As the pool of qualified and loyal employees tightens, restaurateurs are forced to increase salaries to keep pace with industry wages. Worse, some restaurants find themselves understaffed with high overtime costs.
A solution to consider is:
Trimming the menu
Consider reengineering the menu. By taking a closer look at the menu you may be able to minimize the number of employees needed, as well as the number of hours worked.
Some operators lower the number of appetizers, entrees and desserts listed on the menu. Additionally they are taking some of the more labor-intensive dishes off the menu. As the more complicated items are removed, the kitchen staff may not be as great. Areas like the grill, that were normally manned by 3 cooks, can be manned by 2. Once person can handle both the salad and cold stations as opposed to 2. Also 1 pastry chef can handle the job instead of 2.
But before you begin trimming the menu, ask the following questions:
- How many appetizers, entrees and desserts are offered?
- Which items are the most popular?
- Which items are the most profitable — both in dollars and percentages? You want to evaluate:
- High profit/low cost items
- High profit/high cost items
- Low profit/low cost items
- Low profit/high cost items
- Which items require the most amount of manpower to make?
- Can we streamline labor costs and combine some of the workload?
Once these questions are answered you can determine which items to take off the menu. The next step is to look at scheduling and determine how many hours are now needed to produce your menu items.
Using this type of menu reengineering will help you control high labor costs. As the economy improves you may review what changes you have made and make necessary adjustments.
To learn more about ways to increase efficiencies in the kitchen and reduce costs, contact Arthur@theroartgroup.com.
