25 WAYS TO CUT COSTS WITHOUT SACRIFICING QUALITY

WARREN DIETEL, PUFF ’N STUFF CATERING, ORLANDO & TAMPA, FLGREG KARL, EPICUREAN CULINARY GROUP, DENVER, CO

It is a fact of life that food and operations costs continue to rise. The financial squeeze and client expectations off the charts makes it difficult to squeeze out profit while delivering excellence.

❖ How to use your financial statement as a tool to save money❖ Why your utility company may owe you money❖ How an inventory list can help your cash flow❖ Scheduling Techniques to save total payroll❖ Step-by-step demonstration of how much it costs you to

fabricate your own meat and fish into portion cuts❖ 20 more ways to cut costs and bring more profit to the bottom line

Presentation available at: http://www.slideshare.net/WarrenDietel

HOW TO USE YOUR FINANCIAL STATEMENT AS A TOOL TO SAVE

MONEY

• Involve all department managers• Department managers build the budget• PPI Squad • Profit sharing program• Build culture around supporting one another• Meet weekly• Focus on top 3-5 goals per department• Take ownership & report minutes• Educates sales – event level P&L Statements • Task force with department representation to

promote, new recipes and ideas.

BUILD A QUALITY-FOCUSED TEAM

Velocity Reports• MPM velocity report by menu item • PEAR Report “Post Event Analysis Report”• 80% of your sales come from 20% of your menu items –

study what sells and what doesn’t. • Be efficient and price items higher that sell.• Use software to mark-up based on venue commission, other

factors

FINANCE: WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER

WHY YOUR UTILITY COMPANY MAY OWE YOU MONEY

• ????????• Back up generation program – Progress Energy• Solar and other energy sources

HOW AN INVENTORY LIST CAN HELP YOUR CASH FLOW

Pricing• Set a base sell price for each menu item• Determine required items for each and every item you sell • Price it accordingly

LET YOUR SOFTWARE DO THE HEAVY LIFTING

SCHEDULING TECHNIQUES TO SAVE TOTAL PAYROLL

• When creating menus, we calculate labor• Schedule based on revenue and budgeted labor• Stagger Staff in and out of parties. Tell staff that they must

sign out at X time and that they need to come to the Captain. Force efficiency.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR KITCHEN LABOR WORK FOR YOU

W/E W/E2/6/13 2/13/13

Dept # Dept. Name   Wages Reg Hrs OT Hrs Wages Reg Hrs OT Hrs

1500 Kitchen - Orlando 11,230 564 15 19,390 657 87

1600 Service - Orlando 10,175 773 2 24,340 1,751 24

1300 Warehouse - Orlando 9,930 654   14,716 862 7

                 

Orl Tol 31,336   58,446         

2500 Kitchen - Tampa 4,450 279   7,244 398 23

2600 Service - Tampa 5,457 366   9,137 524 16

2300 Warehouse - Tampa 3,503 277   5,493 417 4

Tpa Tol 13,410   21,874  

       

       

       Total Gross Payroll 44,746 0 0 80,319 0 0

Revenues:Orlando 96,153.74 197,775.68Tampa 36,636.55 67,182.69Total    % Of Total Sales 34% 30%

Orlando Labor to Revenue: Budget Actual Variance   Actual Variance  Kitchen 7.75% 11.68% 3.93%   9.80% 2.05%  Service (incl road chef & supervisors) 10.25% 10.58% 0.33%   12.31% 2.06%  Warehouse 5.98% 10.33% 4.35%   7.44% 1.46%                 Tampa Labor to Revenue:     Variance     Variance  Kitchen 7.75% 12.15% 4.40%   10.78% 3.03%  Service (incl road chef & supervisors) 10.25% 14.89% 4.64%   13.60% 3.35%  Warehouse 5.38% 9.56% 4.18%   8.18% 2.80%  

WHY FABRICATE YOUR OWN MEAT AND FISH INTO

PORTION CUTS

ADDITIONAL WAYS TO CUT COSTS AND BRING MORE

PROFIT TO THE BOTTOM LINE

1. Build and leverage relationships

2. Negotiate3. Manage

ordering/payments4. Manage in-house

processes

EFFECTIVE PURCHASING STRATEGIES

EFFECTIVE QUANTIFICATION

EFFECTIVE QUANTIFICATION

Chef/Management is allowed to reduce quantities based on knowledge of events or

guest counts.

Guests Go Right – for station events, put more expensive items to the left and reduce

quantities.

Quantities: Tricks of the

Trade

Create hors d’oeuvres based on your typical waste

Leftover and end products of Cheese, Beef, Fish

Higher sales makes cost cutting easierDevelop different menus for different venuesMark up menu items based on venue commissionsManage overtime!Plan NOW for the Affordable Health Care Act

What you do today impacts 2014Charge a fee to cover credit card charges

FOOD FOR THOUGHT…

Develop your own network of fellow caterer’s of similar

size and philosophy to share best practices and learn from

each other

THANK YOU!PRESENTATION AVAILABLE AT:

HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/WARRENDIETEL