Sunday, October 25, 2009

Restaurant Inventory Control Means Better Logistics

By Jose L Riesco

In terms of financial liability, the cost of food is second only to your labor costs when running a restaurant. It is therefore vitally important to ensure that you have complete control over this element, as it goes right to your bottom line.

While every business has its operational costs and most retail establishments have to carry stocks of some kind, restaurant inventory control is particularly important as in this case the goods are very perishable. It is not uncommon to have several hundred different types of raw food product in storage at any one moment and with poor management you can end up wasting a lot of this.

Good restaurant inventory control starts and finishes at senior management level. It is important not to get too many people involved in the process, as this by itself can lead to an overall waste. Delegate by all means but make sure that you have a very strict procedure in place to account for the oversight, for measurement and for the ordering process.

While a good eatery will stand or fall on the quality of its food and it's important to have all your menu items available at all times, remember that all this food represents a cost until it is prepared and delivered to the client. You need to practice the process of containment and come up with a system to ensure that you are stocking just the right amount, not too little and not too much.

For some reason we tend to put less value on something if we can see that there is an abundance of it available. Scarcity seems to focus our minds more and when it comes to restaurant inventory control your aim should be to have just the right amount and not too much, as well as going out of your way to educate your workers in the values of strict portion control.

If you calculate to have just enough of each type of food in the storage room, you'll end up having less spoilage, less waste, less theft, better portion control and a better overall net result to your bottom line. Make sure that you reduce the excess inventory by proper oversight.

Did you know that chain restaurants tend to be 2 to 3 times more profitable than independent restaurants, across the board? This is in good part due to the policies and procedures that they have in place, including stringent restaurant inventory control. All operators should try and ensure that they do a full food calculation cost once per week and after a period of time they will not come up against any sudden panics when a particular item is very low or even runs out.

Restaurant inventory control is but one element and only part of what it takes to manage and market your establishment well. Newcomers or those who have some experience could really benefit from seeking the services of experienced industry consultants to help them hone their own skills.

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