Portion Control and Food Cost

Portion control is an essential element of food cost and quality control. It reduces food waste, ensures a consistent and quality product, expedites food preparation and service, and has a big impact on food cost.

Any extra food added to the customer’s plate is money coming out of your bottom line.

While an extra ounce of soup or a handful of cheese may seem insignificant, these amounts added up per dish over an extended period of time are costing you thousands per year in additional food cost. Excessive portions also contribute to food waste, both in terms of plates coming back half-full and over-ordering of stock; that is your profit going into the garbage every day.

The best way to get a handle on food cost is to keep an open dialogue with all of your staff, assess if and where waste is occurring, and have a mechanism in place to ensure that each portion is consistent in every dish that leaves your kitchen.

Assessment:

When you create your menu, you should also allocate portions for each menu item and price them accordingly. The general rule of thumb is that each dish on the menu should cost 30 – 40% of the selling price in order to cover expenses and make a profit. Lack of consistent portions makes it impossible to assess the true cost per item. Talk to your servers and your dishwashers. They can provide information about what is coming back to the kitchen. If certain dishes are constantly coming back half-eaten perhaps you need to rethink that particular dish and alter it or eliminate it from the menu altogether, or adjust your portion sizes.

Prevention:

A successful restaurant is a team effort, and it is important that all of your staff are on the same page and have the necessary equipment to ensure product quality.

- Provide pictures of each plated item illustrating the correct portion sizes and plating.

- Provide a chart that lists the correct portion of each item in all food preparation areas.

- Pre-portion condiments, sides, and sauces.

- Order pre-portioned stock where practical and make sure that all bulk items are portioned out and appropriately labelled and stored as soon as possible.

- Have and an adequate amount of the correct sized storage containers, ladles, and scoops for each menu item as well as a variety of measuring cups, spoons, and scales.

These measures not only help to ensure less waste, they also speed food preparation and service, especially at peak times. This makes certain that your customers get what they expect every time they dine: consistently good-looking, tasty food, in fair portions, at a reasonable price.

Love of good food and the ability to share it with others is the main reason you opened your doors in the first place; proper food portioning practices help to ensure that they stay open.

September 2012 Issue of Ideal Software's Niche Notes, our FoodService industry newsletter.

IdealSoftwareNicheNotesSeptember2012

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How to Choose the Correct Music / Lighting / Décor for your Restaurant

Music, lighting, and decor play a vital role in setting the overall tone and feel of a restaurant. In some cases, it's attention to detail that really sets a restaurant apart from the competition and keeps customers coming back. It all comes down to the "if a tree falls in the forest" theory. If you have the best food in town, but you have poor lighting, outdated decor, and music that's reminiscent of your last trip to the dentist's office, are people really going to want to eat there? Here are some tips on choosing the right music, lighting, and decor for your restaurant:

1. Setting the Tone with the Right Music

Selecting the right music for a restaurant is a major decision. You generally have three basic choices when it comes to music in a restaurant. Some restaurants go with traditional elevator music. Sometimes the owner picks his favorite tunes and sometimes the staff is allowed to choose. All of these options can produce mixed results among your customers.

• Elevator music - This is the safest choice, but does it really match the tone of your restaurant? If you're running a sports bar and restaurant, do patrons really want to hear a watered down version of "My Heart Will Go On" while watching the big game?

• Owner-selected Tunes - Restaurants have personalities and who better knows what the personality of their restaurant is better than the owner? The only real drawback is if the music doesn't really match with the theme of the restaurant. This approach tends to work better in casual dining settings rather than "fancy" restaurants that rely more on ambiance.

• Staff-selected Tunes - If you're going to allow the staff to select the music, it's best to set some ground rules. You don't want music that's going to offend or annoy your customers. This means no profanity, heavy metal, or rap - unless this fits in with the style of your restaurant, except for the profanity. All music, regardless of what it is, should be kept at a low level in the background.

2. Finding the Right Balance with Lighting

Do your customers really need to be blinded by a bright light from above while trying to enjoy a romantic moment? Do you really need soft mood lighting to enjoy a pizza? The lighting that you need for your restaurant depends on several factors such as the time of day, the theme of your restaurant, and even the specific area of your restaurant that needs some form of lighting.

• Breakfast - Lots of light is needed to set a bright, energetic tone for the day.

• Lunch - Moderate lighting is fine since you don't really want people to linger as you're trying to turn tables over quickly.

• Dinner - Low intensity light tends to work best for most restaurants since you want people to take time to enjoy their meal and unwind. This is especially true in a fine dining restaurant.

• Fast food and family restaurants - These kind of places should be well lit to provide a comfortable, bright and fun atmosphere.

• Theme restaurants - Use fun lighting such as colored lights to match the theme of your restaurant.

3. Bringing It Together with the Right Decor

The decor of your restaurant should reflect your personality and the overall tone of the restaurant. A pizza place and other casual dining spots generally reflect the personality of the owner. More upscale restaurants generally have a simple decor so as not to detract from the food and atmosphere. Whatever your decision is for the decor, you want to be consistent. Color schemes should match and your decor should match the overall feeling you want to create when someone walks in the door.

In Conclusion:

First impressions are important, especially when it comes to the restaurant business. It can be overwhelming when trying to select the right music, lighting, and decor for your restaurant. If you're not sure where to start, contact a professional designer to get some ideas to get you started. Get a few trusted opinions and get as much advice as you can. Take time to consider factors such as the theme of your restaurant, the type of mood you want to set and how practical your lighting choices really are. You want to create an atmosphere that displays your style and sets the right tone for your customers.

This is a guest post from Ian Said, founder of idealsoftware.co.za, a software development company specializing in Inventory Control and POS reporting solutions. Follow Ian on Twitter @costofsale or email Ian info@idealsoftware.co.za.

Using Inventory Control Effectively

August 2012 Issue of Ideal Software's Niche Notes, our FoodService industry newsletter.

IdealSoftwareNicheNotesAugust2012

7 Tips in Determining Restaurant Menu Content and Prices

There is one question that every restaurant owner has to address when setting up their business, and that is “How do I determine my restaurant menu content and prices?” While there are a number of considerations that can help you in answering this question, you need to be aware of the fact that it is by no means a static question.

In other words, setting the cost of the items on your menu (or resetting the cost of them) is something that will need to be done multiple times over the course of your establishment’s lifespan. But where do you start? The seven tips listed below should help you in getting started.

1) Determining COST:

In order to correctly determine the prices on your menu, it is important to be able to price your menu items properly. To do this it is imperative that you understand how to determine the cost of your products. This includes everything from wholesale product costs to delivery fees (when the item first shows up in your establishment) to cooking costs as well as wages and overhead in order to determine exactly what it costs for you to be able to provide this particular dish. While it may seem like a lot of work to do for every item on your menu, you may well be surprised to find out how much you are underselling. Once you have determined the costs you can then (taking into account your competition of course) determine a profitable price point.

2) It's All About the Price Point:

When you are starting out in the restaurant business, a good rule of thumb is to take the cost of each dish (see tip #1) and then double it or triple it (In South Africa, an acceptable cost of sale for food overall should be 32- 40% and beverage 25 – 35% giving an overall cost in the 30 – 37% range- if other costs such as labour and rent are below 10% each, you will still be able to be profitable with a food cost in the 45% region). Of course you will want to take into account what your competitors are charging for the same or similar items. In fact, when it comes to things like specialty desserts and coffees it is not unusual to see a 300% markup. So don’t be afraid to add a little extra. If you track your sales you will quickly be able to determine what the public is willing to pay and can adjust your prices accordingly.

3) Understanding the Price Barrier:

There is a point above which most customers will not go. This point is called “The Price Barrier.” While you may find some individuals who will buy the item, the bulk of those who eat with you will not touch it as it is not a good deal for them. While you may be able to get away with a slightly higher price if you specialize and produce something with a little extra (a steak with all the extras for example) most of your middle income customers will stay below this barrier.

4) Knowing Where to Display your Prices on the Menu:

The art of displaying your menu prices is one that depends a great deal on your individual establishment. While having a standard dish/price column may be expedient for diners to determine whether they can afford a dish, if you’re selling upscale foods you may want to have the price listed below the description of the item to make sure your customers read about the food before dismissing it out of hand.

5) Take Demographics into Consideration:

While considering the demographics may seem like something you would expect from a corporation of chain restaurants, know this; being able to determine what the class of diners that your establishment appeals to can help you determine what you should set for prices, and even how your menu should be designed. Upscale clients tend to pay more on the whole and prefer reading about their food before they decide whether or not to order it as opposed to those for whom price is the primary concern.

6) When Food Doesn't Sell:

It’s a horrible feeling when your food isn’t selling. However, there are ways to ensure that even the worst failure of a dish brings you some sort of return. One of the best ways to do this is to make the dish a “special” by placing it in a high visibility area of your menu, having your servers bring it to the diner’s attention, and by lowering the price (or even offering 2 for 1 deals) in order to get it moving. You can even take advantage of your Twitter or Facebook page or send out special email runs to regular customers in order to advertise your special. Who knows, you might have a sleeper hit brewing that just needs a little nudge!

7) How Prices Affect Establishment Image:

Keep in mind that choosing the price for your menu is a direct reflection on your establishment. It’s true! As much as we might not like to admit it, upscale establishments almost always cost more than middle or lower class establishments. The higher the prices, the fancier your clientele is going to expect your establishment to be. Can you deliver? Do you have the ambiance and the service to back up the high menu prices? If so, then go ahead and raise your prices; however, be prepared to lower them if your clientele decides that there is a point above which they cannot go.

These seven tips are by no means the only factors to be considered as you determine the pricing of your menu. However, by following the advice listed above, you will most certainly see a change in the profitability of your establishment. In a few short months you will see positive changes that you might never have thought possible. All it takes is a little time and attention to detail.

For more info on Ideal Software’s Inventory Management system for controlling food cost follow the link IdealStockControl