Biz Tips: Food Cost

TOPIC: Food Cost. We are all noticing costs go wonky. Some items are also difficult to find. This episode is on finding ways to shrink food costs. Remind your staff of these things, you cannot let down on your persaverance.

SUBTOPIC: Kitchen has a responsibility to find and resolve food costs. 

--minimize waste. Here are several ways to ensure the kitchen knows what that means. Do not over serve. Each serving is consistent. Each plate is consistent. Look at plates that are returned to the kitchen, are certain items consistently ending up in the trash? Minimize bread serve, or drop it completely while you are in re-opening mode. 

--develop regular menu habits. Perhaps you build a following for a Friday special  -- BBQ Ribs, for example. Sell them at a good food cost, and push this hard in pre-service, in social media, minimize the items people can order for carryout to this one item. Push it into a successful food cost. 

--review and shrink your menu. You may just need to shrink your menu because food costs are bouncing all over the place. Even if you do have to keep your Lost Leader on the menu, you can work hard to minimize items that sell slowly. It may help you with your permanent menu in the upcoming months. 

SUBTOPIC:  Servers and the owner have an incentive to ensure customers are happy. 

--happy customers return. Returning customers are the best customers. Returning customers may or may not give bigger and better tips, but at least you can work toward that. 

--what can front of staff do to ensure food costs are as favorable as possible. Train your staff to promote items with good food cost. Not because they are low food cost, but because they are delicious items. Their low food cost is a benefit if staff realize that it's good for the health of the business. 

In this episode there are many Excellent Examples that will help you envision how to observe and fix.