Tracking Restaurant Inventory

managing inventory - fresh vegetables image by @healthy1chef

Let's tackle that huge amount of inventory you have in your restaurant. That's money sitting in those pantries and coolers so it's worth it to keep a well controlled inventory before you continue buying more products. I like to assign this task to my chefs and cooks but, do often do it myself. I'm the owner and Chef so it's
paramount to my financial success to make sure we're using what we have before it goes bad or expires. Here's how to get a handle on your own inventory if you haven't been doing it yet. If you want a copy of the one I created, send me a message below and I'll be happy to email a copy of it to you so you can adjust it for your own products.

     * Get a long legal pad of paper and label it Dry Storage.
     * Head to your dry storage area where you keep all those dry pantry items.
     * Start with one shelf and list all items you find (you might want to take some time first to rearrange your items so they're organized for the way you use them and makes it easier for the staff to find what they need).
     * Write down absolutely each item on your list. It doesn't matter if you have only one of something or 100. That one item might be something that needs reordered today.
     * If you keep your inventory list to match up with the way your pantry item is arranged, making physical counts month after month will be so much easier. It's really worth the time you spend now to set it up right.
     * Move across the shelves in a systematic way so that you won't miss any items. This is also important so that you can realize for yourself how many items you have or keep that aren't worth maintaining in your inventory.
     * Toss any outdated or expired products as you find them. Make note of these on a separate sheet of paper so you can determine if they really need reordered. No sense in stocking items that you no longer sell or use in your menu preparations.
     * Once you're all done in the Dry Storage Inventory area, move on to one of your coolers and repeat the entire process.
     * Don't forget to inventory each cooler, freezer and service areas too.
     * Check the areas that your staff use for stashing extra products. You may for example only have two Triano Flavor Syrups in the dry storage area but, find that your servers have put all the other dozen or two in the server area.
     When you're all done with a physical count of your inventory, head to the computer or assign this task to your office manager, and create a typed list of inventory items that can be saved on your computer and reprinted month after month.
     Review your inventory after the next month to determine what you're using and more importantly, what you're not using. This could be wasted money that you don't need to keep spending or you may find that you need to speak to your chef and cooks about using up those items on a special of the day.
     Have each of your departments responsible for counting their area inventory - weekly for the bar and server areas and at least monthly for the kitchen areas.
     I like to label all the shelves to help the staff find items and to also help for anyone adding fresh stock to the areas.
     You might be really surprised at how much money your managers and chefs are spending on items that continually sit on the shelves. You want fresh items that are not expired when you're serving the public so keep this in mind and offer suggestions to have your staff implement the ideas today!

     To learn more and really get a hand on proper inventory controls, Get a copy of Inventory Accuracy for more details on how managing your inventory can help your business stay in business. A must read for every business owner.
     To your continued success, it's time for you to get busy on inventory this week and let me know what questions you have, any problems or other ideas to improve your reduction in inventory.
   Cheers!