Cost Control, Inventory and Waste Management
Cost Control, Inventory and Waste Management tests the arithmetic and discipline behind a profitable kitchen: yields, portion costs, selling prices, stock records and the tracking of what is thrown away.
Core concepts
- As-purchased (AP) weight is what you buy; edible portion (EP) weight is what reaches the plate. Yield % = EP ÷ AP × 100.
- Portion cost = total AP cost ÷ number of portions produced.
- Food cost % = food cost ÷ selling price × 100; it is always calculated on the selling price.
- Gross profit = selling price − food cost.
- Stock control tools: par levels, purchase orders, requisitions, FIFO and FEFO, regular stocktakes, and variance analysis between theoretical and actual usage.
- Waste control: batch cooking to forecast, recording wastage, reusing safe trim in stocks or sauces, correct storage, and reviewing portion sizes.
Worked example
Buy 10 kg of beef at KES 200 per kg, total KES 2,000. Trimming loses 30 %, leaving EP 7 kg. At 175 g portions, 7 ÷ 0.175 = 40 portions. Portion cost = 2,000 ÷ 40 = KES 50. To hit a 35 % food cost target: selling price = 50 ÷ 0.35 = KES 143, rounded to KES 145. The reasoning matters: the trim loss is absorbed into portion cost, and the food cost percentage divides by the selling price, not the cost.
Traps that cost marks
- Costing a portion on AP weight and understating the true cost.
- Confusing mark-up with food cost percentage; a 100 % mark-up is a 50 % food cost.
- Leaving wastage unrecorded, so variance has no explanation.
- Estimating stock by eye instead of counting and valuing it.
- Ignoring energy and gas costs when evaluating a dish's profitability.