Food Cost
Control food cost down to the gram
Recipe-level costing, wastage, transfers and closing stock, matched against what you actually sold.
For F&B controllers, chefs and kitchen management.
| Ingredient | Qty | Waste | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paneer | 1.2 kg | 2% | ₹432.00 |
| Tomato | 1.5 kg | 8% | ₹64.80 |
| Butter | 250 g | 0% | ₹137.50 |
| Fresh cream | 300 ml | 0% | ₹66.00 |
| Makhani gravy base Sub-recipe | 800 g | 0% | ₹84.00 |
Works from the exports you already have
- Store issuesWhat the store sent to each kitchen.
- Purchases (GRN)What came in, from which vendor, at what rate.
- SalesWhat each outlet sold, item by item.
- Closing stockWhat's left on the shelves at the end of the period.
How the month adds up
Food Cost compares what your recipes say you should have used with what actually left the store. The difference is where the money went.
- 1
Upload the exports
Store issues, GRN and sales from your PMS, as .xls, .xlsx or .csv.
- 2
Match items once
Link PMS item codes to your products and menu items. Unmatched items can be created in one click.
- 3
Recipes cost the sales
Each dish sold is costed from its recipe, giving the theoretical food cost.
- 4
Log what else left
Closing stock, wastage, staff meals, complimentary food and transfers between kitchens.
- 5
See the variance
Actual against theoretical, day by day and ingredient by ingredient, with alerts.
Recipes costed against what you actually pay
Every ingredient is costed from your latest store and purchase rates, with the trim loss you lose in prep. Dishes over your target food cost stand out in the list.
- Quantities in grams or in the unit you buy in, converted for you
- A waste factor per ingredient for peeling, trimming and bones
- Sub-recipes, like gravies and batters, used inside other dishes
- Yield, portions and portion size
- Menu price, food cost % and gross profit per dish
- Allergens and preparation method on a printable recipe card
- Export the recipe list to Excel
| Dish | Cost | Price | Food cost | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paneer butter masala | ₹78 | ₹340 | 23.1% | ₹262 |
| Mutton biryani | ₹186 | ₹480 | 38.8% | ₹294 |
| Masala dosa | ₹34 | ₹160 | 21.3% | ₹126 |
| Grilled fish, lemon butter | ₹214 | ₹620 | 34.5% | ₹406 |
| Club sandwich | ₹71 | ₹290 | 24.5% | ₹219 |
Food cost for each day, not just at month end
For every department, every day: opening stock, purchases, transfers, issues, wastage, staff meals, complimentary food and closing stock, set against that day's food revenue.
- Actual and theoretical food cost % side by side
- Month to date, compared with last month
- Kitchens, restaurants, bars, banquets, room service, pastry and the staff canteen as separate departments
- Closing stock entered by department, grouped by dry, chilled and frozen
- A ledger of every issue, sale and GRN, on screen or as CSV
Find the ingredient that's leaking
A food cost that's 3 points high is a number. Paneer used 3.2 kg more than the recipes allow is something you can walk into the kitchen and ask about.
- Theoretical against actual quantity, per ingredient and department
- Variance in quantity, percentage and rupees
- Alerts for high food cost, high variance, high wastage and negative stock
- An alert when a department's closing stock hasn't been entered
- The week's top variance items every Monday, and the monthly trend on the 1st
| Ingredient | Recipes say | Actually used | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paneer | 18.4 kg | 21.6 kg | +3.2 kg, ₹1,152 |
| Basmati rice | 42.0 kg | 44.5 kg | +2.5 kg, ₹300 |
| Butter | 6.8 kg | 7.1 kg | +0.3 kg, ₹165 |
| Chicken, curry cut | 36.0 kg | 35.4 kg | −0.6 kg |
- High variance: Paneer, +17%Main kitchen, this week
- Closing stock not enteredBanquet kitchen, yesterday
Everything that leaves the kitchen without a bill
Wastage, staff meals, complimentary food and transfers between kitchens are logged as they happen, with a reason and an approval, instead of being guessed at month end.
- Wastage by reason: spoilage, expiry, overproduction, guest complaint, kitchen error, breakage
- Staff meals by department and meal, with cost per head
- Complimentary food for VIPs, OTA complaints, management, promotions and press
- Transfers between kitchens, outlets and the store
- Approvals on wastage, comps and transfers
- Wastage: 2 kg prawnsSpoilage, chiller fault. Approved by Exec. Chef₹1,360
- Staff meals: lunch, 64 staffStaff canteen, ₹38 per head₹2,432
- Complimentary: fruit platterVIP guest, Room 901. Approved by GM₹420
- Complimentary: dessertOTA complaint, Room 412₹95
- Transfer: 5 L creamMain kitchen to Pastry₹1,100
Chefs ask for dishes. The store gets an ingredient list.
A chef requests portions of recipes for one or more outlets in a single request. Food Cost expands each recipe into its ingredients, scales them, and adds up the same ingredient across every line into one indent for the store.
- Request recipes and portions, not individual stock items
- One request can cover the restaurant, banquets and room service
- A consolidated indent the store can issue from
- Issued against the request, so you can see what was asked for and what went out
Chef request CR-0318, Chef Arvind
| Ingredient | Total | From |
|---|---|---|
| Basmati rice | 14.4 kg | Biryani |
| Paneer | 4.8 kg | Paneer butter masala |
| Butter | 3.2 kg | All three dishes |
| Fresh cream | 2.1 L | Paneer, dal makhani |
Know which dishes earn their place on the menu
Every dish is placed by how well it sells and how much it makes. Keep the stars, reprice the popular dishes that earn little, promote the profitable ones nobody orders, and think hard about the rest.
- Stars: popular and profitable
- Plow horses: popular, but low margin
- Puzzles: profitable, but rarely ordered
- Dogs: neither
- Based on your actual sales and recipe costs
Works alongside
Bring last month's exports. See where the food cost went.
In a demo we'll walk through Food Cost using a sample month, and show you which reports to pull from your PMS to get started.