Checked my food cost percentages after reading a chef's blog last night and nearly choked

Found out my protein waste was running at 18% which means I've been throwing away around $900 a month just in trim and over-portioning, anyone else run a deep dive on their numbers recently?

3 comments

3 Comments

emerym3623d ago

...and honestly 18% on protein waste is actually pretty standard for fresh butchery. Joel's not wrong about trim going into stock or sausages (that's where the real value is), but here's the thing - you gotta track that separately. Your food cost numbers are lying to you if you're throwing trim in the trash but calling it "waste" when it could be ground or rendered. I'd say run a week where you weigh everything that hits the bin versus what goes into secondary prep, then adjust your cost model. Over-portioning though, that's the real money leak. Check your actual serving sizes against your recipe cards, bet you're giving away 2-3 ounces a plate without realizing it.

parkerbrown23d ago

Oh jeez, here we go again, another round of "my trim rate is lower than yours" (like that's a competition anyone actually wants to win). @emerym36 is spot on though - the real issue isn't the 18%, it's the fact that most folks don't know where their trim is even going. I've watched cooks toss perfectly good beef trim in the trash while the stockpot sits empty, which is like setting money on fire but with extra steps. And yeah, over-portioning is the silent killer nobody talks about because it feels generous until you realize you're just handing out free steaks to people who'd happily pay for them. But Joel acting like sub-10% waste means you're serving garbage is a take, alright - some of us just know how to sharpen a knife and use every bit of the animal without turning it into dog food.

hall.joel23d ago

Honestly, I gotta push back a little here. I think people get way too obsessed with these numbers and forget that trim is part of the deal if you're doing fresh butchery. Yeah, 18% seems high, but if you're using that trim for stocks, sausages, or grinding for burgers then it's not really waste, it's just product going somewhere else. Ngl, I've seen kitchens that chase sub-10% waste and end up serving sad scraps or over-processed stuff that kills the quality. Tbh, if your portions are consistent and your customers are happy, a higher trim rate is just the cost of doing real cooking. But hey, I'm probably wrong, just my take from running my own spot.