A busy Friday night, your chef plates 200 steaks at 210 grams each instead of the calculated 200 grams. That extra 10 grams per portion just cost you €48 in one evening. Most kitchen managers never realize these micro-overages drain hundreds of euros monthly from their bottom line.
Why ten grams of difference matters so much
A chef who consistently portions slightly more generously than calculated creates a hidden cost line. The problem: nobody sees it directly, but it eats away at your profit.
💡 Example:
You calculate 200 grams of steak per portion, but your chef consistently gives 210 grams:
- Steak: €24 per kilo
- Extra per portion: 10 grams = €0.24
- 50 portions per week: €12 per week
- Per month: €52
- Per year: €624
Just this one dish costs you an extra €624 per year.
The calculation per ingredient
For every ingredient you use too much of, the same formula applies:
Extra costs per month = (Extra grams ÷ 1000) × Price per kilo × Portions per month
💡 Example salmon:
You give 10 grams extra salmon per portion:
- Salmon price: €18 per kilo
- Extra per portion: (10 ÷ 1000) × €18 = €0.18
- 120 portions per month: €0.18 × 120 = €21.60
Per month: €21.60 extra on salmon alone.
Impact on your food cost percentage
Oversized portions directly increase your food cost. If your food cost goes from 30% to 33% because of oversized portions, you lose 3 percentage points of profit on every euro of revenue.
⚠️ Watch out:
At €20,000 revenue per month, 3 percentage points higher food cost means €600 less profit per month. That's €7,200 per year.
Multiple dishes, multiple ingredients
The problem multiplies if your chef portions too generously across multiple dishes. And here's one of the most common blind spots in kitchen management: managers focus on big cost items while these small overages fly under the radar.
💡 Example complete menu:
Restaurant with 8 main courses, each portioned 10 grams too generously:
- Steak: €52 per month
- Salmon: €22 per month
- Chicken: €18 per month
- Pasta (cheese): €15 per month
- Other 4 dishes: €45 per month
Total: €152 per month = €1,824 per year
How you prevent this
The solution is simple but requires discipline:
- Weigh portions - Don't estimate, weigh during prep
- Standardize recipes - Document exact grams per ingredient
- Train your team - Everyone needs to know what the standard portion is
- Check regularly - Spot checks during service
Tools like KitchenNmbrs let you document exact portions per recipe, so everyone knows how much of each ingredient belongs on the plate.
The hidden costs of inconsistency
Beyond the direct costs of oversized portions, you also create inconsistency. Guests get different experiences, which can damage your reputation.
⚠️ Watch out:
A guest who got a large portion last week and now gets a standard portion feels cheated. Consistency is just as important as cost savings.
How do you calculate the monthly impact of oversized portions?
Determine the difference in grams
Weigh what your chef actually gives and compare it with your standard recipe. The difference is your 'leakage' per portion.
Calculate the extra costs per portion
Use the formula: (Extra grams ÷ 1000) × Price per kilo. This gives you the extra costs per portion for that ingredient.
Multiply by your monthly volume
Count how many portions of this dish you sell per month. Multiply by the extra costs per portion to get your monthly impact.
✨ Pro tip
Track your three most expensive proteins for one week - weigh 10 random portions of each during different shifts. If you're consistently 8-12 grams over, that's costing you roughly €180-240 monthly across those dishes alone.
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
How do I know if my chef is portioning too generously?
Weigh a few random portions during service and compare them with your recipes. More than 5% deviation is too much.
What if my chef says guests are happy with the generous portions?
Calculate the annual costs and show how much profit this costs. Often you can raise the price slightly if portions are genuinely larger than the competition.
Which ingredients make the biggest difference?
Expensive ingredients like meat, fish, and cheese. Ten grams extra steak costs more than ten grams extra potatoes.
How do I prevent my chef from sneakily portioning too generously anyway?
Make agreements clear, check regularly, and explain why it matters. Involve your chef in the cost price calculation.
Should I invest in portion scales for every station?
Absolutely, especially for your protein and cheese stations. A €50 scale can save you hundreds monthly if it prevents consistent over-portioning.
Can I track this automatically?
You can document recipes with exact grams in apps, but your team still needs to weigh and portion manually. No system replaces good kitchen discipline.
📚 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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