Historical Benchmarks

1
Historical Benchmarks

• HRT 383
• Lunch
• Winter 2005

2
What is a benchmark?

• From Merriam-Webster Online
• A point of reference from which
• measurements may be made
• http//www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
• Accessed 10/08/04

3
An Historical Benchmark is

• An historical point of reference
• What did we do in the past?
• Measurable
• Dollars/Cents
• Percentage
• Count
• Time
• Weight
• Volume

4
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

5
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

6
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!

7
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

8
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

9
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

10
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

11
Searching for Benchmarks

• Budgets
• Total Sales
• COGS
• Food cost percentage target is 40
• Bar cost percentage target is 50

12
Searching for Benchmarks

• Lunch Menu Mix Winter 2004
• Appetizers 48.8
• Managers Special App 24.6
• 1-Selling Menu Entrée - Salmon 11.1
• Managers Special Entrée 28.8
• A la carte to banquet 72 / 28
• Desserts 53.2
• Managers Special Dessert 26.6
• Beverages 75.9