A restaurant can be a very complicated establishment to run and the actual cost of the food itself is significant, being second only to the cost of your manpower. Having control over this element is vitally important to your bottom line and the success of your venture.
Each business has its own particular stresses and strains and while all retail establishments carry stocks of some kind, restaurant inventory control is very important in this arena as in this case if you're not careful your goods will perish. Poor management control over the several hundred different types of raw food in stock will soon lead to wastage and wasted money.
While senior management should always delegate for best effect, we should not forget that ultimately they have responsibility for good restaurant inventory control. It is important not to have too many people involved in the chain as this will just lead to waste in one form or another, but remember that portion measurement, food handling and ordering are top of the list.
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.
As humans, we tend to put less value on something if there is a lot of it around and this applies to food stocks as well. Part of your restaurant inventory control duties will require you to educate your workers in the strict importance of portion control. Aim to have just the right amount of any one stock available at any time and not an overabundance.
By ensuring that you have an optimum level of inventory in your storage room you will automatically address several issues and find that you end up with less theft, less wastage, a lot less spoilage, perfect control of portions and a healthier bank account.
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 only one element of overall restaurant management and marketing. Those who are new to the business, or even those who have been "around the block a couple of times," would do well to seek the services of industry consultants to help them understand the intricacies of this competitive business.
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