Wastage
Also called: food waste, spoilage
What is Wastage?
Wastage is stock that is bought and paid for but never sold — spoilage, over-preparation, trimming loss, spillage, staff meals and returned dishes. It is a real cost that hides inside food cost unless recorded separately.
Why Wastage matters
Wastage is invisible in the accounts by default: it simply makes food cost look worse without saying why. Recording it by reason converts a vague problem into a specific, fixable one.
Wastage formula
Wastage % = Value of wasted stock ÷ Value of stock used × 100
Tracked per category, it points straight at the culprit.
How Wastage works in practice
Keep a wastage log at the pass with item, quantity and reason. A week of honest logging usually shows most of the loss coming from two or three dishes or one over-prepped prep item.
Worked example
₹18,000 of monthly wastage against ₹4,00,000 of stock used is 4.5% — roughly one and a half points of food cost.
Frequently asked questions
Lower than most kitchens assume. The target matters less than the trend and knowing which items cause it.