From: Roy MacNaughton

I just couldn't resist giving you one of the ways I learned to reduce food costs when I was a young food and beverage manager. I was taught this by an old Italian chef when I worked at an airport hotel in Toronto: Start checking your dumpster and garbage bags.

I once sat in my car at the back of the hotel parking lot one bitter cold winter's day and watched for an hour or so, but eventually, there he was--my sous chef--putting a large green garbage bag (a little too gently) into the dumpster.

Now sous chefs don't normally take out the garbage...unless they have a very motivating reason. Once he was back in the building, I snuck over to the dumpster, reached in and found what I was looking for: his garbage bag had about 30 pounds of choice steaks and chops, wrapped inside the bag. I took the bag into the kitchen, called an instant staff meeting, and dumped the contents of the garbage bag on a prep table. There was one very loud gasp.

Then I asked whomever had put this garbage bag in the dumpster to step forward. He stood perfectly still. I asked one more time. You could hear a pin drop. Then I turned to him and asked him why he had done it. He started to protest that he hadn't. I showed him my Polaroid camera shot of him placing the garbage bag in the dumpster. He stopped talking.

Naturally, he was fired on the spot, locker emptied, and escorted off the property.

After that in-house demonstration, my food cost didn't get out of line again.

Cheers, Roy

From: Garen Blais, Executive Chef, Federation CJA & Gelber Conference Centre

1. Invest in equipment that reduces loss or shrinkage ie: vacu-pac machine, sous-vide cooking, combi steamer, etc.

2. Buy products with longer shelf lives.

3. Use "second" rate fruits and vegetables in areas of the menu where you will not notice the difference in presentation from top quality.

4. Buy products that reduce labor ie: convenience foods (may not lower food cost, but will definitely contribute to improved labor cost).

5. Keep a tight watch on received goods and ensure that they correctly match the packing slip ie: weight, quality, etc.

6. Keep a waste report (ensure all employees know how to use it) and assess it on a regular basis.

7. Find better ways of reusing "old" food.

From: Guy McNeil, Travel Centers of America

Hello my friend!

We (my group, 165 QSRs) designated improving food cost (margin) as one of the top two focus items for our team in 2004. Here is the approach we took:
  - The vast majority of all food cost problems is theft of sales.
  - We began distributing a "Missed Sales Opportunity Report"
    that converts "seemingly minor" percentages into real sales.

For example: A Burger King unit does $100,000 a month in sales, with a budgeted food cost of 29%. It ran 31%, which translates into $2,000 in "missing food". To give added perspective the all parties involved, we convert that $2,000 into food items, i.e. for that amount we could purchase over 1,000 lbs. of burger patties! There is no possibility that much product could have been stolen, wasted, or even eaten. THE REAL CULPRIT is in all probability theft of sales. The "missed sales opportunity" is calculated as follows:

$2,000 ("missing food $") divided by the BUDGETED food cost (29%) = $6,890 "missed sales opportunity".

This means the "missing" $2,000 in food could have generated $6,980 in sales. It is much more logical that we lost CASH (money that didn't make it into the drawer) rather than "1,000 lbs. of burger patties", for example. Hence that 2% we were off in food cost might actually be a $7,000 cash shortage!

- We began to eliminate any signs of "markers", i.e. pennies in the quarter slots that represent $5 (which can be "skimmed" off without detection), paper clips/sugar packets (potential "markers") in or around the registers, we added "no receipt your food is free" signs, etc. - We took away the ability (cash handlers) to make voids or deletions (only mgrs. had capability), we scrutinized employee meals (too high & they are giving it away, too low and they are eating for free).

Making a long story short (I'm at work), we are currently running even with last year's food cost despite a 40% increase in chicken (imagine the impact to our 30 Popeyes!), 25% in beef, 90% in grease, 30% in cheese, etc.

Hope this helps! See ya Peter!

Guy (McNeil), Travel Centers of America

From: David Vanderpoel

Dear Peter,

Although this isn't revolutionary or even real specific, in terms of food prep, my opinion is to emphasize Retrain the Trainer.

I've seen people quickly prep foods to save time when they really should simply focus on yield. If the line isn't barking for it, take a bit more care in reducing waste and utilize all that’s there. Trimmings are called just that, and most can be utilized in at least stocks if not rendering beef for a roux. My point is, new personnel may sometimes show some initial quality skills, but watch them at different times to be sure they're using time management skills in judging how much waste goes into the trash can. Expedient service is important, but slowing just a bit to lessen the load of the trash can do wonders for your food cost. Also, I suppose you would raise your food cost by not allowing prep time and simply cooking on the fly. Prep is money saving when the skilled professional trains the less experienced staff.

Thanks for considering my input.

David Vanderpoel