Know your food cost without a spreadsheet

Most owners can tell you what they sold today. Fewer can tell you what each plate costs them. The gap between the two is where margin quietly leaks.

Start with recipes

A recipe is just the list of what goes into one portion: 150 g of buff mince, a spoon of oil, ten wrappers. Enter it once. Now every sale of that dish takes those amounts out of stock, and the cost per plate updates when your purchase price changes.

Count stock on a rhythm

Pick one quiet hour a week for a count of the ten items that cost you the most. The difference between what the system says you should have and what is on the shelf is your waste, over-portioning or theft, and it is far easier to act on when it is a number.

Price from cost, not from the neighbour

Once you know a plate costs Rs 95 to make, you can decide on purpose whether a Rs 250 price is right, instead of copying the place down the road.

Three habits that pay back

• Receive every delivery against the bill, so purchases are recorded the same day.
• Record wastage with a reason (spoiled, dropped, staff meal).
• Look at the dishes with the lowest margin every month and fix one.