How to Control Food Cost Variance to Improve Operations and Increase Revenue

Food is a big part of your overall costs (typically 30%). It’s also one of the most variable costs you have. If food prices rise, your food cost variance can swing dangerously high. That’s why it’s important to track variance and use it to correct — and even improve — your restaurant’s cash flow.

Once you have a solid process for tracking variance, you can use it to increase efficiency in your kitchen, reduce waste, assess vendors, revise your menu, and even complete your budget forecasting.Let’s do a quick review of food cost variance before we dive into how it can improve your restaurant’s cash flow.