Within the final month, I’ve offered workshops and seminars to a number of thousand owner-operators in eight cities. The overriding theme of the seminars is getting again to restaurant enterprise fundamentals. In each single seminar, I’ve requested the attendees to reply the next query: “How a lot does it price you to make a 14-inch cheese, pepperoni, mushroom and ham pizza, together with the field?”
In a typical room of 200 folks or so, solely two or three will increase their arms and announce the reply. That is scary to me. I understand various are shy and could also be embarrassed answering the query in a public group setting. On the identical time, although, I misplaced many of the eye contact within the rooms. Of us had been praying that I wouldn’t name on them to reply the query.
Now it’s your flip. I’m addressing that an identical elementary query to Pizza Right this moment readers. Write down, proper now, how a lot it prices you to make that pie.
Don’t know the reply? You then’ve failed the check.
If you’re unsure of your precise meals price in proportion, in addition to {dollars}, how will you value your menu? A technique is to assemble up all your rivals’ menus and unfold them out in your kitchen desk and take a median. You don’t wish to be the very best or the bottom. However once you try this, you’re assuming that the opposite guys have executed the maths and have a deal with on true prices. I wouldn’t guess the store on it.
Computing the price of a pizza is just not a simple job, particularly when the price of the uncooked substances is consistently altering. you need to do it. Your whole future is on the road. It’s time to cease the guessing. Let me describe how it’s executed.
First, you have to to put aside a number of blocks of uninterrupted time. I like to recommend three classes of two hours. Session one can be dedicated to assembling your final two months’ meals invoices. You’ll additionally must weigh out your topping weights for each pizza, salad, appetizer and every other entree in your menu in ounces (grams). I do that job with a digital digital portion scale that has a tare (zero reset) operate. I first write down my doughball weight, then transfer on to sauce, cheese and different substances as I construct the precise pizza on the dimensions. Through the use of a corrugated pizza circle as a substitute of a dough, I can recycle the toppings after each weight and never waste them. I name this data the Weighout Sheet.
Out of your invoices, you’ll want to find out value per ounce on every ingredient. If you buy your cheese by the pound you’ll must divide the worth per pound by 16 to get value per ounce. For those who purchase your onions by the 50-pound bag you’ll must compute the edible yield ounces (EYO) per bag. You’ll take note of what number of ounces per bag or field of onions or peppers are trim and waste. Do the identical on substances which can be packed in one-gallon jars and quantity ten cans, like ripe olives and banana peppers. Drain off all the liquid and weigh the EYO of all of those toppings. This could do it for Session I.
After you have executed the maths on the weights and price per ounce in your pizza in addition to salads, sandwiches and different entrees you’ll want to start out performing some addition. Welcome to Session II. For pizza packing containers, packaging and different issues like sheeted dough and disposables, you’ll want to provide the ingredient a unit/ every price. That is proper about the place I personally dropped the ball.
To this point I obtained the maths proper, however discovering a spot to assemble all the data is an issue. At first, I pressured myself to make use of the massive inexperienced accountant’s columnar work sheet paper. Printing tiny and writing all of these numbers in these itty-bitty packing containers was virtually an excessive amount of for this ADD pizzaman. After I purchased my first pc, I transferred all the information to a spreadsheet program like Excel. This was a large leap from pencil and paper till I inevitably entered a price in a fallacious cell and crashed the sheet. However since I spent hours and hours doing the algebra for the cells, I often may discover out the place I went fallacious and repair it. I used this method for a few years. I searched the world over for a greater means and located none.
After you’ve created and formatted your worksheets now you can begin seeing how a lot it prices to assemble a pizza. You’ll add the sum of the dough, sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushroom, ham and pizza field. Divide this complete into the menu promoting value and also you’ll lastly know the actual ultimate foodcost for that pie. This can do it for Session II.
Session III is the OMG session. On paper, you have to be working, hypothetically, a 30 % (or much less) meals price. In actuality, your financials are exhibiting a 37 % meals price. How can this be? The place is the lacking seven %? That’s some huge cash. It’s very often the distinction between success and failure, actual earnings or residing on bank card debt. The important thing right here is replicating every pizza precisely as you probably did in session one. I’m speaking precise portion management through the use of scales, spoodles or cups to dole out each ingredient, each time. If you’re not weighing it, you’re winging it. Each ounce counts. Particularly in today of rollercoaster pricing and escalating bills.
The distinction between ultimate and precise foodcost is the sum of the next: non-food gadgets in your weekly invoices like hand towels, rubbish luggage, cleaning soap, and so on. These purchases ought to be labeled as provides and never charged to meals price. Most distributors escape non-food gadgets on invoices. I deliberately added in the price of a pizza field and suggest it if an operation’s product sales exceed 50 % in carryout and supply.
The following space to be involved about is worker waste. This may be vital. I allowed my managers 1.5 % right here.
The ultimate darkish space is theft or under-ringed/reported gross sales. Each time I go to a pizzeria consumer and the meals price is means out of whack, I start scrutinizing these areas straight away. You’d be clever to start doing the identical at this time. In any other case, you may be leaving hundreds of revenue {dollars} behind.
Now, again to the unique query. How a lot does it take you to make that pizza? For those who don’t know, get began discovering out proper now. ?
Large Dave Ostrander owned a extremely profitable unbiased pizzeria earlier than changing into a advisor, speaker and internationally sought-after coach. He’s a month-to-month contributor to Pizza Right this moment and leads seminars on operational matters for the household of Pizza Expo tradeshows.
