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Implement a Kaizen on cost reduction with your staff including your ordering - receiving - kitchen staff and service dept, motivate them with a small prize for best suggestion of the week and look into their suggestions.
Analyze your wastage report closely , this will tell you where to start
Review your ordering : make sure that you get quotes from all potential suppliers -
Receiving : implement a receiving check list if you do not have one & look into it closely
Review your storing : look at the shrienkage reports
Implement more regular inventory controls
and of course you can go into further details like portion control - standard recipes - over prodcution -
There are so many ways to reduce food & beverages cost without affecting quality and standards
at the end of the day - reducing one olive from every salad portion will constitute a saving at the end
Utilize these54 quick tips to analyze and optimize your food and beverage costs and procedures.
1. Restrict or even completely ban "supermarket" shopping where staff buy "emergency" items at prices which can be double those of your regular suppliers. This can add up very fast.
2. Ask your Sales Reps to arrange for staff training. If they supply cakes, have them show your chefs the best portioning methods. If they supply beef, have them show the chefs how to cut correctly.
3. If you have extra storage space, import your own bulk items that are used often, like chopped tomatoes, mineral water, or flour to cut out the middle man-the supplier.
4. Reduce ladle and scoop sizes to the exact size of the portion required. This stops chefs or serving staff being over-generous at your expense.
5. Use portion tools to cut the cakes into the exact number of slices required. It is best not to leave "free-cutting" to staff who may be in a hurry and over-slice.
6. Make sure all food is completely dry before you fry it-this reduces the time needed to fry it and consequently less oil.
7. Assign for shelf space for products that are too hot to go in the fridge. If you have a blast-chiller, count yourself lucky. Never put hot foods in the fridge where they will heat the cooled air.
8. Make sure that air circulates adequately in the fridges and freezers and that the fans are not blocked. If air cannot circulate, then all items may not chill correctly.
9. Ensure that a weighing-scales is placed at the delivery door so that ALL items bought by weight are weighed on delivery. No excuses.
10. Inform all your suppliers of your receiving policy and place on the door in the delivery area for all drivers to see.
11. Do not allow left over foods to be taken home at the end of the night-otherwise over production may be feeding the staff's families rather than your customers.
12. Establish a Recipe Card for all menu items so the chef can see exact preparation procedures and the cost of ingredients involved.
13. Return all packaging to suppliers when they deliver. With pay by usage charges creeping in around the country, never has this been more important.
14. If using large quantities of eggs, consider the benefits of frozen egg yolks and frozen egg whites. It won't be possible to use them with all products but the savings could add up.
15. If you have a staff member checking all deliveries, consider spot checking yourself to alert both staff and suppliers that you consider it an important function.
16. Observe what comes back on plates from the bar or restaurant. This will alert you to over-portioning or unhappy customers.
17. Replace Fruit garnishes on desserts with fruit coulis. This will be cheaper and last longer.
18. Establish a routine that all chefs weigh cut meat products as prepared. This will alert them to excessive portioning and teach them that every cent counts.
19. Reduce the amount of shelving in dry stores to reduce the space available for over-ordering.
20. If you haven't done so recently, check your freezer for products that have been 'lost' behind shelving or other products. We assume food in the freezer is safe but you may have spilled products or freezer burn.
21. If you have a food stocktaker (and you should...) then insist that he/she checks supplier prices on a regular basis. No less frequently than once a month to ensure that the most current prices are used for GP Calculation as well as checking for price discrepancies.
22. If you find a supplier with cheaper prices, then explain your situation to your current supplier who will most likely match or beat the prices. That way you dont need to establish another supplier account unnecessarily.
23. Talk to staff in the wash-up area. An often forgotten part of the kitchen operation, however, they are the ones who see the waste that comes back from front of house and can advise you accordingly.
24. Introduce clear rubbish bags in the kitchen. That way you can spot the items that are being needlessly thrown away.
25. Occasionally, shock the staff by putting on your rubber gloves and trawling through the bins to check for usable ingredients which have been thrown away. You'll soon see more careful trimming and throwing out of waste.
26. Post a sheet on the wall, visible to all staff showing them your target GP % and revenue goals. Keep them informed of the progress and reward them when targets are met.
27. Write the prices of products on the boxes to show staff the value of the stock on the shelves. It was a shock to me when I discovered the price of some ingredients. I'm sure your staff will feel the same way.
28. If you operate a buffet, then assign a staff member to serve the guests. This increases the perception of customer service while simultaneously keeping portion sizes in order!
29. Invest in racks for your store room to store all dry foods off the ground. This prevents pest infestation, damage from floor cleaning or flooding.
30. Make the most of the space in your kitchen and get rid of that chest freezer. It takes up too much ground space and you lose items at the bottom never to be used again. There's a reason buildings in New York go up, not across...
31. Make sure that an 'Open Food' button is not being used on your cash register. This allows staff to charge what they like for meals and management are left with no idea of what was sold.
32. Supply your chef with a breakdown of meals sold through the cash register at the end of the night. He can then compare it with the quantity of meals which left the kitchen. Any variance should be investigated immediately.
33. If you want your customers to see your menus, then put them on your website. This avoids the cost of posting them or faxing them. They can be updated easily.
34. Pay your bills in a timely manner so that you are in a better negotiating position when it comes to pricing.
35. Make sure that a recipe card exists for all cocktails. This should be available to all staff behind the bar and will ensure consistency in presentation and costs.
36. If you offer glasses of water at your food buffet counter, are you eliminating the chance to sell soft drinks and juices. Try hiding the free water and positioning a bucket of ice cold soft drinks for purchase. Those who really want the water will ask anyway.
37. Train staff in how to pour draft beer. How many times have you seen bar staff pulling the tap down a split second before actually putting the glass under. A recent audit with one of our clients showed that this practice was losing them18 kegs a year. Could you afford that?
38. If you offer Soya Milk, then buy small portion size packages. Otherwise you will be opening a Litre packet which will most likely expire before used.
39. Print up a plan of the cellar to show new staff where everything is stored. On a busy night, every second counts.
40. Make sure that owners pay for the drinks they have while on the premises. This shows the staff that control and accountability is very important.
41. Clean fridges out at least once a week by starting at the back and working towards the door. Do the same for chest freezers so that you actually know what's at the bottom.
42. Have your accounts person check the invoice price of all your deliveries against contracted prices and the supplier's most recent price lists. That way any discrepancies will be noticed as they occur.
43. Spot check the bottle bins outside for bottles not quite empty which are waiting to be picked up by clever staff. We've seen it happen and nothing surprises us anymore.
44. Use labor cost worksheets to establish your actual labor costs. If you're not already doing it, you might be surprised.
45. Use the internet to advertise for vacant positions.
46. Analyze your staff roster to see if there are staff rostered excessively during slack times. Adjust the "standard" shifts of9-6 and3-close and whatever else we all grew up working with to fit into YOUR operation. By lengthening or shortening the right shifts you may save the cost of an employee each week.
47. Disallow Staff Drinking on premises after hours or after busy shifts. Cite Insurance reasons such as your increasing duty of care of employees while on the premises. It also leads to cost control issues when "just one more then…." Becomes one more unpaid drink each night. It soon adds up.
48. Never allow personal belongings anywhere in the hotel apart from a locked changing area. Staff should be allocated a lockable locker. No mobile phones, bags, jackets, coats or anything else should be allowed in the bar, restaurant or kitchen. More stock goes missing this way than many operators realize.
49. Invest in a magnetic rubber collar that attaches to the food bin. That way when staff throw the cutlery into the bin with the food, the magnet will draw them out again! Saves it's own cost very fast!
50. Make sure that the floor around the dish wash and glass wash area is lined with rubber matting so that any glassware or crockery dropped doesn't break.
51. Hire a consultant to create recipe cards for all your menu items. The chef will then be able to see at a glance what each dish costs and staff can be informed of which items they should be pushing for maximum profit.
52. Establish a training plan to introduce upselling to your operation. Offer incentives to staff who can increase their average check to set targets. Nobody will want to be beaten by the other members of staff!
53. Invest in an energy/water use audit to discover if you have any unnecessarily high usage areas which can be reduced.
54. Also shop around for your telephone service provider. Increased competitiveness in the market place has brought prices down considerably. Never take the first price!
