Starting one’s own restaurant may seem like all fun and games. But the truth is far from that. There are a lot of things that you need to consider when opening a business in the hospitality niche. One aspect in determining the success of a restaurant business is its food cost. Food costing helps save a restaurant a lot of money (these are just facts).
Food costing is the most sensitive aspect of the restaurant business. The survival and growth depend on how accurately restaurant owners can calculate the cost of recipes that determine profitability. It might seem not difficult to calculate the cost of any specific dish on the menu, but doing it accurately can be quite challenging. Any mistake in calculating the values can have severe consequences on the business.
To accurately estimate the cost of food, it is better to avoid doing it manually. Instead, it is better to use some food costing software that can do a foolproof job and that too much faster. There’s no chance of any error creeping into the process. There is a lot of food costing software in the market that’ll help you get the job done. But we only need the best one. I’ll help you with all that. First, let me tell you some things about food costing.
What Is Food Costing?
Food cost is nothing but the percentage of the food sales of a restaurant. Food costing determines how a restaurant can save on inventory by optimizing the food costs. The food costing can be done by dividing the total food purchases by the total food sales of a restaurant. This gives you the food cost of a restaurant.
Food cost is basically nothing but an equation. There is a simple formula that you can use to calculate the food cost. For the formula, you need to know the beginning inventory, the purchases, the ending inventory, and the food sales. When we know all this, we can calculate the food cost easily with this formula.
Food Cost = {(Beginning Inventory + Purchases – Ending Inventory)/ Food Sales}
This was the formula that is used to calculate the food cost. But this is not enough. Calculating food costs manually is a bit risky. Also, it only tells you the food cost without telling you how you can reduce the food cost. That is why we need food costing software. Before I tell you the best food costing software to buy in 2022, let me tell you why do you need food costing software.
Why Do We Need Food Costing Software?
1. Know Your Expenses Right Away
Business profitability depends on how well you can control the input costs that affect the price of products. For the restaurant business, it means knowing the expenses involved in presenting any food item by monitoring the cost of the ingredients. Moreover, it is necessary to know the cost on a moving basis as the price of the ingredients can change at any moment.
Restaurant owners and managers must know the cost of every item on the menu readily available on a day-to-day basis, which is only possible by using suitable software. Knowing the cost of each dish helps to determine the appropriate selling cost that provides healthy profit margins.
2. Experiment With Food Cost
To maintain the desired profitability, it is not always necessary to make drastic changes in the food. Instead, it tweaks some of the ingredients by considering its cost which positively impacts the cost of the whole dish.
By trying out various combinations of ingredients with adjustments in quantity and cost, you will be able to figure out how to price the menu items. This further helps lower the cost and achieve other goals like improving quality and taste while ensuring the health aspects.
3. Speedy Calculation
To create a healthy bottom line, you must have deft control over the cost of inputs, which you can keep varying to suit your needs of maintaining good profitability. Feeding the right data vis a vis the cost of inputs is all that you must do while the software does a quick calculation to return the results almost instantly. Once you know the dish’s cost, you can set the selling price accordingly to help maintain the desired profit margin.
4. Know Where To Pay Attention
By continually monitoring the cost of the food, you can make necessary adjustments on an ongoing basis for the cost of inputs so that you can offer the most competitive prices to your customers. Since the software displays the cost of the ingredients of all recipes together with associated costs, it becomes easy to point out the ingredients that might need any adjustment to maintain a balance between the selling price and the bottom line.
With complete control over the cost of the ingredients, you can plan for the best cost of the products that ensure a healthy bottom line.
List Of Best Food Costing Software To Buy In 2022
1. Poster POS
Poster POS is probably the best software in the game. It is software by Poster. This software is considered one of the best food costing software there is. It is actually an all-rounder. This software will help you keep your inventory in check along with the finances, statistics, and even CRM (customer relationship management). You can get access to all of this online easily.
2. MenuSano
MenuSano is another software that helps you with food costing along with other things. It is software by Konverge. You can use this software to do food costing and monitor rules and regulations. You can also use it to keep workflow management on track. Some other operations include food quality, nutrition report generator, and nutrition analyzer.
3. Dyne: CC
Dyne: CC is software by Dytel Technology Group. It is designed for Windows and mainly caters to Startups and SME’s (small and medium enterprises). Dyne: CC provides end-to-end solutions for restaurant businesses. This software offers a lot of operations for your ease. The software offers services like Delivery Management, Account Management, Table Management, Reporting, and Analytics. You can get all this in one place.
4. Optimum Control
Optimum Control is a software by TracRite Software Inc. Optimum Control gives you ‘optimum control’ over your food cost and inventory management. This helps to optimize the cost and profits of your food business. Other than food costing, you can use this software for keeping track of purchases, orders, and even events that you cater to. It is also very easy to use.
5. Impos Point of Sale
The Impos Point of Sale software is another food costing software that you can use. It has a lot of functions and is great for enterprises as well as agencies. This software is designed for Windows. The POS Point of Sale system is great for Inventory Management. Other than that, you can also use it for tracking returns, scanning barcodes, bar POS and electronic signature. Find all of this in one software.
6. iNECTA Food
If you are looking for software for food distributors in addition to food costing, then iNECTA food is the ideal software for you. It is designed by iNECTA LLC. You can access this software On-Premises but it is also Cloud-Based. So, you can access this software with a mobile as well. Functions of the software include warehouse management, traceability, and lot management.
7. Cost Genie
Cost Genie is also a great food costing software with other great functions. It is a complete Food Service Management software. It is designed for Web App and serve enterprises and agencies. This software offers services like Food Costing, Inventory Management, and Nutritional Analysis. It also offers banquet management for event catering and healthcare facilities.
8. FoodCo
FoodCo is a software that offers recipe costing in addition to food costing. This software is great for both, enterprises as well as retail food businesses. With this software, you’ll be able to do Inventory Management, Recipe Management, payments, and tracking. This software also helps with compliance with food safety standards and customer feedback. It’s all one click away (practically, a few clicks away).
9. reciProfity
As with some of the software above, reciProfity is a great software for Food Service Management. It is designed for Web App to serve agencies as well as SMEs. This software is also suitable for healthcare facilities as well as cafeterias. If you buy reciProfity, you’ll be able to food costing flawlessly. Other than that, you’ll be able to do Nutritional Analysis and Recipe Management.
10. CostGuard
Last on our list is CostGuard software. It is an Inventory Control Software designed for Windows to serve Startups as well as Enterprises. This system is great for Restaurants and Bars too. This software offers Inventory Management, Kitchen Management, Menu Management, Analytics, Billing, and Invoicing. All of these features are provided in one software, CostGuard.
Conclusion
So, this was the list of some of the best food costing software that you can buy in 2022. You can check their starting prices on their sites. You can also take free demos of the software on their respected sites. I shall take your leave now. I hope you found this article helpful. If this article was helpful to you, let me know in the comments. I will see you with another informative article.
