Stock rotation, FIFO & shelf life
Stock rotation and FIFO that hold up in a real kitchen
First in, first out only works when the label answers the question for whoever is standing at the shelf. Dill prints the product, the date, the use-by and the use-first flag from shelf-life rules you set once, so rotation holds across every shift and every site, and less food goes in the bin.
First in, first out, and why it stops working
The principle is simple enough that nobody needs it explained. Use the oldest first. Put the new delivery behind the old one.
It stops working for ordinary reasons. A delivery lands mid-service and gets put wherever there is space. Two batches of the same thing end up on different shelves. Somebody opens the front one because it is the one they can reach. None of this is carelessness, it is what a busy kitchen looks like.
Rotation only holds when the label answers the question without anyone having to work it out. What is this, when was it made, when does it go, and is it the one I should be opening.
Where rotation breaks down
Rotation fails at the points where a person has to remember something. Each failure is small on its own, and together they are how stock ends up used out of order or thrown away still sealed.
- Unlabelled or handwritten containers nobody can date
- Two batches of the same product on different shelves
- Use-by dates guessed instead of calculated
- The front one gets opened because it is the one within reach
Shelf life rules, set once
The real work in rotation is deciding how long each thing lasts once it is opened, prepped or defrosted. Do that once, as a rule per product, and every label after that calculates its own use-by. Change a supplier or a process and you change the rule in one place, not on a hundred handwritten labels. Multi-site operators set the rules centrally and every kitchen prints to the same standard.
How it works
Set a shelf-life rule for each product once, centrally.
Staff print at the prep station, one tap, and the use-by and use-first flag are calculated automatically.
Head office sees rotation across every site and pushes rule changes instantly.
Rotation and your HACCP plan
Rotation is one of the controls your HACCP plan relies on, and a label is how that control leaves a record. The rule sets the use-by, the print logs who applied it and when, and that log is what an environmental health officer asks to see. Rotation stops being a thing you hope is happening and becomes a thing you can show.
Where the food is prepacked for direct sale, the allergen and enforcement detail sits with Natasha's Law and PPDS labelling.
What this does to waste
When the oldest batch is always the obvious one to open, less gets forgotten at the back and less gets binned still sealed. Atis cut food waste by a quarter after moving rotation onto Dill.
25%
reduction in food waste at Atis Group
Kitchens already running this way
“Dill has transformed how we manage food safety labelling across all our London locations. The time savings have been incredible.”
60%
less time on labelling
25%
reduction in food waste
16
locations live in 30 days
Frequently asked questions
What is FIFO?
What is the difference between FIFO and stock rotation?
What is a use-first label?
Do you print day dots?
How does this reduce food waste?
Can head office set rules for every site?
Get rotation under control
See Dill print rotation and use-first labels on your own setup. Book a demo and we will show you live.
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