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Mastering restaurant inventory management sets the foundation for smooth and profitable operations. Managing your inventory goes beyond placing weekly orders to forecasting and auditing your inventory. It’s key to keeping your finger on the pulse of your restaurant or juice bar. Let’s dive into the top strategies and best practices.
Inventory management is the process of optimizing your inventory. In the food and beverage industry, you must count and analyze your inventory on a weekly basis. By analyzing your weekly stock levels, you can track where your perishable goods, paper goods, and merchandise are going. They should be going toward saleable juice, food, and products.
Your inventory is also required to calculate your cost of goods sold. This requires you to count all produce, food items, menu ingredients, and paper products used to serve your menu items. Your completed count helps you identify if you’re spending the industry average of 28 to 35 percent of your revenue on food-related purchases.
Your weekly inventory count also tracks:
There are 4 primary inventory tracking systems to consider. Perpetual and manual systems are the standard for the restaurant industry.
Most restaurants have food delivered from their primary supplier at least 2 days per week. Secondary suppliers may only deliver once per week. Secondary suppliers might include local farmers and microgreens vendors.
The higher your food service volume, the more frequent your deliveries. If you’re just getting started, 1 order per week may be sufficient. Just be sure you negotiate with your supplier to determine the protocol and cost if you require delivery on an out-of-cycle delivery day.
You never want to have to tell a customer that you can’t make the juice, snack, or menu item they’re craving. Proper inventory tracking helps you forecast your order volume. Most restaurants aim to stock at least 2 days of extra product beyond what they’re expected to sell before their next delivery date. How much extra stock you have on hand will vary depending on the standard shelf-life of products and your storage space.
For example, microgreens and leafy greens have a short shelf life, so proper forecasting is required to minimize waste. However, apples typically have a longer shelf life, so overordering may be of less concern.
Juicing is one of many ways farms reduce their contribution to food waste. Produce that isn’t as vibrant in color or uniform in size is still nutrient-dense and delicious. You can often purchase “ugly” produce at a lower price point than grocery-store-ready produce. This helps you control your inventory spending, while minimizing crop waste—keeping food costs down for everyone. It’s also a way to support regional farmers.
Most restaurants utilize point of sales (POS) software that includes inventory management tools. If your POS software doesn’t include inventory tools, ensure it integrates with your inventory software. This automates the process of calculating how much food you should be using per your weekly sales.
Your POS or inventory management software will curate your inventory list for you. These lists are customizable.
The best practices below help you to streamline and optimize your inventory management. Remember delegation is part of every successful business. So, spread these responsibilities out between your shift managers and team members. Train at least 2 people to complete the tasks below.
One of the top reasons juice bars and food service establishments choose Zumex juicers, is because we increase their juicing yields. This empowers you to purchase up to 10% less produce for your freshly squeezed juice. Our high-tech appliances also minimize food prep, juicing, and cleaning times.
For additional insights on how Zumex can enhance your business, we encourage you to use our ROI calculator. See for yourself how adding a juicer can elevate your annual profits.