Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2023 - 30

YOUR MENU: AT THE ROOT
OF COST CONTROL
Equipment
Before featuring an item on your
menu, make sure your kitchen is
equipped to prepare it. Substituting
a prep method or cooking device
jeopardizes quality and safety in a
hurry.
OPTIMIZE PRODUCTS
Getting creative to reduce costs
demands a close eye on procurement
best practices to assure you are
purchasing and streamlining products
to enable maximum cost savings.
Evaluate Your Menu Items
It's best practice to use a single item
across two or more dishes. Take
the time to evaluate products and
prioritize them into multiple items on
the menu. To cross-utilize effectively,
first standardize the products you
purchase for use in multiple recipes,
and then look to add even more
applications for that item.
Follow this sequence when evaluating
your menu:
* Find recipes that use similar items.
For example, use one chicken item in
the majority of the recipes that call
for chicken, such as chicken parm,
lemon chicken, stir-fry chicken, or a
chicken Caesar salad.
* Identify ingredients that are used
infrequently. Get creative with
your menu items and use those
ingredients in new dishes. It's still
about using items in additional
ways, like using the deli turkey from
your lunch menu on a turkey, egg,
and cheese breakfast sandwich.
BEFORE FEATURING
AN ITEM ON YOUR
MENU,
make sure your kitchen
is equipped to prepare
it. Substituting a prep
method or cooking device
jeopardizes quality and
safety in a hurry.
* While you're at it, place the items
strategically on the menu so you
can maximize use of leftovers. For
example, make sure the turkey
breakfast sandwich is menued near
the deli turkey sandwich so you can
use it before it spoils.
* Pack size. A larger pack size may
have a lower price per ounce.
Always consider whether you need
the larger quantity so the product
doesn't go to waste.
* Value-added. Value-added products
typically cost more, but they may be
ultimately lower in overall cost when
you factor in time and labor.
* On-contract. Look for products that
are on your purchasing contract.
Understand how rebates and
incentives in your contract affect the
cost of your menu.
* Alternate brand. Is there an equal
but more affordable brand for an
item? Be aware of brand rebates
you could maximize through your
contract.
* Distributor. Just as you want to
slim down the variety of products
you purchase, you should limit the
number of vendors you use. This
saves time and money.
Purchase the Right Products
Now that you know what type of
products you need to align with your
planned menu, examine your actual
order list to uncover more saving
opportunities. Start by looking at a
high-spend category such as center
of the plate or cleaning products.
Optimize purchases one category
at a time after working through the
highest volume items. Watch for these
scenarios:
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
The day-to-day foodservice operations
to prepare your planned menu can
make or break a budget. The key
to doing it right is having the right
process in place. Two major factors
impacting food costs are inventory
and forecasting. Here are some ideas
to include in your daily operations to
assure your actions don't extend your
budget.
Manage Inventory
The line between overstocking and
understocking in any foodservice
operation is thin. It requires paying
close attention to detail and that
is achieved by creating order lists,
establishing par levels, and performing
routine inventory checks. Bottomline:
Overstocking will result in waste
and negatively affect cash flow;
30 NUTRITION & F OOD SER VICE EDGE | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2023
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2023
