One major problem for SME restaurant owners that causes their business to go into negative territory and eventually “go bankrupt” is: Cost miscalculation And when the cost calculation is wrong, it results in setting the wrong food price. When you price your food wrong, there is a high chance of losing money, which is called “No matter how well you sell, you can still lose money if you miscalculate the costs from the beginning.”

A significant number of SME restaurant operators still think that No matter how much you buy the raw materials, just calculate the cost. This is the reason why the cost of food per plate is calculated incorrectly! Let's take a look at why many people miscalculate costs.

>If we buy morning glory at 40 baht per kilogram,
>Calculated at 40 baht per gram/1,000 grams = 0.04 baht
>To sell one plate of morning glory with red sauce
>Using 200 grams of morning glory per plate.
>This means that the cost of morning glory per plate is 0.04 x 200 = 8 baht/plate

But do you know that what you thought was wrong?

Because in reality, The ingredients purchased cannot be used 100% for cooking. Of the quantity purchased There is a portion that needs to be trimmed or what is called “Yield”. Such as the morning glory example above.

So when we buy it, we have to cut off the roots, which means that 1 kilogram of morning glory may actually be usable for 800 grams. This makes the cost per plate when recalculated from 8 baht increase to 10 baht immediately

This is just an example of raw materials that cost only 40 baht and only 20% is wasted. But if it is raw materials that cost hundreds and the loss or unused is about 40% For example, how much higher will the cost of buying whole salmon and then trimming it be?

This is where many people make mistakes, resulting in miscalculating the cost per dish. And set the wrong selling price Therefore, to calculate the correct food cost before setting the selling price, Always remember to calculate the yield.

Actual amount of raw material used = amount of raw material after trimming/ amount of raw material before trimming x 100
You will get the actual amount of raw materials that can be used.
Then take the price of raw materials purchased / the amount of raw materials after cutting.
This will give you the actual cost of that raw material.
Such as the morning glory example above.

I bought 1 kilogram of morning glory for 40 baht.
Trim the roots, leaving a usable weight of 800 grams.
Use the formula to find Yield: (800/1,000) x 100 = 80%
My friends also took the kilograms that I bought, which is 40/800.
The actual cost used will be 0.05 baht/gram.

For example, buy a salmon weighing 5 kilograms at 300 baht per kilogram. Trim the head, bones, and tail, leaving the actual weight of 3 kilograms.
Yield is (3/5) x 100 = 60%
This means that 1 kilogram of salmon, trimmed and actually usable, is only (1,000 x 60) / 100 = 600 grams The price per gram is 300/600 = 0.5 baht/gram

If the sashimi menu at this restaurant serves 4 pieces of salmon per plate
Total weight 80 grams, the cost of salmon will be 0.5 baht/gram x amount used 80 grams = Cost 40 baht per serving

But if you don't think about the yield What happens is you buy one salmon.
Weight: 5 kilograms, price: 300 baht per kilogram
This means that this salmon will cost 300/1,000 = 0.3 baht/gram.
Sashimi menu, 4 pieces of salmon served per plate, total weight 80 grams.

The cost of salmon is 0.3 baht/gram x amount used 80 grams = cost 24 baht per serving.

Do you see that when the cost per plate is miscalculated, it will affect the pricing, which has a high chance of setting a loss. The question may arise, does it have to be this detailed? The answer is “yes”.
Because running a restaurant business in every process of preparing a menu has the opportunity to generate a “Yield”.

For example, the example of cutting or even when employees pick up, hold, and put in ingredients without a specified recipe, pick up according to the weight of their hands or according to their habits, will directly affect food costs.

In addition to calculating the “Yield” value, Entrepreneurs should have a food recipe standard or SOP. To control the use of raw materials to obtain the right amount, size and weight every time.

And there should be weighing and measuring equipment. Train your staff to use or manage the weighing, measuring, and quantifying of certain ingredients and prepare them ready to serve, such as the papaya salad menu, weighing the papaya and preparing it in a bag. This will help reduce the amount of “Yield” and also help make work systematic, convenient, and faster. The taste standard is also stable .

Restaurant business, “raw materials” are the part with the highest percentage of cost and the most room for leakage. If the entrepreneur is not careful and does not have a system for managing restaurant raw materials, they will have to bear high costs that will eventually affect the business.

In addition to learning about Yield Cost Calculation, Calculating the cost of food per plate is also important. You can learn it in a free online course! Professional Food Pricing Techniques