Restaurants all over the world are operating on wafer thin margins because of the new challenges posed by Covid-19. The survey conducted by Yelp indicates that of the businesses that were closed, 17% of them were restaurants and 53% of those restaurant closures were indicated as permanent. Hence, the prime focus of restaurants would be to cut down unnecessary expenses and turnaround the business. One of the major issues that causes a dent in your restaurant profits is that of food wastage.
How to manage food wastage effectively using Digital SCM platforms?
Supply Chain Management (SCM) plays an integral role in the successful operations of restaurants. Gone are those days when restaurants used to depend on manually operated systems that led to several losses such as wastage in the kitchen and inefficient supply of resources. The modern day, cloud based Supply Chain Management (SCM) software platform offers the ideal solution for dealing with the problem of food wastage. The system is automated, and it benefits you in the following areas.
- Real time inventory tracking
- Drastic reduction in wastage
- No more employ threat
- Streamline vendor management
Real time inventory tracking:
When the restaurant operations are managed manually, it’s quite difficult to keep a track of the stock. The nagging problem of inventory wastage is a thing of the past, thanks to digital platforms such as inresto SCM. It helps you track the inventory levels real-time from any location, anywhere. Before placing the order for the fresh stock, you can check the current inventory levels and decide on the quantity of orders. Based on your orders, the inventory status is updated automatically and the system keeps you updated with timely notifications. If you are running a chain of restaurants, you will receive separate alerts on minimum threshold quantities specific to various outlets at different locations. This acts as a trigger to place fresh orders and replenish the existing stock.
Drastic reduction in wastage:
The careless behaviour of employees can lead to wastage of ingredients used in the kitchen. An example is the excessive use of expensive ingredients such as chocolate sauces by your chef that can burn a hole in your pocket. The beauty of SCM platforms is that it makes optimum use of your kitchen resources and cuts down overall grocery cost and grocery requirement. With effective recipe management, you can define the amount of ingredients required in the preparation of each dish, the method of preparation etc. If any ingredient is used in excessive quantity, you can easily track the details. Hence wastage is reduced to a great extent that cuts down expenses drastically. The reports generated also provide valuable insights on the low-performing items in your menu. Based on this information, you can stop focusing on those items and concentrate on dishes that are fast moving and more revenue generating.
No more employee theft:
As per the report by National Restaurant Association, internal employee theft is responsible for 75% of inventory shortages and about 4% of restaurant sales. One more shocking revelation is that about 75% of the employees steal from their workplace at least once, if not repeatedly. With the SCM system, all your raw materials are secure and there is no need to worry about employee theft. Reports can be easily generated that provide valuable insights into stock variance and pilferage.
Streamline vendor management:
For those restaurateurs managing multiple outlets, it leads to unnecessary expenses when the procurement of raw materials for each outlet is managed separately. Hence they prepare the food at the central kitchen and supply it to the various outlets. Using the SCM platforms, all the requirements are fulfilled from the central kitchen. The purchase orders are sent to the relevant vendors from the central kitchen that leads to effective cost savings. Hence managing procurement is effortless and you can achieve better cost margins. The other major benefits of SCM platforms are the ease in streamlining vendor management and optimising prices and quantity.
Parting Words
Technology has led to a drastic change in the functioning of restaurants all over the world. Supply chain management is no different, and it’s high time that you choose the right SCM digital platform that helps you address the problem of waste management effectively and achieve significant cost savings.
