Food and beverage operations — from receiving to portion cost

A practical reference for connecting purchasing, receiving, production and service with measurements you can review after service.

Specify the product before ordering

Define the ingredient, order unit and production specification. Link the quantity to the number of portions and the prepared portion weight. At receiving, record the actual accepted weight and any difference from the order. Keeping ordered and received weights separate helps explain discrepancies.

Calculate yield and cost on a consistent basis

In this example, 5 kg of vegetables cost 4 currency units per kilogram. After preparation, 4 kg remain usable. Yield is 80%, and the purchase cost is 20 units, so the usable product costs 5 units per kilogram. At 160 g usable weight per portion, this gives 25 theoretical portions and a vegetable cost of 0.80 units per portion.

Record what happened during service

If the team serves only 23 portions, record the remaining weight, what was discarded and why. Compare usable weight with the standard portion to investigate whether cutting, portioning or rework explains the difference.

Production tracking card

Supervisor exercise

Plan 30 portions at 160 g and an 80% yield. You need 4.8 kg usable, or 6 kg before preparation. Record the expected weight, compare it with the measured result after service and explain the variance in one sentence.

Further reading — BCcampus — Basic Kitchen and Food Service Management.