Why star dishes drift
Your best-sellers are made more often than anything else. That means small changes add up: a heavier hand with an expensive ingredient, a supplier price rise, a seasonal swing, a new cook who portions differently. And because the dish still sells well, nobody checks it. The problem hides behind the success.
A rarely ordered dish with a bad margin costs you little because few are sold. A star with a slightly bad margin costs you a lot, every day.
A monthly check (10 minutes)
- Take your top five dishes by volume. Your sales report shows them.
- Re-cost each from current invoices, not from the card.
- Compare with the recipe card and with your target food cost.
- Weigh five plated portions of each and compare with the card.
If anything is more than a couple of points away from your target, look deeper.
A worked example (illustrative)
A dish priced at €14 with a €4.20 plate cost has a food cost of 4.20 ÷ 14 = 30%.
A few months later the protein is more expensive and the portions are a little heavier. The real cost drifts to €5.00. Food cost becomes 5.00 ÷ 14 = 35.7%.
On 2,000 portions a month, the extra cost is (5.00 − 4.20) × 2,000 = 0.80 × 2,000 = €1,600 of margin gone every month, or €19,200 over a year. The dish still sells well. Nobody noticed.
Where the drift comes from
- Supplier price changes that never reach the recipe card.
- Portion creep, especially for the most expensive item.
- Substitutions made on a busy day that become habit.
- Waste, such as trim or cooking loss that has changed with a new supplier or a new cut.
- Seasonal swings in vegetables and fish.
Fixes
- Standardise portions with scoops, scales or pre-portioned packs.
- Update the card when prices move. A card with an old price is worse than none, because it looks trustworthy.
- Reprice or adjust the recipe when the gap persists. If the dish is a draw, a small price rise may be easier than a change of recipe.
- Assign the check to one person and put it in the calendar.
Do not punish the star
The aim is to protect a dish that earns its place, not to take away what guests love. Prefer small changes: a slightly smaller scoop, a better-negotiated price, a recalculated price that is a few cents higher. The dish should stay recognisable.
Takeaway
Check your biggest sellers first. A small drift on a dish you sell two thousand times a month is more expensive than a big problem on a dish you sell twenty times.