Sample result
Food Cost Analyzer for Restaurants
The owner asked this:«I have been repeating a 34 % food cost for two years and the bank does not back it up. I have purchases, sales and inventories for both locations.»
① The number they kept repeating, and the one that appeared once it was split
The 34 % the house kept repeating was not added up wrong: it was split wrong. It was food and beverage consumption divided by total sales.
| Line for the month (2 locations, COP) | Food | Beverage |
|---|---|---|
| Opening inventory | 18,400,000 | 6,900,000 |
| + Purchases in the period | 61,000,000 | 10,200,000 |
| − Closing inventory | 17,100,000 | 6,600,000 |
| = Cost of goods sold | 62,300,000 | 10,500,000 |
| Sales excluding tax | 178,000,000 | 36,000,000 |
| Actual cost of the family | 35.0 % | 29.2 % |
Added together and divided by the 214,000,000 of total sales they give exactly the declared 34.0 %. Split apart, the kitchen sits at 35.0 % and the bar at 29.2 %: two different businesses that had been averaging each other out for two years.
What went in and what stayed out, so next month compares against the same thing: comps (1,240,000) and staff meals (2,100,000) go in, because they come out of the same storeroom, and they are declared separately. Delivery packaging stays out, because it is not food. And it was confirmed with the administrator that the 214,000,000 are reported excluding consumption tax: if the tax were inside, this 35.0 % would be artificially low and the whole reading would be worthless.
② The gap, in points and in this month's money
The theoretical is built from each dish's current costing card multiplied by its units sold. It is not an opinion: it is what the kitchen should cost if everything came out as written.
| Dish | Units for the month | Price | Sales | Card cost | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House bandeja | 1,420 | 42,000 | 59,640,000 | 13,700 | 19,454,000 |
| Three-meat sancocho | 880 | 46,000 | 40,480,000 | 15,900 | 13,992,000 |
| Garlic trout | 610 | 52,000 | 31,720,000 | 17,800 | 10,858,000 |
| Rest of the menu | — | — | 46,160,000 | — | 12,300,000 |
| Total food | 178,000,000 | 56,604,000 |
Theoretical food cost 31.8 % · actual 35.0 % · gap 3.2 points.
In this month's money: 5,696,000 COP. The house sets its own threshold at 3 sustained points and this one crossed it, so it gets investigated this week and not next month.
The translator that makes the figure land: 1 point of food cost on food sales is 1,780,000 COP a month. And against the declared goal —lifting operating margin from 8 % to 14 % in 12 months without touching menu prices— those 5,696,000 are worth 2.7 of the 6 points that have to be recovered. Almost half of the year's goal sits inside this single gap.
One honest condition before going hunting: the theoretical is only worth as much as the costing card feeding it. If the cards are light, part of the "leak" is arithmetic and not theft.
SUPUESTO: the food cost target used here is not an industry yardstick, and no single yardstick fits everyone. It is the 31.8 % that Sazón de Origen's own recipes state, and the 35.0 % it is compared against comes from its own inventories. Source: the sales, food cost and goal the house declares in its context card. If the house agreed to move menu prices, or if the goal were different, the target changes and this whole table gets recalculated.
The full example has 1 more part(s): you see them inside the library, with your account.