How to Control Food Cost in Your Restaurant in Pakistan

Food cost is the largest controllable expense in most restaurants. When chicken, oil and flour prices rise every few months, menus priced last year can quietly turn profitable dishes into losses. Controlling food cost is not about cheaper ingredients; it is about knowing exactly where every rupee goes.

Know your food cost percentage

Food cost percentage is the cost of ingredients in a dish divided by its selling price. Calculate it for every menu item using current prices. Our free restaurant food cost calculator helps you start.

Write standard recipes

Every dish should have a written recipe with exact quantities for each size. Standard recipes keep taste consistent and make costing possible. Without them, every cook uses different amounts and food cost becomes unpredictable.

Control portions

Use scales, scoops and portion cups for key ingredients like meat, rice and sauces. A few extra grams per plate, multiplied by hundreds of orders, adds up to a large monthly cost.

Buy smarter

• Compare supplier prices regularly and keep a price history.
• Order based on sales, not habit.
• Check weight and quality at delivery.
• Store ingredients properly to reduce spoilage.

Use kitchen requisitions

Instead of letting the kitchen take freely from the store, use daily requisitions. The kitchen requests what it needs, the store issues and records it. Comparing issued ingredients with what recipes say should have been used reveals over-use and theft.

Record wastage every day

Spoiled food, burnt dishes, returned plates and staff meals should all be recorded. Wastage records show patterns, such as over-preparation on slow days, that can be fixed.

Price the menu with margins in mind

Use food cost data to adjust prices, reformulate dishes or promote high-margin items. Menu engineering, placing profitable dishes where customers look first, can raise average margin without changing prices.

Let the POS do the maths

A restaurant POS with recipes deducts ingredients automatically on every sale, shows food cost per dish and compares expected and actual usage. See SoftBar restaurant POS and recipe management.

Menu engineering in practice

Group menu items by popularity and profit. Popular and profitable items are your stars; promote them. Popular but low-profit items need recipe or price adjustments. Unpopular but profitable items need better placement or description. Unpopular and unprofitable items can usually be removed.

Seasonal price changes

Vegetable and meat prices in Pakistan change with seasons and festivals. Plan specials around ingredients that are cheap in season, and review prices of affected dishes before Eid and during high-cost periods.

Staff meals and complimentary items

Staff meals and free items for guests are normal, but they must be recorded. Without records they look like theft or waste, and you cannot plan for them in your costs.

Stock counts in the kitchen

1. Count high-value items weekly: meat, oil, cheese, rice.
2. Compare actual use with recipe-based expected use.
3. Investigate differences larger than a small tolerance.
4. Adjust recipes or processes based on findings.

Delivery and packaging costs

For delivery orders, packaging, sauces and cutlery add cost to every order. Include them in the cost of delivery menu items, and consider slightly different pricing for delivery platforms that charge commission.

Frequently asked questions

What is food cost percentage?

Ingredient cost of a dish divided by its selling price.

How often should I update costs?

Whenever ingredient prices change noticeably, at least monthly.

What is a kitchen requisition?

A daily request from the kitchen to the store for ingredients, recorded when issued.

How do I reduce wastage?

Record it daily, find patterns and adjust preparation.

Can a POS calculate food cost?

Yes, with recipes linked to menu items.

Is there a free calculator?

Yes, the SoftBar restaurant food cost calculator.