Food cost is the one of largest expense for
restaurants and vital to control. If a restaurant does not apply control food
cost, it will be possible to suffer large losses from theft and waste. Therefore,
restaurant must focus on a food cost control system in order to control food
usage and expenses to ensure the profit.
There are some methods to implement a food
cost control system.
Menu Planning & Standard
Recipes
Each recipe and menu item must have a
recipe. The recipes should be included the measured portions and the standard
costs for each ingredient. This can be a basis to calculate the cost of each
menu item and the overall food cost.
Forecasting
It is used to forecast the production level
and sales base on the historical data.
Purchasing
It is critical for communicating with
suppliers to ensure receiving the correct specification at the correct price. The
merchandiser should cooperate with the chef and manager to decide what, when
and how much of products to order. A list of all food items including product
specifications, preferred vendors and price history should be written. All the
food should have a particular specification. When restaurant determine the
specifications, it should be compare and negotiate with different suppliers to
minimize the expenses. The purchasing system will also include a “Par” or
“Build To” system to control the amount of food purchased. Purchasing should be
done by manager or a senior staff because improper purchasing can cause serious
issues such as product shortages and excessive waste.
Receiving
It is critical for a manager or senior
staff to check the deliver is accuracy or not. Each delivery should be counted
and spot checked for proper weight and quality. It is to ensure the ordering quantity,
quality, price and suppliers are exactly correct. It is important. If restaurant
do not check consistently, it will be easily receive inferior quality or
shortages.
Storing
A physical inventory should be counted
weekly or monthly to determine actual food used during the time frame. In fact, restaurant
may decide to count expensive items and order it daily to prevent the loss. It
is critical to take an accurate inventory because it can produce the cost of
sales and ensure the food supply of restaurant.
Production
The production process requires a system to
track what has been ordered and delivered. Most restaurants have used a POS
system. If no POS system is used, an order pad will be used. Each order pad
must be accounted.
Sales
The sales that generated for each food sold
should be recorded in order to gather a better idea of usage amount of raw
materials.
Food Cost Analysis
Fixed costs and variable costs can be
determined. Fixed cost is constant no matter how much food is produced. Variable costs are based on the volume of sales. After collect the data from sales
and cost, financial statement can be made and calculate the profits compared
with the cost.
Top 10 Ways to Minimize Food Costs
1. Use an accurate scale to check in
orders.
2. Do a mini inventory before placing any
orders.
3. Rotate your stock: First In, First Out.
4. Pre-portion during prep when possible.
Use a scale.
5. Have the correct ladles and scoops on
the line at service.
6. Find ways to turn scraps from the prep
of one menu item into prep for another.
7. Use accurate recipes to help with
ordering.
8. Know your cost for a particular dish
before you write the menu price for it.
9. Accept a lower margin on higher-priced
items if it’s profitable to do so.
10. Frequently spot check portions for
accuracy.
References
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