Food costs; how to deal with in your restaurant? One of the most prominent problems restaurants face is food cost issues. Many possible situations can cause food costs. Some are external factors, such as the general cost of purchasing ingredients. Others may be internal, such as waste in the restaurant kitchen or employee theft. Declining profits may indicate that your food costs need to be increased. Below are eight possible problems that can cause food costs and suggestions for ways to deal with increased food costs in the restaurant.
Refrain from mixing low and high-quality ingredients in the menu.
To keep the menu profitable, you must balance low-cost foods like pasta or potatoes with higher-cost foods like seafood or prime beef. Remember that your food costs should be around 30-35%. It means that if you pay $1.00 for something, you must charge a minimum of $3.34. It may seem like you’re setting way more than necessary, but remember that you’re not just paying for the food. You pay someone to prepare, serve, and clean up after the meal. Everything in your restaurant, from the payroll to the electric bill, has to be covered by the food you serve.
An employee of the nation
As unpleasant as it is to think about, you must be aware that the theft of people happens. Suppose you have a system to track food from when it is delivered to the restaurant from the supplier to when it is sold to the customer. In that case, it can prevent employers from helping themselves to products in the walk-in or freezer.
Ensuring the host test preview matches the kitchen counters (easy if you have a POS system ) will help discourage employees from eating the profits. Offering staff who are low on food a “free” menu during their shift is another way to prevent them from eating higher food costs.
Do not use consistent part control.
One of the reasons that franchise chain restaurants are so successful is because they have menu items under control.
Whether you go to an Applebee’s in New York or Montana, you get the same food in the exact portion sizes. Customers like this predictability. And by optimizing their portion sizes, chain restaurants ensure good profit margins. Even if you own a small independent restaurant, portion control is essential to keeping your business profitable. The items are managed with the suitable dish in the right measure, calibrated foods, and according to the storage space.
Waste food
Waste not, want not. Utilizing as much food as possible can increase your profit and reduce food costs. Wheaten beef can be repurposed into satay pie recommendations and sold as an average entrée. Chicken bones, and vegetable scraps, which might have been thrown out, can make a delicious stock. A well-trained chef will know how to use every part of an ingredient with minimal waste.
Buying food for the home
As a restaurant owner, you may be tempted to skip the grocery store altogether and use the food in the restaurant kitchen; After all, you get better discounts from your suppliers than from the grocery store chain. But remember, buying a bag of chicken breasts and not using them in your restaurant will cut your food costs and profits.
Especially if you do it regularly. If you want to take advantage of bulk pricing, make sure the food is for personal use and pay it back.
Poor Staff Education
If you have fires constantly burning food or destroying it, it affects your bottom line. The same applies to an employee who needs to practice parts control or rotate food according to FIFO. These are all situations that can be remedied with proper training.
Poor Bookkeeping
Caterers have been known to make mistakes on invoices – double charging, not reflecting payments, and failing to deliver food listed on the invoice. Have someone you trust check weekly food orders to ensure everything is accounted for and fits the bill. Keep copies of all your invoices and payments in case of any disputes with your food supplier.
Using only one Food Company
Feel free to shop. Even if you prefer one food company over another, checking prices and asking food companies in the game is okay. If you don’t ask, you won’t get it.