Searching costs you an average of 2-3 hours per week - time you're not spending cooking, serving guests, or earning. Many hospitality entrepreneurs waste precious minutes daily digging through folders, phones, and old Excel files before they can start their actual work.
The hidden time wasters in your kitchen
Every day starts the same way: you want to check a recipe, look up a supplier number, or check your food cost. But first you have to search. And search. And search some more.
💡 Example:
A typical search day in a restaurant:
- Looking up a recipe: 15 minutes (folder, phone, chef's memory)
- Checking supplier price: 10 minutes (old invoices, WhatsApp)
- Last week's revenue: 20 minutes (POS system, receipts)
- HACCP temperature from yesterday: 5 minutes (searching for paper list)
Total per day: 50 minutes searching
What this search time really costs you
50 minutes of searching per day doesn't sound like much. But let's do the math:
- Per week: 50 min × 6 days = 5 hours
- Per month: 5 hours × 4 weeks = 20 hours
- Per year: 20 hours × 12 months = 240 hours
240 hours per year. That's 6 full work weeks you're spending searching instead of running your business.
⚠️ Note:
This is just your own search time. Add the time your chef and staff spend searching, and you're quickly at 400+ hours per year for the whole team.
The financial impact of searching
Time is money, especially in hospitality. If you calculate your own time at €25 per hour (conservative for an entrepreneur), searching costs you:
💡 Example:
Annual search costs:
- Your time: 240 hours × €25 = €6,000
- Chef time: 120 hours × €20 = €2,400
- Other staff: 80 hours × €15 = €1,200
Total per year: €9,600 in search costs
Where does the information disappear?
The problem is scattered information. Every piece of knowledge is stored somewhere different:
- Recipes: In your chef's head, old notebooks, loose papers
- Prices: Old invoices, WhatsApp messages, supplier websites
- Temperatures: Paper HACCP lists, somewhere in a drawer
- Revenue figures: POS system, receipt rolls, Excel files
- Allergens: Ingredient websites, packaging, memory
The difference with one central place
Imagine this: all information in one place. Recipes, prices, temperatures, allergens. Everything findable in 10 seconds instead of 10 minutes.
💡 Example:
With a system like KitchenNmbrs:
- Looking up a recipe: 30 seconds (search function)
- Checking food cost: 10 seconds (automatically calculated)
- Supplier price: 20 seconds (ingredient database)
- HACCP temperature: 15 seconds (digital log)
From 50 minutes to 5 minutes per day
Why Excel isn't enough
Many entrepreneurs try to manage with Excel. That works for a while, until you:
- Can't find the file among 20 other Excel sheets
- Don't know which version is the latest
- The file gets corrupted or accidentally deleted
- Your phone can't open the file in the kitchen
- Your chef can't use it because he doesn't understand Excel
A professional system is designed to be found, not to get lost.
The peace of mind with one system
It's not just about saving time. It's about peace of mind. Knowing that all information is there, findable, and up-to-date.
Instead of stress about "where was that again?", you have certainty about your numbers, recipes, and procedures.
How do you calculate your search time? (step by step)
Track your search actions for one week
Write down every time you need to look something up: recipe, price, figure, temperature. Note how many minutes it took. Do this for a full week to get a realistic picture.
Add up the search minutes per day
Calculate how many minutes per day you spend searching on average. Multiply by 6 work days for your weekly search time. Most entrepreneurs are shocked by this number.
Calculate the annual costs
Multiply your weekly search time by 52 weeks and your hourly rate. Add the search time of your staff. This gives you the real cost of scattered information.
✨ Pro tip
Measure every search action for one week. Most entrepreneurs underestimate their search time by 50-70%. Only when you see the real numbers do you understand why one central system is such a game-changer.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
Isn't 2-3 hours of searching per week an exaggeration?
Many entrepreneurs underestimate this. Add up all the small search actions: recipes, prices, temperatures, supplier details, old revenue figures. It adds up faster than you think.
Can't I just organize better with folders?
Folders help, but you still have to physically search. And folders get lost, don't get updated, or are in the office while you're in the kitchen. Digital searching is 10x faster.
What if my chef has everything in his head?
Then you're completely dependent on one person. If he gets sick, takes time off, or leaves, you lose all that knowledge. Plus, he can't be everywhere at once to answer questions.
How much time does a digital system really save?
From an average of 50 minutes of searching per day to about 5 minutes. That's 45 minutes per day, or 4.5 hours per week you can spend on your business instead of searching.
Is the investment in a system worth it?
If searching costs you €9,600 per year (240 hours × €40), then a system costing €300 per year pays for itself 32 times over. Even at half this time savings, the ROI is enormous.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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