OPERATIONS Six Places to Look for Money Savers Managing rising food and labor costs By Dan Collier I nflation is at roughly seven percent, a rate not seen since 1982. This will hit you where it hurts, your prime costs. And then while you are down on the ground bleeding profits, inflation will kick you repeatedly through 2022, until you give up and close your pizzeria or adapt and thrive while your competitors shut their doors. Food and labor costs are called prime costs because they are the two costs you must manage in your pizzeria business to survive. What weapons do you have to fight the inflation of your food and labor costs? Here are six of the most important for your arms cache. Food Costs * Ideal Food Cost * Single Vendor Contract * Vendor Allowances 40 / PIZZATODAY.COM / MARCH 2022 Photos Josh Keown Labor Costs * Scheduling Techniques * Technology * Equipment Food Cost: Ideal Food Cost Do you know how many pounds of pepperoni you used last week? Second question: Do you know how many pounds of pepperoni you should have used last week? This is the essence of Ideal Food Cost. Your POS system has this ability. It requires setup work. You will need to put recipes into your POS system and then each week post purchases and input an ending inventory. Start with your meats and cheeses to keep it simple. For example, if your large pepperoni pizza has 10.5 ounces of mozzarella and 55 slices of pepperoni at 14-16 count (the number of slices of pephttp://www.PIZZATODAY.COM