# Food cost things that I've recently found out that are really important.



## tkern (Aug 13, 2014)

My restaurant has been running at a higher food cost then we'd like but we couldn't figure out quite why since our plate costs were very much in range. 

We higher a consultant to come in and poke around. Instances of what he found was that my dairy purveyor was charging me by the each price on buttermilk instead of the case price meaning instead of paying $32 a cs, we were paying $48. Also we didn't quite know the market of items. By using this website: http://marketnews.usda.gov we were able to see that market price for butter should be around $2.25/lb but we were being charged around $4.10. These are just a couple things in the inventory. That website has a ton of info about what you should be paying from everything from dairy to ribeye to veggies.

Also, I was unaware of ordering by specs. For instance, I always just ordered a case of english cucumbers. I didn't know that #2 cucumbers exist that are the same thing but curved so retail doesn't want them, which means their cost is almost half. Perfectly good cuc, just curved and unstackable in a market. Also, I was unaware a case of melons, for example, by the count and pound restriction. So, instead of ordering a case of honeydew; I can ask for 4 count nothing under 30lbs. This gives a much better yield than just ordering a case which in most cases the purveyor will just send a case of 5 under 30lbs.


----------



## hambone.johnson (Aug 13, 2014)

I can relate. When I took over my new position my chef changed the structure of it. Now every Monday I run vendor comparisons and code out order guides based off best price competition. It's amazing how much things change in a week to week, or how much they don't


----------



## rahimlee54 (Aug 13, 2014)

Thanks for that very interesting, I found that my retail cost is about average. But man my potatoes here regular price are 25% more. Potatoes are grown all around me, maybe not the yukons though.


----------



## tkern (Aug 13, 2014)

The USDA website gives a lot of info on where things are grown also called the shipping point and the terminal market; where those shipped things end up before they are bought by your purveyors. These are mainly large cities. If you're having problems with your yukons, maybe your buyer is getting it off someone else who's getting it from a terminal market instead of from a shipping point or from the terminal market itself. 
It also allows you to see what the market has been for an item for years past, where are all the locations around the world an item comes from, whats the cost of that item and whats the cost of the different specs of said item.


----------



## sachem allison (Aug 13, 2014)

You should check out Chefmod as a vendor. They actually will do all these things for you and you have the buying power of over 200 restaurants behind you.


tkern said:


> My restaurant has been running at a higher food cost then we'd like but we couldn't figure out quite why since our plate costs were very much in range.
> 
> We higher a consultant to come in and poke around. Instances of what he found was that my dairy purveyor was charging me by the each price on buttermilk instead of the case price meaning instead of paying $32 a cs, we were paying $48. Also we didn't quite know the market of items. By using this website: http://marketnews.usda.gov we were able to see that market price for butter should be around $2.25/lb but we were being charged around $4.10. These are just a couple things in the inventory. That website has a ton of info about what you should be paying from everything from dairy to ribeye to veggies.
> 
> Also, I was unaware of ordering by specs. For instance, I always just ordered a case of english cucumbers. I didn't know that #2 cucumbers exist that are the same thing but curved so retail doesn't want them, which means their cost is almost half. Perfectly good cuc, just curved and unstackable in a market. Also, I was unaware a case of melons, for example, by the count and pound restriction. So, instead of ordering a case of honeydew; I can ask for 4 count nothing under 30lbs. This gives a much better yield than just ordering a case which in most cases the purveyor will just send a case of 5 under 30lbs.


----------



## Chuckles (Aug 13, 2014)

Son, do you use Chefmod? If so, does it make a noticeable difference in the amount if time you are stuck in the office?


----------



## sachem allison (Aug 13, 2014)

been running it as a test for the last few weeks and it. does help. of course the girl they sent over to train me on it is a smoking hot Spanish Girl from Barcelona so, I forget half of what she said. but it does work, they send weekly market updates on availability and seasonality and they do daily price adjustments and even have recipe break down costs on the program. They also can archive all your invoices so that you can compare prices going back forever.


----------



## Salty dog (Aug 14, 2014)

"My restaurant has been running at a higher food cost then we'd like but we couldn't figure out quite why since our plate costs were very much in range." 

So essentially your plate costs weren't in range? 

FWIW, Look at proteins, theft and menu mix. (if your best seller is a "loss leader" you're screwed.)

A consultant can come in and find ways to lower food costs, ie: nickel and diming on the front end. It often doesn't solve the core problem. But hey, if he shows results he gets paid.


----------



## jgraeff (Aug 14, 2014)

Really look into waste. We were having an issue with it being unusually high after hiring some new people. 

The owner wanted all waste to be accounted for before going into the bin. So each station had a bus tub for stock/ useable extra and one for 
trash. You would be amazed at what some people think is trash. We turned around our food cost quickly and got everyone on par with what to use abd how to use scrap.


----------



## tkern (Aug 14, 2014)

This thread really isn't about whats going on in my place. I've got that under control. It was more about sharing some useful info that other ppl might very helpful.


----------



## turbochef422 (Aug 14, 2014)

Those damn dairy guys. I run cheftech and it's helped


----------



## jgraeff (Aug 16, 2014)

Ya I was t aware about ordering cucumbers or other produce that retail doesn't want, will look into it. Thanks


----------



## CutFingers (Aug 17, 2014)

Salty you are one sharp dude...Right on the money, pun intended. My boss was complaining about the increase in costs last week but he's still buying Halibut and Scallops like he's a rich man. Our standard menu has relatively low costs. But the specials he creates on the weekend seem overly ambitious and expensive. His kitchen, his rules...You can't tell a Sicilian dude to try and stop pleasing everybody.


----------

