Historical Benchmarks HRT 383 Lunch Winter 2005

What is a benchmark?  From Merriam-Webster Online: A point of reference from which measurements may be made Accessed 10/08/04

An Historical Benchmark is…  An historical point of reference What did we do in the past? Measurable  Dollars/Cents  Percentage  Count  Time  Weight  Volume

Cautions:  Compare “Apples to Apples”  Watch for differences in: Volume Days or Day-Part Variations  Number of operation periods  Hours of operation Seasonality “Like Items” Menu prices A La Carte vs. Banquets

Searching for Benchmarks…  Net Sales Analysis: Daily or weekly sales in dollars  Total sales  Food sales  Beer sales  Wine sales  Bar sales Daily or weekly guest count Daily or weekly check average

Searching for Benchmarks…  Weekly Menu Mix/Sales History Analysis: Item sales (by count or percentage)  Individual items (count or percent)  Category sales (count or percentage) A la carte counts vs. banquet counts Unless most measures are equal (or close to equal), use percentages for benchmarks!

Searching for Benchmarks…  Bar Cost: Daily or weekly percentages  Beer costs percentage  Wine cost percentage  Total bar percentage Usually, weekly information is more accurate than daily information

Searching for Benchmarks…  Credits to Cost of Goods Sold: Comps vs. Total Sales Goodwill comps (marketing) vs. QSA Waste report  Accuracy is critical  Use for information rather than benchmarks Family meal issues

Searching for Benchmarks…  Weekly Summary: QTD information  Counts  Check average  Sales COGS  Quarterly food cost percentage  Weekly and quarterly bar cost percentage Other expense categories by percentage

Searching for Benchmarks…  QTD Menu Mix/Sales History Analysis: Item sales (by count or percentage)  Individual items (count or percent)  Category sales (count or percentage) A la carte counts vs. banquet counts Usually QTD information is used for benchmark percentages

Searching for Benchmarks…  Budgets: Total Sales COGS  Food cost percentage target is 40%  Bar cost percentage target is 50%

Searching for Benchmarks…  Lunch Menu Mix – Winter 2004: Appetizers 48.8%  Manager’s Special App 24.6% #1-Selling Menu Entrée - Salmon 11.1%  Manager’s Special Entrée 28.8% A la carte to banquet = 72% / 28% Desserts = 53.2%  Manager’s Special Dessert 26.6% Beverages = 75.9%