The many forms of shrinkage
Food
Waste, spoilage, over-production, poor yield, inconsistent portions, incorrect recipes, weak rotation, returns and unused potential.
Where it comes from
Food shrinkage rarely announces itself. It is a portion that crept up half an ounce at a time, a delivery accepted without checking weight against invoice, a prep list built from habit rather than yesterday's actual sales, or stock rotated by whoever happened to be on shift rather than a system everyone follows the same way. None of it looks like a crisis. All of it compounds.
The money issue
Food cost is usually the single biggest controllable line on the P&L after labour, and it moves in percentage points, not big dramatic numbers — which is exactly why it is dangerous. A menu running two or three points over its target food cost, sustained across a year of turnover, is not a rounding error. It is real, recoverable margin that never makes it to the bottom line, and by the time it shows up in the annual accounts, twelve months of it is already gone.
Describe what is actually happening in your business and Emma will ask the right follow-up questions before recommending anything.
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