[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":3294},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-index":3},[4,283,504,700,1237,1600,2010,2304,2725,3002],{"id":5,"title":6,"alt":7,"author":8,"body":10,"categories":266,"createdAt":268,"description":269,"extension":270,"image":271,"meta":272,"navigation":273,"path":274,"seo":275,"stem":276,"tags":277,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":282},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-capable-and-confident-cook.md","The Capable, Confident Cook","Happy, confident cook at work",{"name":9},"Jason",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":257},"minimark",[13,18,22,34,37,65,68,75,78,98,102,109,112,115,122,125,129,132,146,149,156,159,167,171,174,180,186,189,213,224,228,231,242,245,248,251],[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"the-chaos","The chaos",[19,20,21],"p",{},"Working in a commercial kitchen is, on it's best day, a stressful occupation.",[19,23,24,25,29,30,33],{},"You spend countless hours in a cramped, hot box filled with fire, sharp metal, dull knives and edgy personalities. You battle a seemingly never-ending prep list, obey the printer (",[26,27,28],"em",{},"how much longer on that lead bill?","), scrub pots and mop floors. On a good day, everyone shows up for their shift and - ",[26,31,32],{},"gasp"," - they're on time.",[19,35,36],{},"Any given day, numerous factors can have a huge detrimental impact on your shift.",[38,39,40,49,57],"ul",{},[41,42,43,44],"li",{},"Someone not show up?\n",[38,45,46],{},[41,47,48],{},"Sweet, guess I'm not getting out of here on time today.",[41,50,51,52],{},"Burn your hand grabbing a pan in the middle of service?\n",[38,53,54],{},[41,55,56],{},"This is going to be a long shift.",[41,58,59,60],{},"Morning cook had to leave early and the dish area is a nightmare.\n",[38,61,62],{},[41,63,64],{},"Can you run some cutlery through? We're out!",[19,66,67],{},"Why, you ask, would any reasonable person wish to subject themselves to this consistently inconsistent occupation? The answer is actually really simple.",[19,69,70,71,74],{},"When the chaos is managed the right way, it's ",[26,72,73],{},"fun",". The music, the team, the intense pressure cooker that are restaurants can be an exhilarating thrill ride. Those same variables that could wildly impact your shift? They also make it so work isn't the same, boring, punch-in punch-out type of job.",[19,76,77],{},"However, when the chaos is left unchecked, every shift quickly becomes a burden for a cook. Often times, the absence of clearly communicated job descriptions, expectations and accountabilities for a position leads to internal strife.",[38,79,80,83,95],{},[41,81,82],{},"Why is the new cook getting 37 hours and I only have 34 this week?",[41,84,85,86,89,90,94],{},"I ",[26,87,88],{},"despise"," closing with ",[91,92,93],"span",{},"'insert anyone'",". They just disappear and I'm always left doing the fryers.",[41,96,97],{},"How come nobody told me we were hiring a new Sous Chef? I've been here for years and wanted to apply.",[14,99,101],{"id":100},"canary-in-the-coal-mine","Canary in the coal mine",[19,103,104,105,108],{},"Imagine you're stewing on the above, working your 6th split shift this week (",[26,106,107],{},"still"," only 34 hours) and your Chef pulls you into the office to write you up for not cleaning the mop sink the night prior. How appreciated or valued do you feel? How long until you dust off your resume and submit it at a restaurant where your friend just started and put in a good word with the Chef?",[19,110,111],{},"Most people leave jobs because they don't feel appreciated or valued. Everyone wants to have a voice, do a great job and help make a positive impact on the team. The trouble starts when cooks don't know what they're accountable for and what a great job looks like. Everyone has a role to play and failure to provide clear expectations and consistent coaching sets cooks up for failure.",[19,113,114],{},"Ever had a disciplinary conversation with a cook and they seemed absolutely bewildered by it because they thought they were doing a great job? That should be your canary in the coal mine that there is an opportunity to better outline and communicate accountability.",[19,116,117,118,121],{},"Attracting, filtering through and training new applicants to replace outgoing bodies is an expensive process. Someone has to manage the ads, conduct the interviews then tax your already short-staffed crew with training the new hire on \"",[26,119,120],{},"what they normally do","\".",[19,123,124],{},"Let's avoid that as much as possible and focus on staff retention!",[14,126,128],{"id":127},"communicating-accountability","Communicating accountability",[19,130,131],{},"You, above anyone else, need to feel confident with your team and clearly articulate your specific expectations for the role. There are multiple ways to accomplish this. Here are some of my favourites!",[38,133,134,137,140,143],{},[41,135,136],{},"RACI chart",[41,138,139],{},"Job description & outline",[41,141,142],{},"General knowledge quiz",[41,144,145],{},"Plating guides",[19,147,148],{},"The more information you can provide to your team, the easier it is to review and action any follow-up necessary as they progress through their training.",[19,150,151,152,155],{},"As a cook, it gives me a clear list of daily tasks and objectives to focus on each shift. I know that if I get through my tasks (",[26,153,154],{},"and help the team",") I'm doing a great job, which helps me feel and become more confident.",[19,157,158],{},"Added bonus? It's easy for you to review job performances and celebrate the wins with everyone! It's nice to hear that you're doing a good job, even if it's an assigned part of your role.",[38,160,161,164],{},[41,162,163],{},"Awesome job cleaning out the oven last night! Way to tackle the weekly cleaning.",[41,165,166],{},"Nice job clearing out the prep list today!",[14,168,170],{"id":169},"consistent-documented-coaching","Consistent, documented coaching",[19,172,173],{},"The places I chose to work at while apprenticing offered more than a cheque. They provided me a place to learn, to be creative and made to feel like my input mattered. All of that was worth it's weight in canola oil!",[19,175,176,177,179],{},"Like we mentioned above, being a cook is supposed to be ",[26,178,73],{},". If you're someone who is eager to learn and wants to improve, what happens when work becomes stagnant? What if every day feels the same and there doesn't seem to be any growth opportunities? There's a good chance you're going to apply elsewhere.",[19,181,182,183,121],{},"Challenge your team to grow. One of my favourite sayings from my father is \"",[26,184,185],{},"You want someone to be responsible? Give them responsibility.",[19,187,188],{},"If you want a position or a specific person to learn how to place orders, how are you training them? Who's training them each time? Is the training repeatable and consistent? Here are some ways to help impact this:",[38,190,191,205],{},[41,192,193,194],{},"Standardized training\n",[38,195,196,199,202],{},[41,197,198],{},"E.g. New cooks always start on Tuesday on a 10:00AM - 6:00PM",[41,200,201],{},"Come up with a list of key, important tasks assigned to their position and outlined as focal points on their training shifts.",[41,203,204],{},"Provide cooks an opportunity to provide feedback during their training",[41,206,207,208],{},"Performance reviews at set intervals\n",[38,209,210],{},[41,211,212],{},"Allow for two-way feedback. Are there tasks they feel they are struggling with? Is there anything we can do to help support? Document this.",[19,214,215,216,219,220,223],{},"Standardized training ",[26,217,218],{},"can"," and ",[26,221,222],{},"should"," always be reviewed and improved upon. The feedback cycle from cooks is invaluble in this process. The more refined the training, the faster you will be able to onboard great hires while simultaneously redirecting the wrong candidates away. New applicants that successfully complete the training will instantly make a positive impact on the team and be much more confident in their capabilities.",[14,225,227],{"id":226},"the-challenge","The challenge",[19,229,230],{},"When you get a moment, take a deep look at the current operational depth of your kitchen roster. Try to identify gaps in knowledge, ability or number of people trained on a given task. For example:",[38,232,233,236,239],{},[41,234,235],{},"Who can work what stations?",[41,237,238],{},"Who knows how to place orders?",[41,240,241],{},"Who knows how to write the schedule?",[19,243,244],{},"E.g. If only 1 person knows how to place orders, what happens to the budget when they're sick and the person with no idea is on the phone with your supplier?",[19,246,247],{},"Once you've identified the areas of opportunity to improve on, review your current training materials. Make sure that every task important to your operation is assigned to a role and can be taught in the same way with each cook. Once you're confident in your materials, start addressing the shortcomings in depth you noted by scheduling the training with your team.",[19,249,250],{},"The end result? A team of confident, capable cooks that you can trust are adhering to your expectations. The better the morale, the better the retention resulting in lower labour costs. Production costs go down as well, as the team is more skilled and multiple people are trained to positively impact all levels of the kitchen.",[19,252,253,254,256],{},"The work? It's still chaos. However, now that it's managed well with a strong supporting cast of confident, capable cooks on my team, it all gets a little more ",[26,255,73],{},".",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":260},"",2,[261,262,263,264,265],{"id":16,"depth":259,"text":17},{"id":100,"depth":259,"text":101},{"id":127,"depth":259,"text":128},{"id":169,"depth":259,"text":170},{"id":226,"depth":259,"text":227},[267],"articles","2022-10-12","Learn how to develop a team of capable and confident cooks","md","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-10-1.jpg",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-capable-and-confident-cook",{"title":6,"description":269},"blog\u002Fthe-capable-and-confident-cook",[278,279,280],"training","kitchen","staffing",null,"-fC6t7ce6HErxSD1By6nEXHehEj5jj23bXTbv2u6pDs",{"id":284,"title":285,"alt":286,"author":287,"body":288,"categories":493,"createdAt":494,"description":495,"extension":270,"image":496,"meta":497,"navigation":273,"path":498,"seo":499,"stem":500,"tags":501,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":503},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-maverick.md","The Maverick","Person standing out from the crowd",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":289,"toc":486},[290,294,311,319,322,326,329,344,351,355,358,376,383,394,398,407,413,424,438,442,445,448,470,473,476,483],[14,291,293],{"id":292},"what-is-a-maverick","What is a maverick?",[19,295,296,297,307,308,256],{},"Merriam-Webster lists the essential meaning of ",[298,299,303,304],"a",{"href":300,"rel":301},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.merriam-webster.com\u002Fdictionary\u002Fmaverick",[302],"nofollow"," ",[26,305,306],{},"maverick"," as ",[26,309,310],{},"\"a person who refuses to follow the customs or rules of a group\"",[19,312,313,314,318],{},"At first glance, that sounds like a pretty poor employee candidate. Someone who refuses to follow the customs or rules? Good luck getting them to fill out the Waste Sheet consistently. ",[315,316,317],"strong",{},"We have rules in place for a reason, darn it!"," There's no way we're going to hire or continue to employ this person!",[19,320,321],{},"If we look past the surface meaning of the word, though, we can start to unravel the benefits that a maverick can bring to the table!",[14,323,325],{"id":324},"enter-the-maverick","Enter, The Maverick",[19,327,328],{},"Cooking at it's core is an art-form. A trade that for many of us requires years of dedication to the practice mixed in with years of technical training. You have to really love and appreciate the intracacies of the art to really persevere and have a long career.",[19,330,331,332,335,336,339,340,343],{},"There are those among us, though, that just have ",[26,333,334],{},"\"it\"",". The ",[26,337,338],{},"\"je ne sais quoi\"",". I like to call it ",[26,341,342],{},"\"the magic eye\"",", the ability to see and address the needs and issues in a kitchen so effortlessly that watching it is truly awe-inspiring. Whether that be from enhancing our current internal systems (think: more consistent training, real-time positive staff engagement, impacting bill times, HR reviews) to implementing entirely new changes (introducing periodic inventory counts, development of training guides, etc.). That's one of the best parts about the hospitality industry! We can always strive to be better today than we were yesterday.",[19,345,346,347,350],{},"This is also precisely where a maverick can flourish! A maverick hates to hear ",[26,348,349],{},"\"this is how we've always done it\"",". They can appreciate it, sure, but do they care? Not if they think their idea is better or more beneficial for the restaurant. A maverick hates to be painted into a corner with rules and procedures if they believe they can accomplish the same tasks more efficiently and consistently.",[14,352,354],{"id":353},"spotting-the-maverick","Spotting The Maverick",[19,356,357],{},"Mavericks are typically extremely passionate about their craft, their tools and their working environment.",[359,360,361,367,370,373],"ol",{},[41,362,363,364,121],{},"\"The side plates are easier to grab from the line if we stack them ",[26,365,366],{},"HERE",[41,368,369],{},"\"Let's change the plating of (insert dish) to use this edible garnish instead of your dehydrated kale and flimsly orange slice\".",[41,371,372],{},"\"I know it's expensive, but we can charge a few extra bucks for it!\".",[41,374,375],{},"\"What if we did it THIS way instead?\".",[19,377,378,379,382],{},"If you've heard any of the above or something similar, chances are you've spotted your very own maverick! ",[315,380,381],{},"Don't be frightened","! You'll only scare them away.",[19,384,385,386,389,390,393],{},"A lot of visionaries are overlooked or scoffed at originally, precisely for failing to ",[26,387,388],{},"\"follow the customs or rules\"",". Lore has it that Vincent Van Gogh only sold 1 painting while alive, though his work is now worth millions. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and his first business actually flopped miserably! The list of people who didn't conform to ",[26,391,392],{},"\"the norm\""," and act accordingly is long and exhaustive. These are perfect examples of mavericks and how their contributions via their chosen mediums took their respective industries by storm!",[14,395,397],{"id":396},"guidance-and-direction","Guidance and direction",[19,399,400,401,219,404,256],{},"A maverick can be either a blessing or a curse (depending on the individual, sometimes both!). While mavericks hate to be told what to do, they can be incredibly productive with the right amount of ",[26,402,403],{},"guidance",[26,405,406],{},"direction",[19,408,409,410,256],{},"Frank Bunker Gilbreth once famously stated that he ",[26,411,412],{},"\"will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job, because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it\"",[19,414,415,416,419,420,423],{},"Now, that's not to say that your maverick is lazy. Quite the opposite, actually! They just hate that pesky ",[26,417,418],{},"\"running a business\""," thing that always gets in the way of their ",[26,421,422],{},"real"," work of bettering the menu, the staff and the restaurant as a whole.",[19,425,426,427,430,431,434,435,256],{},"Instead of telling a maverick exactly ",[26,428,429],{},"how"," to accomplish a task, try explaining to them the desired end-goal, the direction you wish to see and let them come up with some solutions. You'll probably be shocked at the results! For example, let's imagine the overall state of your kitchen cleanliness currently is less than optimal (staffing has been brutal) and you wish to see it cleaned up and kept that way. Rather than telling your maverick to clean it up and stay on top of it \"or else\", try engaging with them to get their opinions and feedback. Asking them, ",[26,432,433],{},"\"how do you think we can accomplish this\""," goes a lot further than, ",[26,436,437],{},"\"you need to do it because it's your job\"",[14,439,441],{"id":440},"accountability-ownership","Accountability & Ownership",[19,443,444],{},"Accountability and extreme ownership of items should be your mountain to die on, figuratively speaking, when dealing with a maverick in the wild. This is what will separate the keepers from the catch-and-release variety. Everyone can say what they want and offer up ideas, but the proof is in the pudding. It's equally important for a culinary maverick to feel supported as it is for them to be accountable for their actions and decisions.",[19,446,447],{},"Once you've tasked a maverick with coming up with solutions and chosen an option, it's up to you to hold them accountable for the execution of it and the accompanying results.",[38,449,450,460],{},[41,451,452,455],{},[315,453,454],{},"Things not go exactly as planned?",[38,456,457],{},[41,458,459],{},"Review what went wrong and how you can prevent it together in the future",[41,461,462,465],{},[315,463,464],{},"Things go as expected or, hopefully, even better?",[38,466,467],{},[41,468,469],{},"Praise them publicly! Let them know what a great job they did.",[19,471,472],{},"A maverick you're going to want to hold on to will accept the consequences, positive or negative, of their actions and strive to learn from their experiences. By allowing them to come up with, implement and execute their own solutions to problems you're simultaneously instilling them with extreme ownership of the item. It's their solution. The buy-in is going to be 100%.",[19,474,475],{},"If it doesn't work out, it's easy to follow up with them and offer up a different solution without receiving much backlash or resistance. Their idea was tried and didn't work, so we're going to pivot and try another solution.",[19,477,478,479,482],{},"When it ",[26,480,481],{},"does"," work out, though, all a maverick really needs is praise and freedom. Praise on the job well done and the freedom to continue to make changes where they see necessary that benefits the restaurant as a whole.",[19,484,485],{},"You can never fully tame a maverick. Sure, they might come to roost at your location for a period of time, but ultimately you're dealing with a wild creature. They need the freedom to be creative and make changes but also require your support and guidance in the beginning. As long as you can provide them those basic necesseties, they'll continue to call your restaurant home and you'll forever be the beneficiary of their passion and hard work.",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":487},[488,489,490,491,492],{"id":292,"depth":259,"text":293},{"id":324,"depth":259,"text":325},{"id":353,"depth":259,"text":354},{"id":396,"depth":259,"text":397},{"id":440,"depth":259,"text":441},[267],"2021-12-05","Telltale signs your employee is a Maverick, and why that's not always a bad thing","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-9-1.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-maverick",{"title":285,"description":495},"blog\u002Fthe-maverick",[280,502,278],"labour","CeeESMRIUULq9afSlVU2tDxrPVnHXdVVo4NQ6ItnFE0",{"id":505,"title":506,"alt":507,"author":508,"body":509,"categories":687,"createdAt":689,"description":690,"extension":270,"image":691,"meta":692,"navigation":273,"path":693,"seo":694,"stem":695,"tags":696,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":699},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Frelease-notes-2021-10-07.md","Recent updates, upgrades and patches","Excited children cheering while looking at a computer monitor",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":510,"toc":680},[511,518,521,528,532,538,544,547,550,554,560,566,573,579,582,602,606,609,642,646,649,668,672],[19,512,513,514,517],{},"We've been working around the clock to continue growing and shaping ",[315,515,516],{},"DigiChef",", and we're ecstatic to share with you some new features, a few quality of life upgrades, and some general bug fixes!",[19,519,520],{},"In addition to the items mentioned below, we're also currently beta-testing PDF invoice imports! We really want to continue to help make digesting purchasing information as fast, easy and consistent as possible and we can't wait to get that feature out into the world soon.",[19,522,523],{},[524,525],"img",{"alt":526,"src":527},"Reviewing Release Notes And Features","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-8-2.jpg",[14,529,531],{"id":530},"new-alerts-notifications","New: Alerts & Notifications",[19,533,534,535,537],{},"We've introduced a real-time, live notifications and alerts system with ",[315,536,516],{},"! On the top-right navigation bar, you'll now see a bell icon with a number badge. This number indicates how many unread notifications you have!",[19,539,540],{},[524,541],{"alt":542,"src":543},"An Example Invoice Notification","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-8-3.jpg",[19,545,546],{},"Currently, these notifications are triggered each time we automatically import and process an invoice. The notification provides you with a snapshot of the invoice total and date. To view the invoice details, click on the notification link to expand it's information.",[19,548,549],{},"Looking forward, we have big plans for this feature. These will play an integral role as we incorporate the PDF invoice imports!",[14,551,553],{"id":552},"new-ingredient-cost-performance","New: Ingredient Cost Performance",[19,555,556,557,559],{},"With ",[315,558,516],{},", you've always been able to see your recipe costs, whether that be combined costs, by individual recipe, or even by ingredient. Ensuring your access to high quality, detailed information about your menu is one of our core pillars.",[19,561,562,563],{},"With that in mind, ",[315,564,565],{},"we took things to a whole new level.",[19,567,568,569,572],{},"We're really happy to introduce ingredient cost and performance tracking! You can now click on the information button for any ingredient to view it's ",[26,570,571],{},"cost performance"," over the last 13 months!",[19,574,575],{},[524,576],{"alt":577,"src":578},"An Example Ingredient Performance Tracking","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-8-4.jpg",[19,580,581],{},"Use this information to:",[38,583,584,590,596],{},[41,585,586,589],{},[26,587,588],{},"View pricing trends"," that are negatively impacting the cost of the ingredient,",[41,591,592,595],{},[26,593,594],{},"Compare the current cost"," of the ingredient to the average",[41,597,598,601],{},[26,599,600],{},"Inspect"," how your current price stacks up against the same time period last year.",[14,603,605],{"id":604},"updates","Updates",[19,607,608],{},"Your feedback really matters to us here at DigiChef HQ, and we use it to help shape the platform! With that in mind, here's a quick list of updates and enhancements we've made in this latest release:",[38,610,611,630,633,636,639],{},[41,612,613,614,617,618,219,621,624,625],{},"Added more detailed shipping information, such as the ",[26,615,616],{},"pack",", ",[26,619,620],{},"size",[26,622,623],{},"uom"," when adding a product to an invoice and inventory counts.\n",[38,626,627],{},[41,628,629],{},"Does something look wrong with the information? We've made the product name a link to that product page. Click on it, make any changes necessary and use your browser's \"back\" button to pick up where you left off!",[41,631,632],{},"Added tooltips to all of the ingredient buttons when interacting with a Recipe or Prep Recipe",[41,634,635],{},"Products you mark as \"archived\" will now be highlighted on the invoice summary emails. Use this information to catch when a substitute or wrong product has been ordered!",[41,637,638],{},"The Recipe and Prep Recipe names on the products page are now links to their respective pages",[41,640,641],{},"Added more preparation styles and methods available for you to use when adding an ingredient!",[14,643,645],{"id":644},"fixes","Fixes",[19,647,648],{},"It's embarassing, but we're not afraid to admit when something isn't working correct! Here's a list of bugfixes that we squashed in this release:",[38,650,651,654,661],{},[41,652,653],{},"Fixed an issue that prevented you from entering a quantity of less than 1 when manually adding a product to an invoice",[41,655,656,657,660],{},"Fixed an issue where deleting a prep recipe did not ",[26,658,659],{},"automatically"," recalculate the associated recipe or prep recipe costing",[41,662,663,664,667],{},"Fixed an issue where deleting a line item, when the product was ",[26,665,666],{},"charged by weight",", from an invoice did not update the total invoice value correctly",[14,669,671],{"id":670},"summary","Summary",[19,673,674,675,679],{},"We're always working hard to make DigiChef the best tool possible for managing your restaurant's back-of-house, and keeping your food costs in check. We'd love to hear from you, so if you'd like to get in touch with any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to ",[298,676,678],{"href":677},"\u002Fcontact\u002F","contact us","!",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":681},[682,683,684,685,686],{"id":530,"depth":259,"text":531},{"id":552,"depth":259,"text":553},{"id":604,"depth":259,"text":605},{"id":644,"depth":259,"text":645},{"id":670,"depth":259,"text":671},[688],"product updates","2021-10-07","A review of all the new features, updated favourites and bugs fixed around DigiChef.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-8-1.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Frelease-notes-2021-10-07",{"title":506,"description":690},"blog\u002Frelease-notes-2021-10-07",[697,698],"release-notes","news","pJM2co19WMhero7dMNxuj1arLp7qChHYRMJsRcLhLjo",{"id":701,"title":702,"alt":703,"author":704,"body":705,"categories":1225,"createdAt":1226,"description":1227,"extension":270,"image":1228,"meta":1229,"navigation":273,"path":1230,"seo":1231,"stem":1232,"tags":1233,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":1236},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgive-your-menu-a-5-minute-health-check.md","Give Your Menu a 5-Minute Health Check","Well costed restaurant menu with high profit margins",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":706,"toc":1217},[707,711,714,720,730,733,737,740,758,862,869,873,888,894,905,908,1039,1043,1050,1055,1069,1074,1077,1080,1083,1086,1090,1097,1100,1201,1205,1208,1211],[14,708,710],{"id":709},"_5-minutes-and-a-cup-of-coffee","5 minutes and a cup of coffee",[19,712,713],{},"Here's a fun fact for you: anytime a reputable hospitality consultant interacts with a new client, they're able to identify most of the main issues within the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee (or tea).",[19,715,716,717],{},"That's it! ",[315,718,719],{},"That's all it takes.",[19,721,722,725,726,729],{},[26,723,724],{},"How is that possible?"," What sort of extensive schooling or advanced technical insight allow them to discover the issues so quickly? ",[26,727,728],{},"You've"," been staring at the numbers for weeks and are struggling to figure out why the food cost is going up.",[19,731,732],{},"From a high-level perspective, it's remarkably simple. I'll show you how!",[14,734,736],{"id":735},"step-1-review-the-last-30-days-of-food-purchases","Step 1 - Review the last 30 days of food purchases",[19,738,739],{},"Many times, this is presented as a stack of invoices from various different suppliers and distributors. Your consultant will quickly jot down the names of each supplier in an Excel or Google Sheets table, and then start plotting invoice values and dates into their respective columns, totalling the amounts.",[19,741,742,743,749,750,757],{},"If you're a current ",[298,744,747],{"href":745,"rel":746},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.digichef.co",[302],[315,748,516],{}," subscriber, we take care of this for you automatically! If you're comfortable with ",[315,751,752],{},[298,753,756],{"href":754,"rel":755},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.microsoft.com\u002Fen-CA\u002Fmicrosoft-365\u002Fexcel",[302],"Excel",", you can do this with a simple table like the one below:",[759,760,761,783],"table",{},[762,763,764],"thead",{},[765,766,767,771,774,777,780],"tr",{},[768,769,770],"th",{},"Invoice Date",[768,772,773],{},"Sysco",[768,775,776],{},"GFS",[768,778,779],{},"Islands West",[768,781,782],{},"Snowcap",[784,785,786,802,818,832,845],"tbody",{},[765,787,788,792,795,797,800],{},[789,790,791],"td",{},"July 1",[789,793,794],{},"$2,258.28",[789,796],{},[789,798,799],{},"$352.93",[789,801],{},[765,803,804,807,809,812,815],{},[789,805,806],{},"July 2",[789,808],{},[789,810,811],{},"$1,712.55",[789,813,814],{},"$155.86",[789,816,817],{},"$510.01",[765,819,820,823,826,828,830],{},[789,821,822],{},"July 3",[789,824,825],{},"$2,981.77",[789,827],{},[789,829],{},[789,831],{},[765,833,834,837,839,841,843],{},[789,835,836],{},"---",[789,838,836],{},[789,840,836],{},[789,842,836],{},[789,844,836],{},[765,846,847,852,855,857,860],{},[789,848,849],{},[315,850,851],{},"Totals:",[789,853,854],{},"$5,240.05",[789,856,811],{},[789,858,859],{},"$508.79",[789,861,817],{},[19,863,864,865,868],{},"It's important to not only get the total amounts, but also the ",[26,866,867],{},"date"," of the purchases. This helps to visualize the overall trend or direction of your purchasing efforts, for example: is the food cost on track to increase or decrease?",[14,870,872],{"id":871},"step-2-review-the-last-30-days-of-food-sales","Step 2 - Review the last 30 days of food sales",[19,874,875,876,879,880,883,884,887],{},"This is best done with a detailed ",[315,877,878],{},"Sales Mix Analysis"," that most Point of Sale platforms can easily generate. These reports can often be exported as either a ",[315,881,882],{},"PDF"," or ",[315,885,886],{},"CSV"," type file.",[889,890,891],"blockquote",{},[19,892,893],{},"A CSV is a 'Comma-Separated Value' file, which is a very simple, universal type of spreadsheet stored as a text file. Each column of the sheet is separated be a comma, indicating where each column ends, and the next begins.",[19,895,896,897,900,901,904],{},"If you've never worked with a Sales Mix Analysis document before, it's a consolidated look at the ",[315,898,899],{},"total sales volumes"," for each menu ",[26,902,903],{},"(or beverage)"," item, broken down by number of units, and total fiscal earnings.",[19,906,907],{},"E.g.:",[759,909,910,923],{},[762,911,912],{},[765,913,914,917,920],{},[768,915,916],{},"Menu Item",[768,918,919],{},"Quantity Sold",[768,921,922],{},"Value ($)",[784,924,925,936,947,955,968,976,987,998,1006,1019,1027],{},[765,926,927,930,933],{},[789,928,929],{},"Garden greens",[789,931,932],{},"174",[789,934,935],{},"$ 2,610",[765,937,938,941,944],{},[789,939,940],{},"Cobb salad",[789,942,943],{},"114",[789,945,946],{},"$ 1,824",[765,948,949,951,953],{},[789,950,836],{},[789,952,836],{},[789,954,836],{},[765,956,957,962,965],{},[789,958,959],{},[315,960,961],{},"Salad Totals:",[789,963,964],{},"288",[789,966,967],{},"$ 4,434",[765,969,970,972,974],{},[789,971,836],{},[789,973,836],{},[789,975,836],{},[765,977,978,981,984],{},[789,979,980],{},"Burger - Chicken",[789,982,983],{},"375",[789,985,986],{},"$6,750",[765,988,989,992,995],{},[789,990,991],{},"Burger - Beef",[789,993,994],{},"512",[789,996,997],{},"$9,216",[765,999,1000,1002,1004],{},[789,1001,836],{},[789,1003,836],{},[789,1005,836],{},[765,1007,1008,1013,1016],{},[789,1009,1010],{},[315,1011,1012],{},"Burger Totals:",[789,1014,1015],{},"887",[789,1017,1018],{},"$15,966",[765,1020,1021,1023,1025],{},[789,1022,836],{},[789,1024,836],{},[789,1026,836],{},[765,1028,1029,1034,1036],{},[789,1030,1031],{},[315,1032,1033],{},"Total Sales:",[789,1035],{},[789,1037,1038],{},"$20,400",[14,1040,1042],{"id":1041},"step-3-get-the-current-raw-food-cost-percentage","Step 3 - Get the current Raw Food Cost percentage",[19,1044,1045,1046,1049],{},"Your ",[315,1047,1048],{},"Raw Food Cost"," (RFC) percentage can also be interpreted as the amount, per dollar of food revenues, that is spent on actually creating the dish itself.",[889,1051,1052],{},[19,1053,1054],{},"RFC Percentage = (Food Purchases \u002F Food Sales x 100)",[19,1056,1057,1058,1061,1062,1065,1066],{},"If we use our purchase totals from ",[315,1059,1060],{},"Step 1"," ($7,971.40) and our sales totals from ",[315,1063,1064],{},"Step 2"," ($20,400) in the formula above, we end up with the following RFC percentage: ",[315,1067,1068],{},"39.08%",[889,1070,1071],{},[19,1072,1073],{},"39.08% = (7,971.40 \u002F 20,400 * 100)",[19,1075,1076],{},"So what should your Raw Food Cost ideally be?",[19,1078,1079],{},"The answer actually varies based on your service type, and your main revenue drivers. If your ratio of alcohol to food sales is 60 \u002F 40, it's okay to run a slightly higher food cost, in the 34% - 36% range. You're going to make up the the slight loss in profit margin with amazing profit margins on your beverage sales!",[19,1081,1082],{},"If your ratio of alcohol to food sales is 50 \u002F 50 or less, you ideally would like to return an ending food cost of 29% to 33%.",[19,1084,1085],{},"Given that information, we can see that our Raw Food Cost of 39.08% is high!",[14,1087,1089],{"id":1088},"step-4-menu-engineering-systems-review","Step 4 - Menu engineering & systems review",[19,1091,1092,1093,1096],{},"Given that we know our RFC is high, and we know that's just the total food purchases divided by the total food sales, what can we do to figure out the ",[26,1094,1095],{},"why"," behind it?",[19,1098,1099],{},"It's easy! We can surmise that our issue will stem from one or all of the following things:",[359,1101,1102,1139,1155],{},[41,1103,1104,1107],{},[315,1105,1106],{},"Improper menu engineering",[38,1108,1109,1112,1118,1136],{},[41,1110,1111],{},"The most likely culprit",[41,1113,1114,1115,1117],{},"Looking at our ",[315,1116,878],{},", we want to focus our attention on the highest volume items. Which items are we selling the most of?",[41,1119,1120,1121,1126,1127],{},"Make sure those high volume menu items have ",[298,1122,1125],{"href":1123,"rel":1124},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.digichef.co\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-you-should-be-continuously-costing-your-restaurants-recipes",[302],"recently costed recipes"," and that you're charging a proper amount on your menu! Ingredients change price every single day! ",[26,1128,1129,1130,1135],{},"(",[298,1131,1133],{"href":745,"rel":1132},[302],[315,1134,516],{}," subscribers see these on their invoice emails!)",[41,1137,1138],{},"If the bulk of your sales are made up of items that exceed your target RFC, it doesn't matter how great the rest of the menu is costed. You'll never be able to achieve target costs!",[41,1140,1141,1144],{},[315,1142,1143],{},"Lack of portion controls",[38,1145,1146,1149,1152],{},[41,1147,1148],{},"The second most likely culprit, and definite partner in crime",[41,1150,1151],{},"Is your kitchen currently using a portion guide? Do all of the cooks know how much that portion of roast beef is supposed to weigh? Are we weighing high-cost items like the shredded cheese?",[41,1153,1154],{},"How often do you spot-check these weights? Grab 5 of the same portioned item and weigh them out - are they all within spec range?",[41,1156,1157,1160],{},[315,1158,1159],{},"Food Waste",[38,1161,1162,1191,1194],{},[41,1163,1164,1165],{},"Are you currently tracking the food waste? If you're not, you should be! Review these sheets to spot trends. E.g.,\n",[38,1166,1167,1179],{},[41,1168,1169,1172],{},[26,1170,1171],{},"Are we constantly throwing out produce?",[38,1173,1174],{},[41,1175,1176,256],{},[315,1177,1178],{},"Update your ordering par levels",[41,1180,1181,1184],{},[26,1182,1183],{},"Do we consistently overcook the poultry?",[38,1185,1186],{},[41,1187,1188,256],{},[315,1189,1190],{},"Time for a meat cooking training session",[41,1192,1193],{},"Does your kitchen get free staff meals? If so, are they recording them somewhere?",[41,1195,1196,1197,1200],{},"Who makes the staff meals? Are they making ",[26,1198,1199],{},"\"creations\""," that consume 2 or more protein or high-value items?",[14,1202,1204],{"id":1203},"no-hidden-secrets","No hidden secrets",[19,1206,1207],{},"If your RFC is high, it's practically guaranteed to be one of the 3 items mentioned above. That's why it's so easy for a consultant to come in and identify the issues - they're the same everywhere you go! The problems you are encountering are not specific to you. Everyone who's been involved in the hospitality industry has faced these same challenges!",[19,1209,1210],{},"By following the troubleshooting steps listed above you can expect to start lowering your food costs again. Get into the rhythm of recording your purchasing in something as simple as a table, periodically reviewing your sales mix and keeping your high-volume recipe costs up to date.",[19,1212,1213,1214,256],{},"Do it enough times, and you'll soon find yourself finishing a review over a cup of coffee ",[26,1215,1216],{},"(or tea)",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":1218},[1219,1220,1221,1222,1223,1224],{"id":709,"depth":259,"text":710},{"id":735,"depth":259,"text":736},{"id":871,"depth":259,"text":872},{"id":1041,"depth":259,"text":1042},{"id":1088,"depth":259,"text":1089},{"id":1203,"depth":259,"text":1204},[267],"2021-09-12","Learn how to check your menu's vitals like a Pro, and know when you should be concerned.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-7-1.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fgive-your-menu-a-5-minute-health-check",{"title":702,"description":1227},"blog\u002Fgive-your-menu-a-5-minute-health-check",[1234,1235],"menu engineering","food costing","8TD7wZjqD_UtNEtvJ4I62DHBZyuDvndIsLbMPhGFVaU",{"id":1238,"title":1239,"alt":1240,"author":1241,"body":1242,"categories":1589,"createdAt":1590,"description":1591,"extension":270,"image":1592,"meta":1593,"navigation":273,"path":1594,"seo":1595,"stem":1596,"tags":1597,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":1599},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fbuilding-championship-culture.md","Building Winning Cultures in Your Kitchens","Happy chefs in a well running restaurant kitchen",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":1243,"toc":1582},[1244,1247,1258,1261,1268,1271,1274,1289,1293,1305,1325,1329,1332,1335,1399,1402,1408,1412,1483,1487,1496,1499,1502,1545,1552,1559,1563,1566,1573,1576,1579],[19,1245,1246],{},"One of my Sous Chefs and I used to relate building a kitchen team to the process of building a championship NHL team. There are a ton of similarities!",[19,1248,1249,1250,1253,1254,1257],{},"Cooking in a commercial restaurant is a team sport; everyone loves to win and be a part of a winning team! No bill times over 15 minutes during that rush? ",[315,1251,1252],{},"Put it in the win column",". Food cost came in under target this week? ",[315,1255,1256],{},"Chalk up another 'W'",". Celebrate the wins with your team publicly and proudly! They're huge accomplishments.",[19,1259,1260],{},"Morale and culture is one of the greatest intangibles in sport. You can watch a demoralized team, hockey or kitchen, start to fall apart when momentum shifts. But all it can take is a few good shifts and an injection of belief to help turn the tide!",[19,1262,1263,1264,1267],{},"Anyone who has watched hockey for awhile also knows that teams that win consistently have ",[26,1265,1266],{},"depth",". That is to say, that for every position occupied there is someone else that knows it like the back of their hand, ready to step in at the drop of a hat. This doesn't just happen - it's the result of a lot of hard work and training.",[19,1269,1270],{},"To accomplish this, you need to have strong, solid leadership to provide guidance and direction, a few veteran anchors for stability , and a supporting cast of junior apprentices.",[19,1272,1273],{},"What's also important to note is that winning cultures can't be bought or imported. Culture isn't a problem you can just throw money at and hope it turns amazing.",[19,1275,1276,1277,1280,1281,1284,1285,1288],{},"Just like a hockey team, restaurants also have a \"salary cap\" to contend with. There is a maximum amount they can afford to pay and retain staff. That strong leadership? ",[315,1278,1279],{},"That's most likely a salaried position."," Those key veteran anchors we mentioned? ",[315,1282,1283],{},"They're gonna cost you more than your average cooks",". You're going to need to rely on that depth, utilizing your supporting (",[26,1286,1287],{},"and probably less expensive",") cooks and training systems!",[14,1290,1292],{"id":1291},"where-do-we-get-started","Where do we get started?",[19,1294,1295,1296,617,1299,219,1302,256],{},"Winning cultures are created with a mix of ",[26,1297,1298],{},"structure",[26,1300,1301],{},"support",[26,1303,1304],{},"opportunity",[359,1306,1307,1313,1319],{},[41,1308,1309,1312],{},[315,1310,1311],{},"Structure",", so that members of the team know what's expected of them and they are provided a clear path towards personal and professional advancement.",[41,1314,1315,1318],{},[315,1316,1317],{},"Support",", so that members of the team aren't afraid of making mistakes, and instead view them as learning opportunities.",[41,1320,1321,1324],{},[315,1322,1323],{},"Opportunity",", to grow and develop into leaders within the team and organization. Provide ongoing feedback, coaching and development opportunities to keep staff actively engaged in the success of the restaurant!",[14,1326,1328],{"id":1327},"provide-a-structured-training-foundation","Provide a structured training foundation",[19,1330,1331],{},"No different than playing hockey, everyone on the team has a job to do! Make those jobs easier by clearly explaining what they look like and the tasks they are comprised of.",[19,1333,1334],{},"At the very least, you should offer some semblance of the following:",[38,1336,1337,1351,1379],{},[41,1338,1339,303,1342,1345,1346],{},[315,1340,1341],{},"Unique job descriptions for each position",[26,1343,1344],{},"(1st Cook, 2nd Cook, Sous Chef, Head Chef)",".\n",[38,1347,1348],{},[41,1349,1350],{},"These should detail the expected daily\u002Fweekly duties for the position in clear terms.",[41,1352,1353,1356],{},[315,1354,1355],{},"A detailed Training Guide for each position.",[38,1357,1358,1361],{},[41,1359,1360],{},"Each new staff member should undergo identical, measurable and recorded training days.",[41,1362,1363,1364],{},"E.g.:\n",[38,1365,1366,1373],{},[41,1367,1368,1369,1372],{},"Day 1 consists of ",[26,1370,1371],{},"Orientation, Store Walk-Through, Location of Fire Extinguishers, Safety Exits, etc.",",",[41,1374,1375,1376],{},"Day 2 consists of ",[26,1377,1378],{},"Line Training for 4 hours, Prep Training for 2 hours, etc.",[41,1380,1381,1384],{},[315,1382,1383],{},"Set expecations and established follow up actions",[38,1385,1386,1393],{},[41,1387,1388,1389,1392],{},"Is someone is struggling with a certain aspect of a position? ",[26,1390,1391],{},"Tell them",", and document a plan with a timeline to support the follow-up training.",[41,1394,1395,1396,256],{},"What happens when that timeline is surpassed? ",[26,1397,1398],{},"Be open and honest",[19,1400,1401],{},"Providing staff with consistent training ensures that all new hires entering the kitchen have the knowledge and information necessary to succeed in the position. It's easy to do a good job when you know what success looks like!",[19,1403,1404,1405],{},"Regardless of the initial knowledge of new staff, with the right training systems you'll either turn them into productive team members or figure out that they're not the right fit. ",[26,1406,1407],{},"Time for the trading block!",[14,1409,1411],{"id":1410},"support-the-team","Support the team",[359,1413,1414,1447,1460,1473],{},[41,1415,1416,1419],{},[315,1417,1418],{},"Emotionally",[359,1420,1421],{},[41,1422,1423,1426,1427,256,1430],{},[26,1424,1425],{},"Praise in public, discipline in private!"," It's important to always take note of the little things that the team is doing. Did someone on the team go above and beyond to help? Perhaps they stocked another team member's station without asking, or they broke down the cardboard and took it out to the recycling, ",[26,1428,1429],{},"just because",[38,1431,1432,1437,1440],{},[41,1433,1434],{},[315,1435,1436],{},"Make a positive example out of them!",[41,1438,1439],{},"Let everyone on the team know what they did and why it's so amazing! Make them something special for their staff meal as a way of saying \"thank-you\".",[41,1441,1442,1443,1446],{},"One of my favourite things to do in the middle of a rush is to stop the entire line to draw attention to the cook working dish with the near-empty counter. ",[26,1444,1445],{},"\"Great job in there! You're doing amazing! Keep it up!\""," from the entire team goes a long way when you're staring down the barrel of a 10-hour shift, and the prospect of being off work at 2:30 AM.",[41,1448,1449,1452],{},[315,1450,1451],{},"With proper tools & equipment",[359,1453,1454,1457],{},[41,1455,1456],{},"Waging battle in a kitchen day-after-day takes it toll on equipment. Communicate with your staff to make sure they have everything they need to do the job effectively!",[41,1458,1459],{},"Keep kitchen equipment cleaned and maintained. Nothing is more demoralizing than working in a dirty kitchen or one with broken equipment.",[41,1461,1462,1465],{},[315,1463,1464],{},"Financially",[359,1466,1467,1470],{},[41,1468,1469],{},"Come up with a raise and\u002For bonus structure that's attached to job-specific duties, not length of time worked.",[41,1471,1472],{},"E.g.:, Initial wage is $20 per hour, but that increases to $21.50 per hour when they complete the \"Ordering\" Training Guide you setup. You have an extra cook that can place orders if someone calls in sick, they get compensated for the extra effort. It's a win-win!",[41,1474,1475,1478],{},[315,1476,1477],{},"Professionally",[359,1479,1480],{},[41,1481,1482],{},"Conduct structured reviews that celebrate the wins from each team member but also provide a training path for them to advance. Perhaps there is no Sous Chef job position open right now, but that could change! Offer the training and have multiple people ready to step up should the need arise.",[14,1484,1486],{"id":1485},"opportunities-for-growth","Opportunities for growth",[889,1488,1489,1492],{},[19,1490,1491],{},"I no longer listen to what people say, I just watch what they do. Behaviour never lies.",[1493,1494,1495],"footer",{},"Winston Churchill",[19,1497,1498],{},"Nobody wants to join a team without any options for learning or advancement, whether that be professionally or personally. It's the kitchen equivalent of permanently being on the 'taxi squad' for a hockey team! After awhile with no advancements it can get demoralizing.",[19,1500,1501],{},"How do you keep staff motivated? Keep them engaged and part of the process!",[359,1503,1504,1517,1530],{},[41,1505,1506,1509],{},[315,1507,1508],{},"Have a Chef or Sous that is great at understanding the Food Cost?",[359,1510,1511,1514],{},[41,1512,1513],{},"Awesome! Show them how to read a P&L statement and include them monthly.",[41,1515,1516],{},"Set goals with them and task them with explaining any variances",[41,1518,1519,1522],{},[315,1520,1521],{},"Have a cook that normally only works prep?",[359,1523,1524,1527],{},[41,1525,1526],{},"Train them how to interpret a Sales Mix Analysis and use that information to update par levels.",[41,1528,1529],{},"Teach them how to work a station on the line when it's slower.",[41,1531,1532,1535],{},[315,1533,1534],{},"Someone great with food but horrible with computers?",[359,1536,1537],{},[41,1538,1539,1540,256],{},"Purchase them a course on Excel or other office related software via an online platform, such as ",[298,1541,1544],{"href":1542,"rel":1543},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.udemy.com",[302],"Udemy",[19,1546,1547,1548,1551],{},"Investing into the personal and professional growth of your team shows your commitment to them. Plus, the more items you train multiple staff members on, the more you increase the overall ",[26,1549,1550],{},"\"depth\""," of your team.",[19,1553,1554,1555,1558],{},"Someone call in sick? ",[26,1556,1557],{},"No problem",". You already have someone waiting in the wings!",[14,1560,1562],{"id":1561},"assembling-your-team","Assembling your team",[19,1564,1565],{},"Much like a professional hockey team, you'll probably always be looking for the right combination of talent and training. Some people have great seasons and then drop-off. Others are late-bloomers and gradually become more effective as they get more comfortable on the team. Cooks get traded from one restaurant to the other, sometimes for nothing else than needing a change of scenery.",[19,1567,1568,1569,1572],{},"Sometimes it's about having the right mix of ",[26,1570,1571],{},"\"line chemistry\"",", or having the right staff members work together on particular shifts. Watch how your team works together and what skills compliment others, then schedule accordingly!",[19,1574,1575],{},"If you foster a culture that rewards people for supporting the team and organization, you'll begin to attract and retain higher quality team members. Remain consistent in your messaging, standardize your training, and reward hard work, dedication, and above all else, respect for the team.",[19,1577,1578],{},"At the end of the day it's important for everyone on the team to know that we're all in it together. Just like the NHL, winning and losing is done as a unit. Everyone has a position to play, and no position is more important than the other.",[19,1580,1581],{},"We win together, we lose together, we grow stronger together.",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":1583},[1584,1585,1586,1587,1588],{"id":1291,"depth":259,"text":1292},{"id":1327,"depth":259,"text":1328},{"id":1410,"depth":259,"text":1411},{"id":1485,"depth":259,"text":1486},{"id":1561,"depth":259,"text":1562},[267],"2021-08-05","Learn how building a championship culture can breed success in your kitchen.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-6-1.jpg",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbuilding-championship-culture",{"title":1239,"description":1591},"blog\u002Fbuilding-championship-culture",[502,1598],"efficiency","M-SxD7X7WyGvdEN4tdwV0mlH6SejanCcWnO3X16tJXk",{"id":1601,"title":1602,"alt":1603,"author":1604,"body":1605,"categories":1992,"createdAt":1993,"description":1994,"extension":270,"image":1995,"meta":1996,"navigation":273,"path":2005,"seo":2006,"stem":2007,"tags":2008,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":2009},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Frecent-updates-2021-05-09.md","New Features & Updates - May 2021","Happy restaurant owner using cloud software",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":1606,"toc":1978},[1607,1617,1627,1634,1638,1645,1654,1665,1668,1672,1679,1686,1698,1702,1710,1715,1718,1725,1729,1739,1785,1794,1805,1815,1827,1831,1850,1853,1876,1886,1890,1959,1963,1966,1971],[19,1608,1609,1610,1613,1614,679],{},"It's been an exciting few months around ",[315,1611,1612],{},"DigiChef HQ","! We've been hard at work behind the scenes updating the application, and are very happy to announce our newest core feature: ",[315,1615,1616],{},"Geographical Inventory Management",[19,1618,1619,1621,1622,1626],{},[315,1620,516],{}," now provides you the ability to create, count and compare inventory levels anywhere and everywhere in your organization, all from your mobile devices! Gone are the days of printing out spreadsheets and manually (",[1623,1624,1625],"del",{},"scribbling",") writing down quantities before transferring back to the spreadsheet. To cut down on potential error entry points, we've made the process entirely digital!",[19,1628,1629,1630,1633],{},"We've also made a few other exciting updates, including an improvement to ",[315,1631,1632],{},"Prep Recipes"," that we think you're going to love!",[14,1635,1637],{"id":1636},"inventory-overview","Inventory Overview",[19,1639,1640,1641,1644],{},"Conducting a regularly-scheduled inventory count is a key performance enhancement tool that aids in the overall profitability of your restaurant. It's not only imperative to know the precise dollar value of products that are waiting to be turned into revenue but you need to know ",[26,1642,1643],{},"which categories of products are contributing to variances"," to boost your purchasing efficiency.",[1646,1647,1649,1650,1653],"h3",{"id":1648},"do-i-need-to-count-inventory","Do I ",[26,1651,1652],{},"need"," to count inventory?",[19,1655,1656,1657,1660,1661,256],{},"Do you need to? No. Should you? ",[315,1658,1659],{},"Absolutely",". I know that a lot of operators are content with achieving a consistent raw food cost and there is nothing wrong with that! However, you should never want to leave any money potentially left on the table when possible and conducting inventory counts allows you to determine your Actual Food Cost. You can read up more about the differences between Raw and Actual Food Costs by ",[298,1662,1664],{"href":1663},"\u002Fblog\u002Funderstanding-your-food-cost","checking out our other article",[19,1666,1667],{},"Having an consistent idea of the products on hand and their associated values is a lot easier to understand than you might think! You can view inventory counts as the proverbial \"Canary in the Coal Mine\". Sales trending down but inventory levels getting higher? You're probably overspending and potentially wasting products.",[1646,1669,1671],{"id":1670},"how-often-should-i-count-inventory","How often should I count inventory?",[19,1673,1674,1675,1678],{},"The answer is \"",[26,1676,1677],{},"it depends","\". It needs to make sense for your operations in terms of ROI. The two typical counting periods are either weekly or monthly.",[19,1680,1681,1682,1685],{},"Obviously, the more frequent the counting periods the higher success rate you will have with catching purchasing anomalies (",[26,1683,1684],{},"who ordered this thing?",") and stockpiles of products that could potentially go bad. That said, labour is a real crunch in the world of COVID. If you can only count once per month then it's better than not counting at all.",[19,1687,1688,1689,1693,1694,1697],{},"As always, for the regular reader a common theme amongst these posts is that ",[298,1690,1692],{"href":1691},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-you-should-be-continuously-costing-your-restaurants-recipes","you must be consistent"," to extract the most valuable data from these counts. If you're going to count monthly, make sure you always count on the 1st consistently each month. Weekly? Always count on a Monday, for example. Staying consistent allows you to accurately monitor the ending categorical variances (",[26,1695,1696],{},"more on that below",").",[1646,1699,1701],{"id":1700},"how-does-a-geographical-inventory-compare-to-a-regular-inventory","How does a geographical inventory compare to a regular inventory?",[19,1703,1704,1705,617,1707,1709],{},"I'm glad you asked! Typically, inventory count sheets are either manually made by someone listing all of your products in a spreadsheet or by exporting them from your primary vendor supplier (think: ",[26,1706,773],{},[26,1708,776],{},", etc.). While those are great, they are typically assembled by Category of product.",[889,1711,1712],{},[19,1713,1714],{},"E.g., You have one tab that is titled \"Produce\", another titled \"Dairy\", etc.\nIf you're lucky, these are organized alphabetically and contain the product name, brand and a product description.",[19,1716,1717],{},"Some of the drawbacks to that, of course, is that you can have the same product that lives in multiple locations around your restaurant. Imagine trying to shove that 24 CT box of iceberg in the line cooler; it's not going to be pretty. This leads to a ton of page flipping, scribbling down beside your original number and trying to do some quick mental math. As mentioned above, this introduces a ton of potential error points in your counting and can really skew your ending figures.",[19,1719,1720,1721,1724],{},"With a Geographical Inventory Count, you tell ",[26,1722,1723],{},"us"," where you're counting and what products you're looking at in that zone. You just move from location to location in your restaurant and count what you see where you see it. Leave the hard work of matching up all of the product values to us! This is an incredible speed boost and mitigates a ton of manual data entry issues!",[1646,1726,1728],{"id":1727},"getting-started-with-inventories","Getting started with inventories",[19,1730,1731,1732,1735,1736,256],{},"You can get started with this new feature by clicking on ",[315,1733,1734],{},"Products"," in the sidebar and selecting ",[315,1737,1738],{},"Inventories",[359,1740,1741,1764],{},[41,1742,1743,1744,1747,1748,1751,1752,1755,1756],{},"Start by creating ",[315,1745,1746],{},"Zones"," in your restaurant, such as \"",[315,1749,1750],{},"Walk-in Cooler","\" or \"",[315,1753,1754],{},"Dry Storage","\".\n",[38,1757,1758],{},[41,1759,1760,1761,1763],{},"You can create as many ",[315,1762,1746],{}," as you can handle - so feel free to get as global or granular as you wish!",[41,1765,1766,1767,1769,1770],{},"Once your ",[315,1768,1746],{}," are established, simply:\n",[38,1771,1772,1775,1782],{},[41,1773,1774],{},"Create and open a new count,",[41,1776,1777,1778,1781],{},"Select the ",[315,1779,1780],{},"Zone"," you are currently counting, then",[41,1783,1784],{},"Start adding items and their quantity to the zone",[19,1786,1787,1789,1790,1793],{},[315,1788,516],{}," will automatically highlight all of the product values by total, by category (",[26,1791,1792],{},"Produce, Dairy, etc.",") and by zone for that specific count. Easily see where all of your product is living in your restaurant by checking out the individual count pages!",[19,1795,1796,1797,1800,1801,1804],{},"On a more global scale, the main Inventory page plots the ending value for both the ",[26,1798,1799],{},"total"," and the ",[26,1802,1803],{},"total food"," of each inventory count in an easy to understand chart and table. Keeping tabs on your inventory trends has never been so easy!",[19,1806,1807,1808,1810,1811,1814],{},"However, we didn't stop there! ",[315,1809,516],{}," also has the ability to ",[26,1812,1813],{},"instantly compare"," two inventory counts to determine the variances, if any, for each category of product.",[889,1816,1817],{},[19,1818,1819,1820,1823,1824,1826],{},"Click the \"",[26,1821,1822],{},"Compare","\" button on any two inventory counts and ",[315,1825,516],{}," will generate a variances report for you to view and analyze!",[14,1828,1830],{"id":1829},"changes-to-prep-recipes","Changes to Prep Recipes",[19,1832,1833,1834,1836,1837,1840,1841,1844,1845,1844,1847,1849],{},"We've been calling the newest of ability of our ",[315,1835,1632],{}," \"",[26,1838,1839],{},"Prepception","\" around the office. We're beyond excited to announce that you can now consume a ",[315,1842,1843],{},"Prep Recipe"," in another ",[315,1846,1843],{},[315,1848,1843],{}," in another... well.. you get the idea.",[19,1851,1852],{},"E.g. You want to make a Pesto Hollandaise.",[359,1854,1855,1861,1867],{},[41,1856,1857,1858,1860],{},"Start by building your ",[315,1859,1843],{}," for Pesto",[41,1862,1863,1864,1866],{},"Create and build your ",[315,1865,1843],{}," for Hollandaise",[41,1868,1869,1870,303,1873,1875],{},"Then, create a ",[26,1871,1872],{},"new",[315,1874,1843],{}," and use both the Pesto and the Hollandaise recipes together to create a new, fully costed sauce!",[19,1877,1878,1879,1882,1883,1885],{},"This new \"",[26,1880,1881],{},"Pesto Hollandaise","\" can then be used on any number of menu items, and as with all other ",[315,1884,516],{}," recipes, the pricing is always kept up-to-date automatically for you.",[14,1887,1889],{"id":1888},"uiux-highlighted-changes","UI\u002FUX Highlighted Changes",[359,1891,1892,1903,1917,1924,1937],{},[41,1893,1894,1895,1898,1899,1902],{},"The ",[315,1896,1897],{},"Invoices"," link has been moved under the ",[315,1900,1901],{},"Suppliers"," tab on the sidebar.",[41,1904,1905,1906,1908,1909,1912,1913,1916],{},"When manually adding Products to an invoice, ",[315,1907,516],{}," now prevents you from incorrectly recording an item by ",[26,1910,1911],{},"case"," if it was previously recorded as being sold by ",[26,1914,1915],{},"weight"," (and vice versa).",[41,1918,1919,1920,1923],{},"We've added a table to the ",[315,1921,1922],{},"Food Costing"," page to better track the historical food costing at your location.",[41,1925,1926,1927,219,1930,1932,1933,1936],{},"We've updated the charts on both the ",[315,1928,1929],{},"Recipes",[315,1931,1632],{}," pages to allow you to view the last 30 days (",[26,1934,1935],{},"default behaviour",") or the last 12 months.",[41,1938,1939,1940,1943,1944,617,1947,1950,1951,219,1953,1955,1956,1697],{},"We've added additional data to the individual ",[315,1941,1942],{},"Product"," pages, such as ",[26,1945,1946],{},"Last Purchased Unit of Measure",[26,1948,1949],{},"$ per Unit of Measure"," as well as listing all of the ",[315,1952,1929],{},[315,1954,1632],{}," that product is being consumed in (",[26,1957,1958],{},"and by what quantity",[1646,1960,1962],{"id":1961},"all-the-feedback","All the feedback!",[19,1964,1965],{},"Your feedback helps us prioritize development of new features and updates to the platform. See something new that you love? Something that could be improved upon? A key feature that you feel would help your business?",[19,1967,1968],{},[315,1969,1970],{},"We want to hear from you!",[19,1972,1973,1974],{},"Send us an email at ",[298,1975,1977],{"href":1976},"mailto:support@digichef.co","support@digichef.co",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":1979},[1980,1988,1989],{"id":1636,"depth":259,"text":1637,"children":1981},[1982,1985,1986,1987],{"id":1648,"depth":1983,"text":1984},3,"Do I need to count inventory?",{"id":1670,"depth":1983,"text":1671},{"id":1700,"depth":1983,"text":1701},{"id":1727,"depth":1983,"text":1728},{"id":1829,"depth":259,"text":1830},{"id":1888,"depth":259,"text":1889,"children":1990},[1991],{"id":1961,"depth":1983,"text":1962},[688],"2021-05-09","Check out the latest updates and features from DigiChef's May release.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-5-1.jpg",{"excerpt":1997},{"type":11,"value":1998},[1999],[19,2000,1609,2001,1613,2003,679],{},[315,2002,1612],{},[315,2004,1616],{},"\u002Fblog\u002Frecent-updates-2021-05-09",{"title":1602,"description":1994},"blog\u002Frecent-updates-2021-05-09",[698],"_Zj8HwZVGIiUB7s3aPSr_uNdqWDaqAqOpBC-5W3mUj8",{"id":2011,"title":2012,"alt":2013,"author":2014,"body":2015,"categories":2294,"createdAt":2295,"description":2296,"extension":270,"image":2297,"meta":2298,"navigation":273,"path":1663,"seo":2299,"stem":2300,"tags":2301,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":2303},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Funderstanding-your-food-cost.md","Understanding Your Food Cost","Chef working in an independent restaurant kitchen",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":2016,"toc":2281},[2017,2020,2034,2037,2040,2044,2047,2054,2058,2061,2065,2068,2072,2079,2084,2090,2096,2102,2109,2112,2115,2119,2122,2146,2149,2152,2155,2165,2172,2181,2203,2206,2209,2212,2219,2232,2235,2239,2245,2248,2251,2256,2259,2262,2273],[19,2018,2019],{},"Give 100 cooks the same recipe for a soup and you’ll end up with 100 different soups. It’s one of the greatest things about the industry; everyone puts their own flavour on things. One person’s salty is another person’s bland. Perhaps John doesn’t like pepper as much as you and omits that ingredient; Jane might have more of an affinity for carrots and adds a touch more than called for.",[19,2021,2022,2023,617,2026,2029,2030,2033],{},"How people calculate and eventually arrive at their ending food costs is quite similar to this as well. Just like the soups, however, there are ",[26,2024,2025],{},"great",[26,2027,2028],{},"good",", and ",[26,2031,2032],{},"less than good"," methods.",[19,2035,2036],{},"While it’s clear that there are many variations of what is described as “food cost”, these varying methods can be grouped together into two main discernable categories: Raw and Actual.",[19,2038,2039],{},"Let’s delve into what these two categories are, who commonly uses them, how you can calculate them, and what to look out for when using them.",[14,2041,2043],{"id":2042},"method-1-raw-food-cost","Method #1: Raw Food Cost",[19,2045,2046],{},"The formula to determine your Raw Food Cost is as follows:",[38,2048,2049],{},[41,2050,2051,2053],{},[315,2052,1048],{}," = Food Purchases (FP) \u002F Food Sales (FS)",[1646,2055,2057],{"id":2056},"who-commonly-uses-this-method","Who commonly uses this method?",[19,2059,2060],{},"This is arguably the most commonly sought-after metric of success in single-unit, independently owned commercial restaurants. You are heavily focused on money coming in and money going out.",[1646,2062,2064],{"id":2063},"why-use-this-method","Why use this method?",[19,2066,2067],{},"You’ll have a rough understanding of how much your food is costing you on an overall basis and can use this metric as the catalyst to adjust your recipe engineering and pricing. It’s moderately easy to stay on top of with the help of a great bookkeeper and a good invoice management system.",[1646,2069,2071],{"id":2070},"things-to-watch-out-for","Things to watch out for:",[19,2073,2074,2075,2078],{},"Too often this system is abused by operators attempting to game the books and portray the food cost as something other than what it truly is. ",[315,2076,2077],{},"It’s for that very reason why bonuses or incentives should never be attached to food costs calculated using this method."," It’s too easy to conceal poor menu engineering, especially if your sales aren’t predominately food.",[889,2080,2081],{},[19,2082,2083],{},"E.g.: It’s entirely possible that your target food cost is 30%, your store typically returns a food cost of plus or minus 2.5% of that mark but the recipes are poorly engineered for a higher cost of 35%.",[19,2085,2086,2087,256],{},"The “scheme” is simple: quit spending cash in the week or days leading up to the end of the accounting period. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Isn’t that the goal? If you’ve read a few of our posts now, you’ll understand just why ",[298,2088,2089],{"href":1691},"consistency is the true key to your success",[19,2091,2092,2093],{},"A giant red flag that it’s currently happening in your establishment? ",[26,2094,2095],{},"Consistently running out of products near the end of the accounting period.",[19,2097,2098,2099],{},"Running out of your preferred products leads to the knee-jerk reaction of replacing the product with a substitute. ",[26,2100,2101],{},"“We sell so many of those - we can’t run out”.",[19,2103,2104,2105,2108],{},"Find out Saturday evening your Chef didn’t order those 7-ounce, wing-on\u002Fskin on chicken breasts from your distributor? ",[26,2106,2107],{},"You might have some problems finding a suitable substitute product at Safeway."," Do you just serve two portions of your 4-ounce chicken breast that you use strictly portioned and sliced for another dish? Worse yet - do you just leave the dish 86’d for the week?",[19,2110,2111],{},"Imagine the customer who comes in every week for that specific dish - what are we doing to their expectations of us? How many chances do they give us?",[19,2113,2114],{},"When you stop attempting to game the system and not run out of products, those food costs will always display their true engineered costs. Don’t kick them under the rug - embrace the challenge.",[14,2116,2118],{"id":2117},"method-2-actual-food-cost","Method #2: Actual Food Cost",[19,2120,2121],{},"The formula to determine your Actual Food Cost is as follows:",[38,2123,2124],{},[41,2125,2126,2129,2130,2133,2134,2137,2138,2141,2142,2145],{},[315,2127,2128],{},"Actual Food Cost"," = Opening Inventory (",[315,2131,2132],{},"OI",") + Food Purchases (",[315,2135,2136],{},"FP",") - Ending Inventory (",[315,2139,2140],{},"EI",") \u002F Food Sales (",[315,2143,2144],{},"FS",")",[1646,2147,2057],{"id":2148},"who-commonly-uses-this-method-1",[19,2150,2151],{},"This is the common approach of most multi-unit, corporately owned restaurant entities, or restaurants focused on growth and expansion. You are not just accounting for purchases; you are invested in analyzing your inventory metrics to boost your profitability and consistency across the brand.",[1646,2153,2064],{"id":2154},"why-use-this-method-1",[19,2156,2157,2158,2161,2162,256],{},"Not only is it the gold standard for displaying an accurate food cost percentage, you’ll also track much more data than just total expenses. Recording your food inventory values at the ending of a period provides both tangible ",[26,2159,2160],{},"(awareness of inventory turnover ratios, waste reduction efforts and menu engineering insights)"," and intangible benefits ",[26,2163,2164],{},"(physically counting and weighing products increases the stock awareness of the individual counting - they know where everything is hiding!)",[19,2166,2167,2168,2171],{},"Consistently analyzing your inventory variances down to the individual classifications ",[26,2169,2170],{},"(Dairy, Meats, Seafood, etc.)"," leads to opportunities in your menu engineering efforts. Are you bringing in a whole case of blueberries because they were on special only to watch them wither up and die on the shelf? Do you need to purchase that entire wheel of expensive parmesan or is there an alternative, smaller product?",[19,2173,2174,2175,2180],{},"Plus (and this is the best part), once you get into a rhythm of always having ",[298,2176,2179],{"href":2177,"rel":2178},"https:\u002F\u002Fonline.norwich.edu\u002Facademic-programs\u002Fresources\u002Funderstanding-just-time-inventory-system",[302],"“just enough”"," products on hand at any given time and maintain a stable inventory level, the calculation for the food cost gets even simpler.",[889,2182,2183,2186],{},[19,2184,2185],{},"E.g.: Let’s imagine you keep your food inventory to $5,000 consistently and plug it into the Actual Food Cost calculation from above.",[19,2187,2188,2189,2191,2192,2194,2195,2197,2198,2200,2201],{},"$5,000 (",[315,2190,2132],{},") + $25,000 + (",[315,2193,2136],{},") - $5,000 (",[315,2196,2140],{},") \u002F $75,000 (",[315,2199,2144],{},") = 33% ",[315,2202,2128],{},[19,2204,2205],{},"By keeping the inventory variances to a minimum, you’ve effectively removed their impact from the food costs and allows you to focus on purchases over sales by default.",[1646,2207,2071],{"id":2208},"things-to-watch-out-for-1",[19,2210,2211],{},"So, you’ve done an inventory count and are looking at a ton of numbers - how do you make sense of it? What’s a good inventory versus a bad inventory?",[19,2213,2214,2215,2218],{},"It’s all in the consistency. I know; you’re probably sick of hearing me say that. ",[315,2216,2217],{},"But it’s true."," Allow me to explain:",[19,2220,2221,2222,2226,2227,2231],{},"New stock should always be arriving “just in time”; the old stock of it should be in use upon delivery of the new items. ",[298,2223,2225],{"href":2224},"\u002Fblog\u002F3-great-tips-for-menu-building-success","If your menu is engineered effectively"," and your ",[298,2228,2230],{"href":2229},"\u002Fblog\u002F3-ways-to-boost-your-prep-efficiency","prep systems are engineered for greatness"," this should be happening in your stores by default!",[19,2233,2234],{},"How else do you know if it’s working? Monitor the variances in your total ending food values with the goal of keeping them within 1.5% of each other. Think of your ability to keep within those margins as the canary in the coal mine; venturing outside of that safety is an indication of over\u002Funder-spending.",[1646,2236,2238],{"id":2237},"which-method-is-right-for-me","Which method is right for me?",[19,2240,2241,2242,2244],{},"Whenever possible, your food cost totals should always be calculated using the ",[315,2243,2128],{}," formula.",[19,2246,2247],{},"You wouldn’t throw out a perfectly good head of lettuce; why do that with your data? Think about it. Purchasing from your suppliers provides you not with just a 50-pound sack of carrots but also valuable data about your operations.",[19,2249,2250],{},"Each product is associated with a unique classification with its own shelf-life and storage characteristics. Those 2.5 sacks of carrots you have in inventory? They’re only good for 5-12 days. Perhaps it’s time to make some soups or start adding them to the daily vegetables! High levels of seafood in your inventory? It’s only good for 1-3 days max. Danger, danger! High levels of canned or dry goods? While not ideal, their shelf life is expectedly much longer.",[889,2252,2253],{},[19,2254,2255],{},"Starting to see what I’m saying?",[19,2257,2258],{},"By conducting inventories with properly cost ingredient count sheets (more on that in a later post) you will gain a greater understanding of how your menu is engineered, where your money is residing in your kitchen and the efficiency of your prep and purchasing systems.",[19,2260,2261],{},"However, sometimes the feedback is there is not enough time to do inventory counts or nobody within the establishment knows how to accurately interpret the data. Staffing has been and always will be an issue within the hospitality industry. Time is also a luxury, both in the slowest and busiest of restaurants.",[19,2263,2264,2265,2268,2269,2272],{},"That’s why both of these methods are common practice - it’s up to you as the individual to decide on your level of comfort as it pertains to risk. ",[315,2266,2267],{},"Method #1"," is inherently riskier than ",[315,2270,2271],{},"Method #2"," with the lack of supporting information and risk of gaming, albeit it’s much easier to implement and execute.",[889,2274,2275],{},[19,2276,2277,2278,256],{},"No matter your choice, I hope you have gained a bit of insight from reading this post and that we’ve been able to unravel the mystery that is: ",[26,2279,2280],{},"your food costing",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":2282},[2283,2288],{"id":2042,"depth":259,"text":2043,"children":2284},[2285,2286,2287],{"id":2056,"depth":1983,"text":2057},{"id":2063,"depth":1983,"text":2064},{"id":2070,"depth":1983,"text":2071},{"id":2117,"depth":259,"text":2118,"children":2289},[2290,2291,2292,2293],{"id":2148,"depth":1983,"text":2057},{"id":2154,"depth":1983,"text":2064},{"id":2208,"depth":1983,"text":2071},{"id":2237,"depth":1983,"text":2238},[267],"2021-02-07","Food costs can seem complicated. Explore the different ways that your food costs can be calculated.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-4-1.jpg",{},{"title":2012,"description":2296},"blog\u002Funderstanding-your-food-cost",[2302],"costing","PO11Quhd9cV1O5hPCy2aifFkM-Fbmh5bYilylcvuikc",{"id":2305,"title":2306,"alt":2307,"author":2308,"body":2309,"categories":2715,"createdAt":2716,"description":2717,"extension":270,"image":2718,"meta":2719,"navigation":273,"path":2229,"seo":2720,"stem":2721,"tags":2722,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":2724},"blog\u002Fblog\u002F3-ways-to-boost-your-prep-efficiency.md","3 Ways to Boost Your Prep Efficiency","Skilled chef preparing well costed reciped",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":2310,"toc":2705},[2311,2317,2325,2337,2343,2351,2356,2363,2374,2377,2381,2387,2390,2393,2410,2417,2420,2424,2427,2433,2436,2442,2447,2450,2454,2457,2463,2470,2474,2485,2489,2500,2503,2514,2517,2528,2531,2535,2538,2549,2555,2569,2673,2676,2678],[19,2312,2313,2314,2316],{},"What makes a prep system ",[26,2315,2025],{},"? From a high-level perspective, it simply means that you:",[38,2318,2319,2322],{},[41,2320,2321],{},"Don’t run out of prepared product,",[41,2323,2324],{},"Don’t waste excess \u002F improperly prepared product",[19,2326,2327,2328,2331,2332],{},"Sounds pretty easy, right? Except, I imagine that no one reading this has ever gone a full calendar year without ",[26,2329,2330],{},"86’ing"," a dish because of one of these things. ",[315,2333,2334],{},[26,2335,2336],{},"Why is that?",[19,2338,2339,2340,256],{},"Excluding supplier\u002Fvendor issues, this is typically because of our ",[315,2341,2342],{},"inability to triage effectively",[19,2344,2345,2350],{},[298,2346,2349],{"href":2347,"rel":2348},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.merriam-webster.com\u002Fdictionary\u002Ftriage",[302],"Merriam-Webster defines triage as",":",[889,2352,2353],{},[19,2354,2355],{},"“The assigning of priority order to projects on thebasis of where funds and other resources can be bestused, are most needed, or are most likely to achievesuccess”.",[19,2357,2358,2359,2362],{},"Your internal food preparation methods are a perfect example of an ",[26,2360,2361],{},"around-the-clock"," triage system. Each day (or night) you are relying on your team to correctly identify:",[38,2364,2365,2368,2371],{},[41,2366,2367],{},"Items most in need of prep",[41,2369,2370],{},"The priority order of prep tasks",[41,2372,2373],{},"The product PARs",[19,2375,2376],{},"Let’s expand on those 3 categories a bit:",[14,2378,2380],{"id":2379},"identify-the-items-most-in-need-of-prep","Identify the Items Most in Need of Prep",[19,2382,2383,2384],{},"In order to effectively establish which items are needed the most, ",[315,2385,2386],{},"you need to have a clear understanding of the current quantity on hand of any given product.",[19,2388,2389],{},"I can’t count the number of kitchens I’ve been in where “writing the prep list” meant walking around with a piece of paper (pilfered from the office if you’re lucky -- ticket paper if you’re not) on a food vendor clipboard. You poke your head into the coolers and freezers to see what looks low or missing, jot it down, and then transfer it to a whiteboard hastily screwed into a wall somewhere.",[19,2391,2392],{},"Your prep list then looks something like the following:",[38,2394,2395,2398,2401,2404,2407],{},[41,2396,2397],{},"Sl. Tomatoes x 4",[41,2399,2400],{},"Crispy onions x 2",[41,2402,2403],{},"Slice and portion chicken",[41,2405,2406],{},"Boil potatoes for hash browns",[41,2408,2409],{},"Roast beef",[19,2411,2412,2413,2416],{},"While there are a few issues with this approach, the most glaring is the lack of information about the current ",[26,2414,2415],{},"quantity on hand"," for any given product. Without that information, it’s impossible to triage the prep list effectively. What’s more pressing, slicing the beef or pressing the burgers?",[19,2418,2419],{},"If we knew how many of each we had (say, 20 portions of chicken and 2 orders of hash browns) we would instantly know that the hash browns were a much higher priority item and should be moved up the triage list.",[14,2421,2423],{"id":2422},"prioritise-the-order-of-prep-tasks","Prioritise the Order of Prep Tasks",[19,2425,2426],{},"Another efficiency killer in commercial Prep Systems is the inability to start items in a time-appropriate manner. Looking at the prep list above, an experienced operator would see the two portions of hash browns and know it needed to get started right away; however, not everyone follows your train of thought.",[19,2428,2429],{},[524,2430],{"alt":2431,"src":2432},"Chef Running Well Organised Prep Kitchen","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-3-2.jpg",[19,2434,2435],{},"As an operator, you need to be aware of your own personal “like-me” bias. An inexperienced cook will probably start with the jobs they can do the fastest (I’m looking at YOU, veg preppers). It’s the primal yearning for instant gratification - slicing those tomatoes and mushrooms will take no time at all, so it’s two things you get to cross off the whiteboard. Don’t even get me started on “chopped parsley”.",[19,2437,2438,2439],{},"So, how do you combat that? ",[315,2440,2441],{},"By assigning the specific order in which you wish to see the priority items completed.",[889,2443,2444],{},[19,2445,2446],{},"E.g.: On your prep board, place the #1 beside the item you wish to see started first (in this case, putting the hash browns in a pot on the stove), a #2 beside the next item (let’s get that roast loaded in the oven), etc.",[19,2448,2449],{},"Assigning tasks a number, 1 through 5, then repeating that process every time it’s cleared is a sure-fire way to ensure a united front from all team members conducting prep that day.",[14,2451,2453],{"id":2452},"correctly-identify-product-pars","Correctly Identify Product PARs",[19,2455,2456],{},"The ability to react to seasonal changes in volume is critical to your restaurants ability to effectively manage waste and product shortages.",[19,2458,1045,2459,2462],{},[26,2460,2461],{},"Point of Sale System"," is a powerful tool, and has a goldmine of data available to you should you wish to seek it! Most platforms have the ability to generate a “Sales Mix Analysis” - a detailed count of each menu item that you’ve sold in a given period.",[19,2464,2465,2466,2469],{},"These should be reviewed once a month against your current ",[315,2467,2468],{},"Periodic Automatic Replacement (PAR)"," levels. For example, let’s imagine the following sales mix analysis, month-over-month:",[1646,2471,2473],{"id":2472},"january-menu-items-sold","January - Menu Items Sold",[38,2475,2476,2479,2482],{},[41,2477,2478],{},"Beef Burgers x 120 each",[41,2480,2481],{},"Chicken Sandwiches x 80 each",[41,2483,2484],{},"Beef Dip x 100 each",[1646,2486,2488],{"id":2487},"february-menu-items-sold","February - Menu Items Sold",[38,2490,2491,2494,2497],{},[41,2492,2493],{},"Beef Burgers x 110 each",[41,2495,2496],{},"Chicken Sandwiches x 100 each",[41,2498,2499],{},"Beef Dip x 45 each",[19,2501,2502],{},"If we find the average monthly sales for each item (add them together and divide by the number of months), we end up with the following averages:",[38,2504,2505,2508,2511],{},[41,2506,2507],{},"Beef Burgers x 115 each",[41,2509,2510],{},"Chicken Sandwiches x 90 each",[41,2512,2513],{},"Beef Dip x 72 each",[19,2515,2516],{},"At an average of 4.34 weeks per month, this can be further broken down to:",[38,2518,2519,2522,2525],{},[41,2520,2521],{},"Beef Burgers x 26 each per week",[41,2523,2524],{},"Chicken Sandwiches x 20 each per week",[41,2526,2527],{},"Beef Dip x 16 each per week",[19,2529,2530],{},"Knowing how much of your key menu items you are selling on a weekly basis is crucial to setting realistic PAR levels.",[14,2532,2534],{"id":2533},"putting-it-all-together","Putting it All Together",[19,2536,2537],{},"In order to have an effective Prep System, we need to know:",[359,2539,2540,2543,2546],{},[41,2541,2542],{},"How much of the product is currently on hand,",[41,2544,2545],{},"What our par level is supposed to be and",[41,2547,2548],{},"In what order the prep needs to be accomplished.",[19,2550,2551,2552],{},"Having a clearly defined system of reviewing the PARs monthly and adjusting as necessary is just as important. ",[315,2553,2554],{},"The system is only as good as the data it’s being fed.",[19,2556,2557,2558,2568],{},"Finally, to illustrate all of this, here’s an example of what a prep board and\u002For count sheet that accomplishes these goals looks like, (plus how to spot and avoid a potential tragedy!",[2559,2560,2561],"sup",{},[298,2562,2567],{"href":2563,"ariaDescribedBy":2564,"dataFootnoteRef":258,"id":2566},"#user-content-fn-1",[2565],"footnote-label","user-content-fnref-1","1","):",[2570,2571,2572,2577],"center",{},[2573,2574,2576],"style",{"type":2575},"text\u002Fcss","\n.tg  {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-style:solid;border-width:1px;\n  overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-style:solid;border-width:1px;\n  font-weight:bold;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 15px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-0pky{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n",[759,2578,2581,2607],{"className":2579},[2580],"tg",[762,2582,2583,2584],{},"\n  ",[765,2585,2586,2587,2586,2591,2586,2595,2586,2599,2586,2603,2583],{},"\n    ",[768,2588,1942],{"className":2589},[2590],"tg-0pky",[768,2592,2594],{"className":2593},[2590],"Quantity on Hand",[768,2596,2598],{"className":2597},[2590],"PAR UoM",[768,2600,2602],{"className":2601},[2590],"UOM",[768,2604,2606],{"className":2605},[2590],"Prep Amount",[784,2608,2583,2609,2583,2631,2583,2652],{},[765,2610,2586,2611,2586,2615,2586,2619,2586,2623,2586,2627,2583],{},[789,2612,2614],{"className":2613},[2590],"Beef Burgers",[789,2616,2618],{"className":2617},[2590],"18",[789,2620,2622],{"className":2621},[2590],"26",[789,2624,2626],{"className":2625},[2590],"EA",[789,2628,2630],{"className":2629},[2590],"8",[765,2632,2586,2633,2586,2637,2586,2641,2586,2645,2586,2648,2583],{},[789,2634,2636],{"className":2635},[2590],"Roasted Chicken",[789,2638,2640],{"className":2639},[2590],"20",[789,2642,2644],{"className":2643},[2590],"10",[789,2646,2626],{"className":2647},[2590],[789,2649,2651],{"className":2650},[2590],"0",[765,2653,2586,2654,2586,2658,2586,2662,2586,2666,2586,2669,2583],{},[789,2655,2657],{"className":2656},[2590],"Hash Browns",[789,2659,2661],{"className":2660},[2590],"2",[789,2663,2665],{"className":2664},[2590],"40",[789,2667,2626],{"className":2668},[2590],[789,2670,2672],{"className":2671},[2590],"38",[2674,2675],"br",{},[2674,2677],{},[2679,2680,2683,2688],"section",{"className":2681,"dataFootnotes":258},[2682],"footnotes",[14,2684,2687],{"className":2685,"id":2565},[2686],"sr-only","Footnotes",[359,2689,2690],{},[41,2691,2693,303,2698],{"id":2692},"user-content-fn-1",[91,2694,2697],{"className":2695},[2696],"text-sm","The keen observer would note that our Roasted Chicken quantity on hand is double our par level required. Knowing the short shelf-life of poultry, this is an item that could be repurposed into a special or feature for the day, tossed in a soup, etc. Crisis averted!",[298,2699,2704],{"href":2700,"ariaLabel":2701,"className":2702,"dataFootnoteBackref":258},"#user-content-fnref-1","Back to reference 1",[2703],"data-footnote-backref","↩",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":2706},[2707,2708,2709,2713,2714],{"id":2379,"depth":259,"text":2380},{"id":2422,"depth":259,"text":2423},{"id":2452,"depth":259,"text":2453,"children":2710},[2711,2712],{"id":2472,"depth":1983,"text":2473},{"id":2487,"depth":1983,"text":2488},{"id":2533,"depth":259,"text":2534},{"id":2565,"depth":259,"text":2687},[267],"2021-01-24","Optimize your prep system and make the most of your kitchen's products.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-3-1.jpg",{},{"title":2306,"description":2717},"blog\u002F3-ways-to-boost-your-prep-efficiency",[2723],"tips","tSuj_cFzyxe6RUcd6xYbVBcn08x0z4EEowtUTILDP-I",{"id":2726,"title":2727,"alt":2728,"author":2729,"body":2730,"categories":2989,"createdAt":2990,"description":2991,"extension":270,"image":2992,"meta":2993,"navigation":273,"path":2224,"seo":2998,"stem":2999,"tags":3000,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":3001},"blog\u002Fblog\u002F3-great-tips-for-menu-building-success.md","3 Great Tips for Menu Building Success","Satisfied customer holding restaurant menu",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":2731,"toc":2980},[2732,2735,2738,2742,2748,2751,2765,2768,2772,2784,2787,2793,2796,2800,2803,2817,2820,2843,2846,2866,2876,2879,2883,2886,2889,2894,2901,2907,2911,2914,2920,2923,2931,2936,2959,2963,2966,2975,2977],[19,2733,2734],{},"Anyone who has ever been tasked with building a menu can attest to the process seeming, at first glance, overwhelming. Everything has to taste right, look right, and cost the right amount. Mistakes made during the menu engineering process can cost operators thousands of dollars through improperly costed items, waste, or inventory bloating.",[19,2736,2737],{},"Stressed? Not to worry! We’ve compiled 3 of the best tips to consider when designing your next menu.",[14,2739,2741],{"id":2740},"_1-avoid-single-recipe-products","#1 - Avoid Single Recipe Products",[19,2743,2744,2745,256],{},"Bringing in a product to be consumed by a solitary recipe is considered a menu engineering faux pas, akin to betting the house each spin at a roulette table. Lacklustre sales of that specific recipe could spell increased product spoilage or higher inventory levels, both of which are a drain on your cash flow. While you can forecast the expected sales levels of an item, it’s an imperfect science at ",[26,2746,2747],{},"best",[19,2749,2750],{},"Try to ensure you use any given product in multiple recipes to help keep the fresh product flowing and inventory levels at a minimum.",[38,2752,2753,2759],{},[41,2754,2755,2758],{},[315,2756,2757],{},"Example 1",": Carrots could be repurposed from a glazed dinner vegetable to a fresh, shredded crunch on a salad, to a carrot and ginger soup.",[41,2760,2761,2764],{},[315,2762,2763],{},"Example 2",": Goat’s cheese from a salad used as a crumble on pasta, or a baked cheesecake.",[19,2766,2767],{},"Increasing the number of recipes that consume a particular product simultaneously lowers your chances of waste and heightened inventory levels. That’s a bet I’d take any day!",[14,2769,2771],{"id":2770},"_2-use-ingredients-in-the-same-unit-of-measurement-theyre-purchased-in","#2 - Use Ingredients in the Same Unit of Measurement They’re Purchased In",[19,2773,2774,2775,617,2778,2029,2781,256],{},"To start, it’s important to note that there are 3 main classes when it comes to Units of Measurement (UOMs): ",[26,2776,2777],{},"Weight",[26,2779,2780],{},"Volume",[26,2782,2783],{},"Units",[19,2785,2786],{},"Weight identifies UOMs such as “kilograms”, “pounds”, and “ounces”; Volume pertains to units such as “litres”, “gallons” and “cups”; while Units categorises UOMs such as “each”, “count”, and “piece”.",[19,2788,2789],{},[524,2790],{"alt":2791,"src":2792},"Recipe Ingredients For Profitable Restaurant Menu","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-2-3.jpg",[19,2794,2795],{},"Now having said that, raise your hand if you’ve seen a recipe that calls for “5 tomatoes”. Probably most of us have seen something similar, right? While not isolated to just produce, we’ll use that as a prime example of why you shouldn’t (or can’t) do that.",[1646,2797,2799],{"id":2798},"you-cant-accurately-cost-those-ingredients","You Can’t Accurately Cost Those Ingredients.",[19,2801,2802],{},"To find the basic cost of an item, you need the following metrics:",[38,2804,2805,2811],{},[41,2806,2807,2810],{},[315,2808,2809],{},"Price"," per UOM",[41,2812,2813,2816],{},[315,2814,2815],{},"Quantity"," (of UOM)",[19,2818,2819],{},"Therefore, the cost of the item is:",[38,2821,2822,2836],{},[41,2823,2824,2827,2828,2831,2832,2835],{},[315,2825,2826],{},"Cost"," = Price (",[26,2829,2830],{},"per"," UOM) x Quantity (",[26,2833,2834],{},"of"," UOM)",[41,2837,2838,2839,2842],{},"e.g.: ",[315,2840,2841],{},"$21"," = $7\u002Flb x 3lbs",[19,2844,2845],{},"Let’s bring the tomatoes back into the discussion. Tomatoes are an item typically sold by a unit of weight (e.g.: $50 for 25 lbs). If we try to cost a recipe that calls for 5 tomatoes, we’ll run into the following problem:",[38,2847,2848],{},[41,2849,2850,2852,2853,2859,2860,1697],{},[315,2851,2826],{}," = Price (per UOM = ",[91,2854,2856],{"style":2855},"color: #339944",[315,2857,2858],{},"$2\u002Flb",") x Quantity (of UOM = ",[91,2861,2863],{"style":2862},"color: #991100",[315,2864,2865],{},"5 x each",[19,2867,2868,2869,2872,2873],{},"“Each” is not a member of the weight class -- there are no conversions that ",[26,2870,2871],{},"accurately"," translate, nor does it equal the unit of measurement supplied for the price. That means we’re unable to obtain a value for this item. ",[315,2874,2875],{},"To properly cost each ingredient, you need to ensure that you are always using it in the same measurement class as you purchase it.",[19,2877,2878],{},"Unsure of which class a product is? Check your invoice! Most suppliers will list the “Price Per” and “Unit of Measurement” as a table column on their invoices. A quick scan of this will be able to show you which class a product belongs to!",[1646,2880,2882],{"id":2881},"another-direct-issue-inconsistency","Another Direct Issue? Inconsistency.",[19,2884,2885],{},"Aside from the inability to properly cost an item without the correct unit of measurement, tomatoes are a very seasonal product. Chances are you consume multiple varieties throughout the year, all with different sizes, shapes, and flavours without so much as a blink.",[19,2887,2888],{},"It’s a struggle to achieve total consistency in your own recipes until you standardize the quantity of ingredients being used. For example: considering the above recipe using “5 each” tomatoes:",[38,2890,2891],{},[41,2892,2893],{},"5 tomatoes in February might weigh 2 lbs, while 5 tomatoes in August might yield 3.25 lbs",[19,2895,2896,2897,2900],{},"We mentioned in a ",[298,2898,2899],{"href":1691},"previous blog post"," that consistency is key! How many times have you gone out to one of your favourite restaurants with a specific dish on your mind for days, only to order it, and have it prepared differently. How did that experience make you feel?",[19,2902,2903,2904],{},"While perhaps you can’t control the variety of tomatoes available, ",[315,2905,2906],{},"you can rest assured knowing that 35 oz of tomatoes weighs the same 365 days of the year.",[14,2908,2910],{"id":2909},"_3-build-proper-portioning-and-slicing-charts","#3 - Build Proper Portioning and Slicing Charts",[19,2912,2913],{},"Prior planning prevents... well, you know the rest. Having proper portioning and slicing charts that clearly display the correct quantities and units of measurement to portion items is crucial in your menu engineering efforts. Designing a menu item to use specific quantities of ingredients and executing it are two very different pieces of the same puzzle. They only work when pieced together properly.",[19,2915,2916],{},[524,2917],{"alt":2918,"src":2919},"Well Costed Recipe Menu With Increased Profit","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-2-2.jpg",[19,2921,2922],{},"I want you to imagine two different scenarios, but in both of these scenarios:",[38,2924,2925,2928],{},[41,2926,2927],{},"You are serving a Club Sandwich that is costed to contain 3 oz of turkey.",[41,2929,2930],{},"You are selling the Club Sandwich for $15.00",[2932,2933,2935],"h4",{"id":2934},"scenario-1","Scenario 1:",[359,2937,2938,2941,2944,2947,2950,2953,2956],{},[41,2939,2940],{},"There is an insert on the line filled with 90 oz of cooked and sliced turkey, unportioned",[41,2942,2943],{},"Each time an order comes in you grab a handful of turkey and toss it in a pan to heat up. You’ve worked here for a long time and you know what 3 oz of turkey looks like.",[41,2945,2946],{},"At the end of a busy lunch service all of the turkey is gone",[41,2948,2949],{},"You check the POS terminal after and note that you only sold 25 sandwiches",[41,2951,2952],{},"This means there is 15 oz (almost a full pound!) of waste, and inconsistent products leaving the kitchen",[41,2954,2955],{},"There were also missed revenues of $75 - another direct blow to your food cost!",[41,2957,2958],{},"Imagine this scenario repeated across multiple products each and every service - how much money in missed revenues is impacting your operations?",[2932,2960,2962],{"id":2961},"scenario-2","Scenario 2:",[19,2964,2965],{},"There is an insert on the line filled with 90 oz of cooked and sliced turkey, portioned in 3 oz compostable bags.",[19,2967,2968,2974],{},[315,2969,2970,2973],{},[26,2971,2972],{},"There’s no need to do the rest"," - you know that this time around there will be no missed revenues or product waste!"," Repeated across multiple products, a simple chart on a wall could save you thousands of dollars over the course of a year and boost your customer retention by offering consistently amazing portions and products.",[14,2976,671],{"id":670},[19,2978,2979],{},"Building and costing a menu can be stressful, but by considering a few small changes to your menu-building process, you can ensure that you’re not only getting consistent food costs, but your guests are getting consistent results too.",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":2981},[2982,2983,2987,2988],{"id":2740,"depth":259,"text":2741},{"id":2770,"depth":259,"text":2771,"children":2984},[2985,2986],{"id":2798,"depth":1983,"text":2799},{"id":2881,"depth":1983,"text":2882},{"id":2909,"depth":259,"text":2910},{"id":670,"depth":259,"text":671},[267],"2021-01-17","Building a new menu can seem overwhelming. These tips will help you maximize it.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-2-1.jpg",{"excerpt":2994},{"type":11,"value":2995},[2996],[19,2997,2734],{},{"title":2727,"description":2991},"blog\u002F3-great-tips-for-menu-building-success",[2302],"pgjxu6xvpBvvXypCKDe71j1kIdTYOXCNOkNiTJQVjDQ",{"id":3003,"title":3004,"alt":3005,"author":3006,"body":3007,"categories":3285,"createdAt":3286,"description":3287,"extension":270,"image":3288,"meta":3289,"navigation":273,"path":1691,"seo":3290,"stem":3291,"tags":3292,"updatedAt":281,"__hash__":3293},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-you-should-be-continuously-costing-your-restaurants-recipes.md","Why You Should Be Continuously Costing Your Restaurant’s Recipes","Chef working over hot grill in a busy restaurant",{"name":9},{"type":11,"value":3008,"toc":3275},[3009,3012,3015,3021,3031,3035,3038,3041,3051,3054,3057,3071,3074,3078,3081,3084,3088,3099,3103,3106,3109,3112,3115,3119,3122,3128,3139,3142,3145,3149,3218,3221,3240,3254,3260,3265,3268],[19,3010,3011],{},"We’ve all seen them -- the binders tucked away on a spice shelf somewhere, stains of sauces long gone displaying their age like rings on a tree trunk. Jammed with scribbled-on recipes, conversions on masking tape and a few day-dot labels, it is alarming to know how much of our operational success depends on those scrunched-up papers.",[19,3013,3014],{},"We keep them around in their plastic sleeves. As the months and years go by, they become part of the furniture. “This is the way we’ve always done this”, you’ll hear. “That recipe hasn’t changed since we opened!” chants the old guard.",[19,3016,3017,3018,256],{},"They have a point. ",[26,3019,3020],{},"Sort of",[19,3022,3023,3026,3027,3030],{},[315,3024,3025],{},"Consistency is key",". You can make a great argument that the ability to consistently deliver an outstanding guest experience at a high level is paramount to the success of any restaurant. That said, it’s my belief that the old adage of “the only thing certain in life is death & taxes” should be amended to include ",[26,3028,3029],{},"price fluctuations",". Let’s look at how effectively costing our recipes can actually help us boost our consistency.",[14,3032,3034],{"id":3033},"lets-imagine-the-following-scenario","Let’s Imagine The Following Scenario",[19,3036,3037],{},"You want to start the new year off on the right foot, so you commit to spending the roughly 20-25 hours it takes you to fully cost out each ingredient on every one of your dishes. You only want to do this once per year, so you get it all done on your Thursday and Friday. Exhausted, you call it a day and head out for your weekend.",[19,3039,3040],{},"Remember that Pork Belly with Tomato Ragout recipe you spent so much time costing out? When you return from your days off, you discover the only thing that hasn't changed is its name. Sure, it still contains roughly the same ingredient list; however, ingredient availability and prices fluctuate daily.",[19,3042,3043,3044,3047,3048],{},"Hurricane affecting the East Coast? ",[26,3045,3046],{},"Say hello to $85 per case tomatoes from a different market."," Pork Belly market taking its usual swing up in price? ",[26,3049,3050],{},"Won’t take long until the price of each portion of pork doubles in price.",[19,3052,3053],{},"With so much changing each day, it’s incredible to think that the recipe you prepped on your Friday isn’t the same recipe that you will be making again on Monday. The glaring problem with your new recipes? They’re not costed out to ensure they are still profitable.",[19,3055,3056],{},"“The price only changed by a few cents though! It doesn’t make sense to cost the recipes out again,” you’ll say. You’re probably right! Costing these items out manually, you’ll undoubtedly spend much more in labour trying to:",[38,3058,3059,3062,3065,3068],{},[41,3060,3061],{},"Locate the price variances",[41,3063,3064],{},"Calculate the new price in the same unit of measurement that you’re using it,",[41,3066,3067],{},"Update each one of your recipes that uses that ingredient,",[41,3069,3070],{},"Then update each of your recipes that uses any of those other recipes you just changed.",[19,3072,3073],{},"Even with the quickest calculator around, you’re in for a long haul. So, we leave it for Monday. Then Tuesday’s deliveries arrive, along with a new set of pricing. Those recipes we didn’t update yesterday? The pricing has strayed even further from the original safe harbour of our initial costing. These price fluctuations continue to snowball - a few cents here, a couple of dollars per kilogram there and by the end of the month your wonderfully costed menu now is just a faint, distant memory. Let’s imagine we fast-forward 6 months in time.",[14,3075,3077],{"id":3076},"why-is-the-food-cost-so-high-this-month","Why Is The Food Cost So High This Month?",[19,3079,3080],{},"Too often, we initially look at our internal execution for reasons why the Food Cost has risen and surmise that it must either be an issue with overspending or waste. We are quick to decree to everyone that they “put it on the waste sheet!” and that we “need to be tighter with the budget!”",[19,3082,3083],{},"The problem with this approach is twofold:",[1646,3085,3087],{"id":3086},"first","First",[19,3089,3090,3091,3094,3095,3098],{},"You’re banking on the hope that whoever does purchasing on your days off (assuming you get days off - it ",[26,3092,3093],{},"is"," the restaurant industry after all), knows what the budget is, and that you're confident enough in their ordering not to short key products while simultaneously not stockpiling shelves. It’s a delicate balance which often ends up with inexperienced cooks running out of products at the end of the month, leading to a bunch of items getting ",[26,3096,3097],{},"86’d"," all in the name of hitting the almighty Food Cost.",[1646,3100,3102],{"id":3101},"second","Second",[19,3104,3105],{},"Let’s look at your waste sheet. From my personal vantage point behind a line over the past 2 decades, even with the best of intentions these documents are not used as strictly as an accountant would like. Middle of the rush and someone forgets some chicken strips in the deep fryer for too long? “I’ll put it on the waste sheet when it slows down”.",[19,3107,3108],{},"The reason you aren’t costing out your recipes daily right now was because you didn’t have time, remember? To get any value from your waste sheet, you’re going to need to invest some time to cost each item \u002F product out. Again, we’re hoping that everything has been written down and in a unit of measurement that makes sense (1 “bowl” of spinach was dropped - how do you cost it?).",[19,3110,3111],{},"Speaking of costing that waste sheet - which product prices are you using? Today's price? Last week’s price, or - shudder - the price from 6 months ago when you first costed this recipe?",[19,3113,3114],{},"We see that when you only focus on the overall purchasing you leave yourself prone to managerial mistakes, such as running out of products at the end of your financial period, all in order to make the Food Cost look better. The problem, of course, is that you are damaging your consistency with guests and negatively impacting their experience. Plus, it’s a roller-coaster - you will typically see large swings in your costing month-to-month. Homing in on the waste sheet might provide some clue as to where your hard-earned cash has gone, but it won’t prevent you from losing any more of it.",[14,3116,3118],{"id":3117},"coming-full-circle","Coming Full Circle",[19,3120,3121],{},"Why do your recipes need constant costing? Effectively engineering your menu through daily costing is a proven method that, along with reviewing your sales mix, will help you to dramatically lower your Food Cost and keep it there. Focusing in on purchasing and waste won’t get you there by themselves.",[19,3123,3124],{},[524,3125],{"alt":3126,"src":3127},"Image of Restaurant Recipe Food Cost Report","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-1-2.jpg",[19,3129,3130,3131,3134,3135,3138],{},"So, how do you actually lower your Food Cost consistently without spending hundreds of hours? ",[315,3132,3133],{},"Effective menu-engineering and analysis",". This is a constant, ongoing process that is made much easier with ",[298,3136,516],{"href":745,"rel":3137},[302],". The goal is to bring your average Food Cost equal to your desired percentage, monitoring the swings in sales of higher cost and lower cost items to adjust the recipes and \u002F or selling prices as required.",[19,3140,3141],{},"Let’s imagine another scenario:",[19,3143,3144],{},"You are the world’s smallest Niche Food Truck serving the following 3 different pasta dishes at the same price but with different associated costs to produce. You create the following menu that has an average Food Cost of 33.75%. Looks pretty great on paper, so we launch it!",[1646,3146,3148],{"id":3147},"niche-food-truck","Niche Food Truck",[38,3150,3151,3176,3197],{},[41,3152,3153,3156],{},[315,3154,3155],{},"Spaghetti",[38,3157,3158,3164,3170],{},[41,3159,3160,3161],{},"Cost to produce: ",[315,3162,3163],{},"$2.5",[41,3165,3166,3167],{},"Menu Price: ",[315,3168,3169],{},"$10.00",[41,3171,3172,3173],{},"Food Cost: ",[315,3174,3175],{},"20%",[41,3177,3178,3181],{},[315,3179,3180],{},"Ravioli",[38,3182,3183,3188,3192],{},[41,3184,3160,3185],{},[315,3186,3187],{},"$5.00",[41,3189,3166,3190],{},[315,3191,3169],{},[41,3193,3172,3194],{},[315,3195,3196],{},"50%",[41,3198,3199,3202],{},[315,3200,3201],{},"Penne",[38,3203,3204,3209,3213],{},[41,3205,3160,3206],{},[315,3207,3208],{},"$3.75",[41,3210,3166,3211],{},[315,3212,3169],{},[41,3214,3172,3215],{},[315,3216,3217],{},"31.25%",[19,3219,3220],{},"You open the door to the food truck and sell the following:",[38,3222,3223,3229,3235],{},[41,3224,3225,3226],{},"10 portions of Ravioli at $5.00 per portion = $50 cost -- ",[315,3227,3228],{},"$100 profit",[41,3230,3231,3232],{},"5 portions of Spaghetti at $2.50 per portion = $10 cost -- ",[315,3233,3234],{},"$50 profit",[41,3236,3237,3238],{},"5 portions of Penne at $3.75 per portion = $18.75 cost -- ",[315,3239,3234],{},[19,3241,3242,3243,3246,3247,303,3250,3253],{},"At the end of the day, you spent $78.75 to make $200 ",[26,3244,3245],{},"or"," a ",[315,3248,3249],{},"39.38%",[315,3251,3252],{},"Food Cost",". Despite our average coming in much lower, by reviewing our sales from the period (the day) we were able to see that the most popular dish (Ravioli) also cost the most to produce, dragging our Food Cost up.",[19,3255,3256,3257,679],{},"Okay, no problem! You’re able to see that information instantly so you can act instantly! You immediately draft up a new version of your Ravioli recipe, this time costing you $1 less to produce. If the sales of those items were exactly same, you would now end up with a Food Cost of ",[315,3258,3259],{},"34.38%",[19,3261,3262],{},[315,3263,3264],{},"What a huge change!",[19,3266,3267],{},"Now - and this is the scary part - I want you to imagine a world where you don’t know what any of those pasta dishes cost. The recipes were built when you first launched, 6 months ago and now we’re sitting here wondering:",[19,3269,3270],{},[26,3271,3272],{},[315,3273,3274],{},"“Why is the Food Cost so high this month?”",{"title":258,"searchDepth":259,"depth":259,"links":3276},[3277,3278,3282],{"id":3033,"depth":259,"text":3034},{"id":3076,"depth":259,"text":3077,"children":3279},[3280,3281],{"id":3086,"depth":1983,"text":3087},{"id":3101,"depth":1983,"text":3102},{"id":3117,"depth":259,"text":3118,"children":3283},[3284],{"id":3147,"depth":1983,"text":3148},[267],"2021-01-10","Recipe costing isn't a one-time exercise. We'll help you understand why you should be regularly costing your recipes.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fdc-blog-post-1-1.jpg",{},{"title":3004,"description":3287},"blog\u002Fwhy-you-should-be-continuously-costing-your-restaurants-recipes",[2302],"SoJSB2giSg1E7DgZ2WBnPBBIli0kaCSjMNtIOTeKTGM",1793506158363]