01 · Get the comparison right
Check the signal first.
Compare food cost with sales and purchasing from the same dates. Confirm that the sales period, invoices, credits, inventory counts, and accounting cut-off line up. A timing difference or a change in sales mix can move the percentage without pointing to one ingredient or one team member.
- Use the same start and end dates for sales, purchases, and inventory movement.
- Separate a one-time delivery or count adjustment from a recurring pattern.
02 · Follow the invoice to the prep list
Inspect purchasing against demand.
Start with the ingredients that changed most. Match invoice lines to the last order and the prep demand they were meant to cover. Check unit price, pack size, credits, substitutions, delivery quantity, and order timing before changing a vendor or par.
Compare like units
Convert case, pack, and each pricing to the unit your recipe uses; verify the invoice description matches what arrived.
Order to the prep plan
Compare quantities ordered with covers, prep forecasts, shelf life, and what was left over. Adjust pars only after checking waste and stockouts together.
These sample figures show how to frame a question for your own records. They are not customer data, measured outcomes, or guaranteed savings.
- Illustrative weekly produce order
- $5,250
- Illustrative variance
- 8% · $420
- Hypothetical response
- 75%
- Illustrative amount at that rate
- $315
The 75% response and $315 amount are hypothetical arithmetic, not a prediction or a promise that any variance can be recovered.
03 · Verify the plate in service
Check portions without lowering quality.
Recheck the current recipe card against what is actually prepped and served. Weigh or count a sample during a normal service, confirm yields and trim, and look for differences by shift. Talk with the people preparing the dish before changing its standard.
- Confirm the recipe's purchase unit, usable yield, and portion tool still match the product and prep method.
- Observe portions across more than one service period and include normal variation.
- Keep a guest-experience and waste check beside any portion adjustment; protect the dish's intended quality.
05 · Close the loop
Give the next check an owner.
Turn the finding into one small operating test. Name the owner, write down the baseline, set the next check date, and agree on a quality and waste guardrail. At that check, compare the same measures and keep, revise, or stop the change based on what happened.