Food is a restaurant's biggest daily cost after labor. Ordering, receiving and counting it well saves money and keeps food safe.
Key idea
Order from pars and the coming week's bookings. Receive carefully: check cold food arrives at 41°F or below and frozen food frozen solid, check quality and count against the invoice, reject what's wrong, and put food away fast (cold first). Rotate first in, first out. Count inventory on a schedule (often weekly or monthly) to work out what was used.
- Reject deliveries with signs of temperature abuse: thawed and refrozen food, large ice crystals, warm cold food.
- Check packaging is intact and shellfish has its tags.
- Store new deliveries behind or under the old.
- Food used = opening inventory + purchases − closing inventory.
Why it works
The inventory formula tells the kitchen how much food it actually used, which, compared with sales, shows waste, theft or portion drift.
Worked example: Food used
Opening inventory \$8,000, purchases \$5,500, closing inventory \$7,200. What was the cost of food used?
- $8000 + 5500 - 7200 = 6300$.
Answer: \$6,300.
Common mistake
Signing for a delivery without checking temperatures and counts.
Practice at home
- Do a full inventory of your pantry and refrigerator, then repeat it in a week. Using the formula and your grocery receipts, what did your household use?
In Meal Prep