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In the F&B Industry Christmas is the time where restaurants can make or break their year. It is a time of year where friends, family and workers are all looking for a group meal at a food outlet. It sounds easy – offer a fixed menu covering popular Christmas delights at a fixed price. What could possibly go wrong? Ordering is simplified and in some cases meals are ordered and paid for in advance.

 

Here comes the challenge…How do you ensure that every starter, main and dessert tastes the same, looks the same and delivers the same experience across your restaurant and/or across your group? With a Christmas set menu, there is nowhere to hide – each plate and portion size must be the same and the experience to boot. You have a restaurant filled with people all ordering the same items, taking notes and comparing on the same table and across the room.

 

‘They have more gravy over there’

 

‘I only have 3 pieces of turkey and my colleague has 5’

 

The key to a profitable Christmas for any restaurant is ensuring you deliver the same plate and great service to every guest every day across all outlets. That means every cover that walks through your door across all restaurants is met with the same size portion with the same flavours and the same exceptional service.

 

To get this right you need to understand every recipe and measurement for each of your menu items. Now, you can sit down and work this out manually but think of the lost hours and when it’s time to change you’ve got to do it all over again.

 

The other option is to use a stock and inventory management system integrated into your Point of Sale system. This will allow you to set up ingredients aligned to the numerous suppliers in place ensuring you order what is needed when it is needed. From these ingredients, you can build your recipes so that each chef across your estate knows what goes into each dish and what the outcome should be.

 

With this information, you can see site by site and who is following the recipes right through the stock takes. If you see a variance in produce it can mean a site is using too much or too little so the guest is getting an inconsistent plate.

 

Reports will show the profitability of your Christmas Menu both at a theoretical level, (Retail Cost – Recipe Cost), and at an actual level, (Retail Cost – (Recipe Cost – Waste – Voids – Discounts)).

 

To recap on maximising your profit margins over the Christmas period:

1. Put in place a decent stock management system that integrates into your point of sale solution
2. Understand your recipes for each dish
3. Train your kitchen staff on each menu item
4. Deliver an exceptional experience making sure each dish is the same across your estate

 

Comtrex Systems provide both a point of sale and stock management solution allowing you to deliver the above. Take a look at our solutions or leave your details by clicking here and one of our team will be in touch to talk through your options.