Stock control

The head chef and other kitchen staff can look at sales figures to identify trends in popular food items and items that do not sell very well, and then order stock based on this information. This would help the kitchen to order lots of stock for items that are popular, and less stock for those items/dishes that do not sell as well. This will reduce the amount of food wastage in the business.

Particularly busy, seasonal periods may also be considered when planning stock – for example, a restaurant may order in very few Brussels sprouts between January and November, but the chef will know that many more will need to be ordered during December!

A stock rotation system can be used, which will ensure that older food stuffs are used first and newer food is stored further back behind the older food stuff. This helps to reduce the amount of wasted stock as food is used before it becomes out of date.

Having clearly labelled stock areas can make it easier to count and monitor stock, in order to determine when more stock is needed. If storage is well labelled, staff will find it easier to keep stock in the right place and see at a glance if supplies are running low.

Wastage measurement buckets are used to store wasted food throughout the day and the level of wastage is measured at the end of service. If these measurements show high levels of wastage, then stock control measures may be put in place – such as reducing portion sizes so that customers don’t leave as much waste food on their plates or evaluating food suppliers if wastage is occurring during the preparation/production stage due to ingredients being poor quality.

Electronic systems can be used to improve stock control processes. For example, a restaurant may use an electronic ordering and payment system, which will record the meals that are ordered/served and link this information to the stock control system to determine the stock that has been used in preparing and producing these meals. The stock control system will have set levels for re-ordering stock and, when these levels are reached, re-ordering may be triggered automatically (or someone in charge of stock control may be notified so that they can place an order to replenish stock).

Regular stock checks are an important control measure. Stock can be checked in a number of ways:

1. Stock levels are checked to determine if enough stock is being held or if stock in some areas is running low and needs to be re-ordered.
2. The quality of stock can be checked (for example, checking use-by and best before dates on items and throwing away any substandard ingredients). Quality checks are important as an organisation would not want to serve dishes to customers that had been prepared using poor quality ingredients or ingredients that had ‘gone off’. This would be unsatisfactory for customers and could also lead to food poisoning. In addition, the organisation may be able to use quality checks to prioritise the use of ingredients that are close to becoming unsuitable for use, therefore using them before they are wasted or selling them at a reduced price (as wasting stock in this way would cost the organisation money).

An important part of the Executive/Head Chef’s job is to plan recipes for the dishes offered on the menu. They will plan out each recipe and work out the cost of ingredients needed to produce each dish. They will do this by calculating the amount of each ingredient needed and multiplying this by how much the ingredients cost to buy. This will give the total cost of producing the meal and this information is very helpful in deciding how much to charge customers for each dish – basically, the money earned by selling the dishes needs to cover the cost of producing them if the organisation is aiming to make a profit.

Planning out recipes and ingredients in this way can also support the stock control process, as the information will give a clear breakdown of the stock that is required to run the kitchen each day.

Keeping documentation and records up to date is another important part of stock control (for example, delivery notes from suppliers, stock check records, etc).

Remember that stock control is important for maintaining food safety, as well as controlling costs. If stock is not stored properly, it can spoil or decay, leading to contamination from bacteria and a risk of food poisoning.