The Ways to Control Food Costs in The Restaurants

Through the use of modern storage equipment such as refrigerators and freezers, restaurants and bars are able to cut waste and manage margins effectively. The wide use of a refrigerator for food storage in restaurants has made it possible to store food for a long time without having to go bad which would have led to wastes and costly to the restaurants. Restaurants are now able to order perishable food items and store them in the refrigerator and avail them to customers and clients whenever there is a need.

This method of cost control, however, has been criticized by some people because some restaurants store food in these refrigerators for so long to help in minimizing spoilage. But it is important to note that food that has been stored too long in the refrigerator or freezer may be of less quality but cannot make anyone sick (Dershowitz, 2018). This technique of cost control is one of the most effective techniques in almost all restaurants because the costs of such equipment are relatively low. It is very evident because almost all restaurants that I have ever visited has got a refrigerator which is purposely used for food storage to avoid wastage and cut on costs.

Optimization of the Supply Chain

Some restaurants and bars today use mobile apps and other software to input and perform analysis of data on a daily basis. Such apps and software allow the users to digitally record inventory counts right inside the store. They are able to record custom units like bags crates, cans making it easy to track inventory. This approach is also integrated easily with the back operations systems such that the system can automatically trigger a purchase order when inventories fall below a certain level. With daily inventory costs, restaurants, in particular, understands exactly the items and corresponding quantities they need to order on a daily basis by so doing, they will be able to determine the correct per stock levels thereby helping in reducing excess inventory as well as food spoilage (Alonso & Krajsic, 2014).

In my view, this practice is not effective because it is not widely used. Very few restaurants and bars apply this technique in their cost control operations. One of the reasons for such infectivity maybe because of the technicality of the approach. The technique requires special skills to effectively operate. Besides installing such software and keeping maintenance could be an added burden to most of the restaurants and bars hence not a favourite to many of them. Additionally, the technique is not simple to operate unlike other techniques, it is due to such technicalities that this approach is not effective in most of the bars and restaurants.

Having Variety of Vendors or Suppliers

Having many suppliers is one approach used by restaurants to help in cost control. This is because, if a restaurant has only one supplier for all its items, then it will be subject to any changes in their cost structure which in many cases never favour the business. Therefore having many suppliers helps in cost control as the business has a lot of suppliers to choose from and can always work with suppliers whose pricing matches the restaurant's cost levels. According to, Dopson & Hayes, (2015), having many vendors give the business the flexibility to quickly shop around for the best prices that match the business operating costs.

This approach is very effective in many restaurants. Restaurants often deal in a variety of foodstuffs that they need to be supplied for regularly for smooth operations, to do so, many restaurants have opted to have many suppliers or every piece of foodstuff they require and often times does business with those suppliers who sell quality products at low costs. They have extensively used this approach as a way of cost control because they are able to choose from a variety of vendors who matches their operating costs hence no additional costs are incurred by them which could have led to losses.

Receiving Controls

According to Dopson & Hayes, (2015), no restaurant management can succeed in effectively managing its food costs if they are not receiving what they purchased. Receiving controls means that the restaurant takes charge and ensures that whoever is receiving the purchases of the restaurant or the bar checks both the weight and the quantity to ensure that they are as per the specifications of the restaurant. They should also take control to ensure that the goods supplied are in the right condition and none of them is spoiled. They have also been checking the purchase and invoice amounts to ensure that they read correctly such that any good damaged or returned are properly recorded. With this approach, restaurants have managed to control their costs on food and have seen them incur less food spoilage.

This approach has been very effective in many restaurants as they want to realize minimum food spoilage. Besides many restaurants have realized the illegal practices used by suppliers and vendors in their operators and have actively engaged in “Receiving Control” to ensure that every purchase made meets the business needs without bringing in additional costs and losses.

Staff Training

Another way that has been used by restaurants to control food costs in their operations is staff training. Such training involves handling of food in the kitchen and store to reduce spoilage. They are also trained to know how to serve food and adhere to the restaurant portion sizes and stick to the accurate measuring units in the restaurants. Without staff training in restaurants, some employees may use too little or too much food than what is called for. With little food, the restaurant may create a negative image and its reputation may be damaged while too much food, on the other hand, costs the business and lead to losses hence the only way to overcome this is o train staff on the specifics of the restaurants and continuously monitor and correct them (Alonso & Krajsic, 2014).

In my own view, this approach is not effective in many restaurants and bars. One of the reasons for this is maybe the assumption that ones the staff is academically qualified then they are qualified for everything forgetting that some things are better taught practically. This approach is also not effective because some managers believe it takes a lot of time to train and monitor staff.