Struggling to balance cost control and quality standards in your restaurant?

I've learnt that efficient purchasing is the key to low opex. Purchasing is a full-time job, it requires you to keep an eye 24X7 on the commodity prices. Go out twice a month to your city's biggest vegetable procurement centre to know the actual pricing, negotiate for a better price or directly source from the centre. Before every bulk purchase, compare prices online and offline. I've saved Lakhs by doing this. Meanwhile, do not degrade your quality. You can also enter a year-long fixed-price contract with your vendor as well. The restaurant business itself carries a gestation period of more than a year. Degrading quality will impact customer rating.

One of the most important aspects of cost control is the source from which your product is delivered. In the world of wine, most producers are intimately connected to a specific importer and distributor; so developing strong relationships with those distributors is how you can effectively manage cost. Be it volume purchase pricing, or sourcing additional producers, there is always a way to maximize every dollar spent.

Smart sourcing balances cost control and quality through the following strategies: - Supplier Evaluation and Selection by conducting a thorough due diligence to assess potential suppliers' capabilities, financial stability, and quality track record. - Establish clear quality standards and performance metrics during the supplier selection process - Negotiate contracts that clearly define quality expectations, delivery timelines, and performance guarantees - Build strong relationships with suppliers based on trust and mutual respect - Communicate quality expectations regularly and provide feedback on supplier performance - Establish a robust quality control process and audit to ensure that goods and services meet the agreed-upon standards

The best approach we used as a family operation was to look at the core products that sold the best. Look at that ingredient list. What else can I make with the same items? Think like a box on a cooking show. Sure, you can count on some other basic goods being in house. But before you base one menu item on a specific item with poor shelf life and high expense, look outward for cross utilization. This will allow more offerings, effectively use what you buy, and help diminish waste.

Menu engineering is tedious. In dining: You can engineer your menu after 6-8 months of operations. As soon as you hit the 6-month mark, look at the top-performing item in each category and move them to the top. Add a best-selling asterisk in front of that item to boost their sales even further. In Delivery Study the menu, item placement, accompaniment, pricing, portions, packaging and differentiation of the restaurants and cloud kitchens around you in your category with a 4+ rating. Copy their strategy until you see a changing trend or your data says otherwise.

By analyzing menu item popularity and profitability, menu engineering empowers businesses to optimize offerings. Categorizing dishes as stars, puzzles, plowhorses, or dogs provides valuable insights for strategic adjustments. Focus on promoting high-profit, popular items while strategically addressing underperforming dishes. This data-driven approach enhances profitability without compromising customer satisfaction.

You will always love your restaurant, its service and its KPT. Customer feedback pulls you to reality. Granted that ~3-5% of reviews are out of customer spite or any other reason. You will have to account for the others. Working on customer reviews can also increase your average cover price.

Consider implementing batch cooking to minimize overproduction and ensure fresher servings. Batch cooking involves preparing large quantities of food in advance to enhance efficiency and reduce waste. Start by planning and scheduling based on historical sales data to predict demand accurately and adjust batch sizes. Standardize recipes to ensure consistency and accurate ingredient forecasting. Employ yield management to calculate usable portions, which helps in precise ingredient quantities and minimizes excess. Use precise measuring tools for portion control and implement proper storage techniques, such as vacuum sealing and blast chilling, to maintain food quality.