Controlling Food Costs In A Small Restaurant (Page 2 of 4) in pdf

Controlling Food Costs In A Small Restaurant Page 2

Controlling Food Costs (Page 2)

as part of the menu item. It is important to note that the size of the

portion is a key factor in this calculation. Your main ingredient will be

the largest part of the costs of this item. The size of your plate is

important to maintain cost controls and proper presentation. You should

never let the food look lost on the plate. Using these controls you

establish a cost of the menu item and price the item so the cost should

range from a minimum of twenty-eight percent to a maximum of thirty-

five percent of the price being charged. Every item on your menu will

not be able to be maintained at the thirty–five percent cost level.

However, you should endeavor to maintain an overall food cost at that

level.

By using this system with an Excel spreadsheet as shown above for each

menu item, you can easily change the cost components as the prices of

the items in the dish change. This may seem like a monumental task,

but spending the time initially to set this system up will be well worth

your time and effort in the cost controls established and food costs

saved.

Using a “Point-of-Sale System” in your restaurant no matter how small

is another important factor in controlling your food costs. The

information a “Point-of-Sale System” will supply enables you to track

your sales, but it will also tell you the menu items that are being sold

and more importantly the items not selling. Having the information on

which menu items are selling assists in your ordering of food and enables

you to cut down on the waste incurred from incorrectly anticipating sales

of the menu items that are not selling.

It is a simple procedure to add menu items both to a “Point-of-Sale

System” and the menu pricing system. This will facilitate the adding of

new items to the menu and the deleting of old ones; it will also allow the

addition of specials as they are offered.

Buying your food is a big part of the price controls. Buying from the

big suppliers is much simpler and convenient, but also can be up to

Controlling Food Costs In A Small Restaurant Page 2