Page 24 - GBC English Fall 2019

PORTION CONTROL IS KEY
The easiest part of the operation to lose sight of is portion control. Every component of every item served or sold has a cost af liated with it and it is essential to know these costs. These components make up a recipe that create a sum of all costs. In turn, anything that is out of line, or out of control, deviates the pro tability of the operation.
Ranch dressing and ketchup are two of the best examples of loss of control. The general perception of these two favourite condiments is that they do not cost anything to procure or distribute to the table. In my professional experience, french fries are the leading culprit in deviated portion size and subsequent cost.
Let’s take the average case cost of $36.00 for frozen fries and break it down to illustrate the nancial risks if an operation has loose controls on portioning fries.
The standard pack size of frozen fries is 6 x 5 pound bags of product for a total of 30 pounds which works out to $1.20 per pound. An 8-ounce portion (raw weight) equates to $0.60/oz. This is the absolute minimum cost, if we consider zero waste or deviation from portioning. I guarantee this will never cost $0.60! Over-portion- ing, spillage, over-batch cooking at a peak business period, etc., will add up fast!
Take the french fry example and apply it to every piece of product that comes into your operation. Every ounce of beer, wine, pop, dressing, coffee, etc. You may be surprised at the total of the off-cost portioning in a day.
Let’s say there are 1,000 indi- vidual portions serviced in a day, multiplied by $0.05 a portion. That’s $50 a day, $18,250 a year. This is an opportunity cost. These are the costs that you can and need to control. If your operation runs a 10% pretax pro t model, you would need to generate $182,250 more in top-line sales to cover that loss.
Chefs are getting very creative with portion control and plating magic, to make the dishes more pro table than ever before. Presentation styles and tricks are really the best way to entice the diner and control your pro t margin, all at the same time.
Gone are the days of the need to ll up the big white plate with over-sized portions of protein, and that old obsessive standard that the plate had to be over- ow- ing with fries, as we were terri ed of a complaint from the customer that they didn’t receive value for what they paid.
“Let’s say there are 1,000 individual portions serviced in a day, multiplied by $0.05 a portion. That’s $50 a day, $18,250 a year. ”
ADHERE TO THE RECIPE
Let’s examine another critical cost control: the recipe. We need to analyze the recipe not from the chef’s perspective, but as an equa- tion that predicts and controls costs and, also predicts and controls pro t.
The recipe, for our purposes, must be handled like a soundproof mathematical equation. The sum of your ingredient and portion costs, divided by the desired/ planned COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) percentage will equal your Base Selling Price. This price, as a formula, is the absolute, 100% perfect scenario starting sell price. Operators that solely plan and execute their cost control manage- ment on this, more often than not, will end their sales period with cost overruns. The busier the oper- ation, the higher the volume, the higher the risk to lose some big bucks! Any costs that are over, will obviously lead to an unbudgeted COGS increase.
Developing quality measure- ment systems and control practices is key. Using portion-controlled proteins like sized chicken breasts, burger patties and pre-cut steaks not only control portion costs, but they also reduce labour costs. These products also control quality and recipe execution which in turn controls pro tability. Another bene- t is inventory and waste control.
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Golf Business Canada