Food & Beverage - Chronic Waste - By Joe Dunbar

Hidden costs often involve food consumption unexplained by menu analysis. Finding the food consumed without regard for the number of covers or the menu choices made each day is our goal. When do these costs become visible?

Hidden costs stick out on low volume weeks. When there is no volume to hide them you can identify and eliminate these problems. Embrace your slow weeks and use them to improve the operation.

The core staff will often be on duty during your slower business periods. These workers will most likely consume food while on the job and they may also consume food off the premises. It's a mistake to credit your food cost for employee meals. Rather than issuing a credit, I'd recommend including the employee meals in your food cost percentage. If you credit these meals, you will miss a control opportunity.

Some operators see huge swings when their volume drops. The biggest moves I've seen are from the high 20s to low 40s. If your food cost percentage is 28% at peak volume and 42% at your low point, you use 50% more food per portion served to a customer. Careful analysis of employee food consumption can help identify major problems.

I find many menus focused on specials create chronic waste. The cost of each bad decision is not immediately recognized most of the time. These mistakes are frozen, rehashed, served on buffets and fed to employees. Some executives praise chefs and kitchen managers for their talent with using leftovers. There is nothing wrong with creatively using a modest amount of over-production. Chronic waste starts when the over-production becomes routine.

Once your operation starts producing too much product due to poor forecasts, you eventually begin to focus more on mistakes than successes. Wait staff are asked to recommend last night's poorly received 5th choice rehashed into tonight's number one choice. Freezer space is used to store items which will become an expense of some future period. At an extreme, I have witnessed companies spending capital resources on greater freezer capacity.

So how do you end this cycle of progressive and chronic waste? The simple way is to develop and feature a solid slate of popular entrees on your base menu. Use specials judiciously to highlight seasonal favorites (preferably using low cost seasonal ingredients).

It's OK to offer some variations on a theme but try to utilize fewer meat and seafood raw ingredients. Waste expands as the variety of protein ingredients increases in your walkin cooler. Operators with limited menus experience very little waste because they offer the same entrees and sandwiches day after day. Study this simplicity before revising your menu strategy.


Thanks!!!

Joe


Joe Dunbar
Dunbar Associates
P.O. Box 579
Fairfax, VA 22038-0579
800-949-3295
http://www.joedunbar.com
jdunbar401@aol.com

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