I absolutely love speaking with restaurant owners about the benefits of video surveillance. It helps that as a past owner myself, I understand exactly how video helps an operation. But help trim food costs?
Restaurant menus are thoughtfully constructed with food cost, gross profit and gross revenue in mind. The menu layout is designed to psychologically draw the eye to the most profitable items. Understanding the exact portion sizes of each menu item and exercising portion consistency in the kitchen are paramount to success.
What happens when portion consistency breaks down? Through the use of video I quickly realized that the Path of Least Resistency rules supreme. I saw an employee, I’ll call him “Skip”, top a pizza with cheese by hand as opposed to weighing the cheese on a scale first. Let’s do some quick math on the impact of just 1 extra ounce of cheese per pizza:
1 pound whole milk mozzarella – $2.35
1 ounce – $.147
3,000 pizzas per month @ $.147 = $441.00
What happens to your operation when exact portion controls are not adhered to? The entire cost structure of the menu breaks down, brand consistency suffers and ultimately profitability tanks.
How many “Skips” do you have in your operation? For about $5 per day, you can quickly find out.


