to eat above, all covered.
- Use by dates respected, best before dates judged.
- Temperatures checked and recorded.
- Par levels set and orders matched.
- Weekly tidy and rotation.
- Team trained.
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Questions and answers
What does FIFO mean?
First in, first out. The stock that arrived first is used or sold first, which reduces waste and the risk of serving food that has gone off.
What is the difference between use by and best before?
A use by date is about safety: do not use food after it. A best before date is about quality: food may be safe after it but not at its best. The UK Food Standards Agency explains the difference on its website.
How should I arrange a fridge?
Put ready to eat and cooked food on the upper shelves and raw meat, poultry and fish on the lowest shelf in sealed, covered containers so that nothing can drip onto other food.
Should I label food I prepare?
Yes. Label with the name, the date or time prepared and the use by date or time, and the allergens where relevant. Throw it away when the time is up.
How often should I check storage?
Check temperatures at least twice a day and go through dates and labels each day as part of opening or closing. Do a full tidy and rotation each week.
See it in DineHarbor
About the author
Editorial team
The DineHarbor team writes this blog for restaurant owners and managers. Every article is checked against the product before it is published, so what we describe is what the software does.
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