Counting kitchen stock in a café or restaurant

The stock in a café or restaurant kitchen is not an ordinary warehouse but a fast-moving process. Meat, fish, dairy and fresh vegetables spoil in a few days, while dry goods are used up a little each day. A big count once a year does not help find a shortage here; it only turns it into history. A different system works well in a kitchen: frequent, short counts, followed by a comparison of the result with theoretical usage.

Different products, different frequency

Do not count every product at the same interval. Divide them into three groups:

• every day or every shift: meat, fish, poultry, costly dairy, oil and the main raw material (rice, for example). They are used in quantity and are expensive;
• once a week: dry goods, spices, tinned food, the vegetable stock, drinks;
• once a month, in full: everything, including crockery, disposable packaging, cleaning supplies and the bar.

A daily count takes 10 to 15 minutes: the products always stand in the same places, so the counter goes round with a ready list. If you record the balance at the end of the shift or the next morning before work begins, it is easy to compare with the sales report.

What to measure and how

In a kitchen "pieces" are rarely used; kilograms, litres and portions are more common. A few rules:

• agree one unit for each product and write it on the shelf: meat in kg, oil in litres, eggs in pieces;
• weigh opened packs (half a sack of rice, half a canister of oil) or measure them in a measuring vessel;
• record semi-finished goods (marinated meat, ready zirvak, chopped vegetables) on a separate row, since the raw material has already been used up on them;
• the freezer, the fridge and the dry store should be separate zones, and the bar should have its own sheet.

Theoretical and actual usage

The best way to find a shortage in a kitchen is to compare two figures:

Actual usage = opening balance + purchases − closing balance. Theoretical usage = portions sold × the recipe norm.

For example, 180 portions of plov were sold in a week, with a norm of 110 g of rice per portion. Theoretical usage: 180 × 0.11 = 19.8 kg. At the start of the week there were 12 kg of rice, 50 kg was bought and 40 kg remained at the end. Actual usage: 12 + 50 − 40 = 22 kg. The difference is 2.2 kg, or 11 per cent. This is not a serious shortage: the cause is often portions served larger than the norm, losses in preparation or staff meals. But if the difference repeats every week, the cause must be found.

Theoretical usage needs a recipe (a technological card) for each dish. If there is none, measure once with the cook: prepare ten portions, weigh the raw material used and take the average. Take the number of portions sold from the till or order program: the sales report by dish is the source of theoretical usage.

Spoilage, tasting and staff meals

Some things do not appear in theoretical usage but are used for real: spoiled products, tasting, staff meals and dishes returned by guests. You cannot hide them, but you can record them. Keep a "usage log" in the kitchen: date, product, quantity, reason, signature. When a spoiled or returned dish is written in the log, it becomes a recorded loss rather than a shortage. Set a norm for staff meals too and show it in the log.

Oldest first, newest after

During the count look at expiry and preparation dates as well. Place new deliveries behind the old ones and stick a label with the date of opening on every container. The label on a cooked semi-finished item should show the date and hour of preparation. If everything in the fridge is unlabelled, you cannot tell during the count how long it has been there.

Conclusion

In a kitchen a shortage is caught by observation, not by one count a year. For the full monthly count, the Pereuchet team counts kitchen and bar stock by zone and hands over the result, reconciled with your records, as a file for Excel or 1C.