Every restaurant loses stock. Some goes in the bin, some goes out on oversized portions, and some simply walks. The problem is not that it happens — it is not knowing how much, or where.

A regular stock-take is how you find out. It does not need to be complicated. It needs to be consistent.

Why it matters

Food waste is a global problem, and food service is a big part of it. The UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 estimates that the world wasted about 1.05 billion tonnes of food in 2022, with the food service sector responsible for roughly 28% of it. Every kilogram that ends up in your bin is money you paid for and never sold.

Step 1: Decide what to count weekly

You do not need to count every item every week. Focus on your high-value and high-risk items: proteins, dairy, alcohol, and anything that is expensive or easy to take home. Count the full inventory monthly and the key items weekly.

Step 2: Count at the same time, the same way

Pick a fixed time — Sunday night after close, or Monday before deliveries. Always count in the same order, shelf by shelf, using the same units. Two people counting together is faster and more accurate, and it discourages shortcuts.

Step 3: Organise your storage to match your count sheet

If your count sheet lists items in the order they sit on the shelves, counting takes half the time. Label shelves and containers clearly, and store first in, first out, so older stock is used before newer stock.

Step 4: Compare actual usage with expected usage

This is where the value lives. Your sales tell you how many portions you should have used. Your stock count tells you how much you actually used. The gap between the two is your variance — and it is where waste, theft and over-portioning hide.

Step 5: Investigate, do not just record

A variance is a question, not an answer. Is the chicken gap coming from one shift? From a portion size that has drifted? From a delivery that was short? Talk to the team, check the invoices and look at the bins. Most problems have a simple cause once you look.

Make stock control everyone’s job

Stock control fails when only one person cares about it. Chefs need to understand portion control, receivers need to check deliveries, and front-of-house staff need to record comps and breakages. When the whole team understands why it matters, the numbers improve quickly.

Our Inventory Management course teaches a practical counting and control system in short phone-based lessons. It sits in both Restaurant Staff Excellence for the whole team and Restaurant Manager Excellence, where managers pair it with food cost and financial control.

Choose your five most expensive items and count them this Sunday. Count them again next Sunday. You will learn something in the difference.

References

UNEP: Food Waste Index Report 2024. https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/45230