Nobody gets excited about wastage logs until they see the annual number. Two percentage points of food cost on a ₹6 lakh month is ₹1.44 lakh a year, straight to profit, equal to selling hundreds of extra covers without buying a single extra ingredient. Enter your revenue and the reduction you think better prep discipline can deliver, and this calculator makes the case for you.
Annual saving = monthly food revenue × (percentage points of food cost reduced ÷ 100) × 12. Every point of food cost saved is pure profit, equivalent to the margin on many extra covers sold.
| Monthly food revenue | 600000 ₹ |
| Current food cost | 34 % |
| Target food cost | 32 % |
| Average check per cover | 500 ₹ |
| Margin per cover | 300 ₹ |
For a kitchen that has never run structured wastage tracking, 2-3 points is the commonly achieved first-year band, from portioning discipline, FIFO enforcement, prep-to-forecast and trimming over-production. Kitchens already running tight might find one point. The tool shows what even the conservative case is worth.
Four places, in typical order of size: over-production (batch cooking more than forecast), portioning drift (the ladle grows over time), receiving and storage losses (unweighed deliveries, poor FIFO), and untracked comps and staff meals. A one-week wastage log almost always finds the big one within days.
Mostly discipline, not money: a wastage log sheet, a weekly stock count, portioning tools (scoops, scales) worth a few thousand rupees, and manager attention. Against a six-figure annual saving, the ROI on that effort embarrasses most equipment purchases.
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