COGS VS Food Cost
Does this sound familiar? You have a winning dish—customers are crazy about it, but when the new cook prepares it, the sauce comes out a bit different, or the portion size on the plate suddenly changes. When you ask the chef for the exact cost of the dish, you usually get a quick calculation on a napkin or a something like: "Around 18 shekels, give or take."
A profitable restaurant has no "around". This is where the most important concept in a professional kitchen comes in: the bill of materials (BOM).
What is Food Cost?
While COGS takes into account all the expenses necessary to prepare the food, food cost is more of a connoisseur, using tweezers to pick out only the cost of ingredients for each specific dish. Calculating the food cost for every dish ensures that all menu items are priced to perfection, balancing taste and profitability.
Does it make a difference? For sure!
Every dish that leaves the kitchen must maintain a delicate balance between creativity and economics. Food cost serves as our guiding line for pricing each dish, while COGS ensures we maintain overall profitability in the restaurant’s food production.
To sum up, just as we don't skip prep work or ordering supplies to keep the restaurant running, we need to be prepared and know exactly how much producing each dish costs and whether it is profitable.
Because the ultimate secret ingredient is knowledge. Bon appétit!