If your food and beverage cost percentages are too high, your chef might try to trim a few dollars here and there:
- Switch to a cheaper brand of chips
- Cut portion sizes slightly
- Use frozen instead of fresh
But here’s the truth: you can’t save your way to profit.
The Real Problem Usually Isn’t COGS
We’ve coached dozens of hospitality venues across Australia, and here’s what we’ve found over and over again:
High COGS is often a symptom, not the cause.
The real cause is almost always one of the following:
- Low sales volume (you’re not selling enough to spread fixed kitchen costs)
- Menu imbalance (too many low-margin items)
- Wasted stock due to poor forecasting or prep habits
- No accountability because the numbers aren’t being tracked weekly
So yes, COGS might be too high — but if you’re not selling enough, all the trimming in the world won’t fix it.
Why Cost-Cutting Can Backfire
When teams are told to “fix the COGS,” but no one looks at revenue or process, they:
- Cheapen the product (which hurts your reputation and return visits)
- Focus on cost-saving over guest experience
- Lose motivation when the numbers don’t improve anyway
It creates a blame culture instead of a performance culture.
What to Focus On Instead
This is where our PERI Framework comes in:
Plan. Execute. Results. Improve.
In every improvement session, we do this:
- Review the previous week’s actual COGS — and ask: what happened?
- Support the chef and manager to plan better — not just spend less
- Keep the focus on revenue and wastage — not just the invoice price
Because if a dish has a 30% food cost but only sells 3 times a week, it’s not a winner — no matter how “efficient” the kitchen is.
How One Chef Improved Profit Without Cutting Quality
At one of our partner venues, the chef was under pressure to lower food costs. Instead of switching to cheaper produce, we helped him:
- Introduce a rotating specials board to move slow stock
- Promote high-margin items to front-of-house
- Track portioning errors and prep waste weekly
Within 5 weeks, COGS dropped by 5%, but the quality stayed the same — and revenue went up.
Final Thought: Revenue First, Then Costs
Profitability doesn’t start with cutting. It starts with clarity.
Look at sales. Look at process. Then fix the numbers.
If your venue isn’t making money, don’t assume the food is too expensive.
Let’s work together to get the numbers — and the strategy — right.
