Year after year, research conducted by the National Restaurant Association reveals that restaurant food costs are the number one concern for restaurant owners. 75% of surveyed restaurant owners reported that food costs are a top challenge.
We love to bring fresh ideas to help make restaurant operation easier for restaurant owners, so we put together a few clever ways that your restaurant can reduce its food spend and be more profitable.
1. Audit Your Menu
Do you know your recipe costs and your plate profitability? Recipe plate costing can help drive a profitable menu. It can be time
consuming, but conducting a quarterly menu audit to ensure that your plates are truly profitable is a great way to reduce food costs and
increase profitability.
Of course, in real life there will be variations. A plate is dropped, extra cheese is added, and portioning isn’t perfect, but paying
attention to plate costs and menu prices is a bit of effort that can pay off big.
2. Meet with Food Suppliers
Food pricing can sometimes be a mystery. Prices fluctuate and there are rarely any set pricing contracts. This can translate into a positive
situation if you are willing to sit down and meet with your suppliers regularly. Identify your most important food items and negotiate pricing
with your suppliers.
The best time to meet with your food suppliers is when you will be making seasonal changes to your menu. If you know that you will be
ordering more of one or two items, ask for some pricing relief. Restaurant food costs can be cut by thousands through simple supplier
negotiations.
3. Track Food Waste
The number one way for restaurant owners to take control of restaurant food costs is by tracking food waste. Research suggests that
restaurants waste 4% of of their food. Typically 80% of restaurant food costs are driven by 20% of your ingredients, so that is a great place to
start. Be diligent about tracking the food waste of your top ingredients and you will be savings right away.
Using a food waste tracker makes it easy for restaurant employees to intentionally track food waste. Automated food waste tracking allows restaurant owners to see food waste in terms of dollar value and set goals for staff to improve. Intentionally tracking and reporting food waste will reduce the impact that food waste has on your restaurant’s bottom line.
The team at FreshCheq is dedicated to making daily restaurant operations easier for owners. Leave a comment or send us an email and let us know how we can help.
