5 Tools for Cutting Restaurant Costs

Investing in better quality kitchen equipment to make your business run more efficiently is a great way to cut down on restaurant food costs. Purchasing products that last longer, save staff time on checks and create a reliable digital system will all help cut the costs of running a restaurant.

Money-saving tips for restaurants:

Save your business time, money and waste with these tips.

Invest in quality products

As the saying goes, buy cheap, buy twice. Investing in quality products that are built for purpose and designed to last really does save money in the long run.

Introduce automations

Automating your processes to save staff time manually taking checks can save nearly £700 a year.

Go paperless

Keeping a reliable data archive will save thousands if an issue arises.

Use Digital alerts

There’s no greater protection than email alerts for out-of-range temperatures. Taking corrective actions instantly will save huge losses in food waste.

Best money-saving tools for restaurants

Five essential products for restaurants and other food businesses looking to maximise time and minimise overheads.

DishTemp Blue 

Dishwashers must reach a minimum temperature of 70 °C to destroy harmful bacteria on serving dishes, utensils and chopping boards.

A cheap and common way of monitoring this is by using test strips. These are single-use strips that loop around the dishwasher rack, changing colour once they have reached temperature.

They aren’t the most accurate way to check your dishwasher temperatures. They’re also an expensive long-term solution as they will need to be replaced frequently.

The DishTemp Blue simulates plate temperatures, recording the maximum temperature reached and sending the readings to a device using Bluetooth technology. This increases the accuracy of the readings, saves costs by reducing labour and removes the risk of human error. Plus, the device is robust and reliable. Being able to reuse the DishTemp Blue many hundreds of times means saving money on single-use test strips.

Wi-Fi Loggers

Though they often have a greater upfront cost, Wi-Fi loggers are a fantastic investment that will save your business time, money and waste for years to come.

Simply set up your logger and it will automatically take temperatures at timed intervals, sending the data to your device wherever you are in the world. This saves time on employees manually taking temperatures and recording them using paper log books.

We estimated that taking five temperature checks three times a day would amount to 73 hours a year. Paying an employee the National Living Wage to do this would cost almost £700. Our Wi-Fi data loggers are available from £90 ex VAT, with free software and no ongoing subscription costs.

Not only does this save time, but it also prevents human error. Instant alerts to your device with out-of-range readings allow corrective actions to be taken more quickly, preventing huge financial losses in food waste.

Frying Oil Test Strips

Testing frying oil quality is essential for changing oil at the correct time. Leaving the oil too long between changes will prevent fried food from being perfectly golden and crunchy. However, not leaving it long enough will waste perfectly good oil. This can lead to businesses throwing away huge amounts of money.

Frying Oil Test Strips are a quick and economic method of testing oil quality, helping restaurants to save money by only changing oil when necessary.

Thermapen ONE Thermometer

From a distance, all instant-read thermometers may look like they do the same job. But this simply isn’t true. Investing in high-quality food probes will make a big difference to the day-to-day running of a kitchen.

Quicker read times mean less time spent waiting around for temperatures to stabilise. Completing checks more quickly, easily and frequently also reduces the risk of overcooking and spoiling dishes.

More robust designs, better quality parts and longer guarantees mean more expensive thermometers are built to last. Cheaper units often need to be replaced regularly, and the cost of this can add up over time.

The Thermapen ONE has a one-second read time, waterproof casing and comes supplied with a five-year guarantee. Its unrivalled speed, accuracy and durability make it a favourite in the restaurant industry worldwide.

Saf-T Log

The Saf-T Log offers a paperless system that allows temperature probes to be checked and recorded, similar to Wi-Fi Loggers. Common uses include probe checks such as food delivery, cooking and storage temperatures.

Again, this will save on staff costs as temperatures will take less time to record. Readings can’t be falsified or written down incorrectly by mistake, and the records will be more organised and accessible if you need to share them.

Freeing up time spent taking checks means that time can be better spent elsewhere, such as improving food quality and customer experience to ensure repeat visits.

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