How should food items be organized on shelves to support FIFO?

Organizing food items on shelves to support FIFO, which stands for "First In, First Out," is crucial for proper food safety and inventory management. This practice ensures that the oldest food items are used first, reducing waste and preventing spoilage.

Placing older items in the back and newer items in front allows for easy access to the items that need to be used first. When employees reach for items, they will naturally grab the ones that are most readily available, which are the newer items at the front. This arrangement helps to minimize the risk of food items expiring or going bad before they can be used, thus maintaining both quality and safety.

In contrast, organizing items randomly or stacking them on top of each other does not facilitate a systematic approach to inventory turnover. Such methods may lead to confusion and hinder staff from easily identifying which items are oldest. Keeping all items in separate containers may be necessary for organizational purposes, but it does not inherently support the FIFO method if the placement of older and newer items is not carefully considered.