11 Essential Techniques for Controlling Restaurant Food Costs

11 Essential Techniques for Controlling Restaurant Food Costs

Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson you will be able to schedule and conduct regular inventory checks for consistent data.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to accurately cost recipes to determine the precise cost of food served.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to track and compare actual versus theoretical inventory usage.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to train staff on the importance of inventory control and its impact on the restaurant's financial health.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to utilize forecasting tools to better manage inventory levels and reduce waste.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to implement strategies for tracking and reducing food waste.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to review and negotiate vendor contracts for favorable pricing.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to perform daily counts of selected inventory items to refine food costs.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to apply menu engineering to improve profit margins.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to calculate average daily inventory cost to inform purchasing decisions.
At the end of the lesson you will be able to adapt inventory management strategies in response to COVID-19 challenges.

What do you already know about controlling restaurant food costs?

Regular Inventory Checks

Importance of consistent data
Scheduling and conducting inventory checks

Accurate Recipe Costing

Determining precise cost of food served
Ingredients and quantities

Tracking Actual vs. Theoretical Usage

Identifying variances
Comparing actual usage to theoretical usage based on sales data

Staff Training on Inventory Control

Impact on restaurant's financial health
Importance of inventory control

Using Smart Forecasting Tools

Predicting future inventory needs
Optimizing purchasing decisions

Tracking Food Waste

Implementing strategies for tracking and reducing food waste

Reviewing Vendor Contract Prices

Negotiating for favorable pricing
Reviewing and comparing vendor prices

Daily Review of Selected Inventory

Performing daily counts of selected inventory items
Refining food costs

Menu Engineering for Profit Margins

Analyzing and optimizing menu
Promoting high-margin items and adjusting pricing

Calculating Average Daily Inventory Cost

Informing purchasing decisions
Average cost of inventory used per day

Adjusting for COVID-19 Impacts

Adapting inventory management strategies
Responding to COVID-19 challenges

Key Definitions

CoGS: Cost of Goods Sold
Recipe Costing
Actual vs. Theoretical (AvT)
Forecasting
Menu Engineering
Average Daily Inventory Cost

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.