Pandemic Increases Reliance on Sound Practices to Control Food Costs
by Sean Ireland
A
2020 Issue 2 |
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restaurant manager’s day was usually busy enough before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic late this winter. Now, as more and more of the nation’s restaurants are allowed to reopen their dining rooms and have guests back inside, the tasks on the typical manager’s plate have multiplied thanks to new operating procedures established to ensure the health and safety of team members and customers alike. That doesn’t mean their old tasks are any less important and necessary, however. Restaurant management still needs to monitor and manage the profit and loss statements, schedule employees,
run inventories and track food costs. In some ways, these old tasks have taken on new importance in the wake of the pandemic. The use of best practices in these areas can provide more efficient operations and unlock savings that are needed now more than ever. They can help managers maximize their assets in the face of many uncertainties, such as whether consumers will be comfortable returning to dine-in services or more shutdowns will be required if viral infections flare again – as some health experts have predicted they might – in the fall. In this world of unknowns, food
costs have been a hard-to-predict variable. For Buffalo Wild Wings®, it’s been a particularly vexing topic. First, with the cancellation of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament less than a week before it was to start, reports suggested there was a surplus of chicken wings at restaurants like BWW® that stocked up to feed the large crowds drawn by March Madness. Then, weeks later, there were reported shortages of chicken, beef and pork in the United States’ supply chain as meat production
