How to Control Food Cost and Wastage in Your Indian Restaurant

Where the money really goes

Ask any experienced restaurateur where their money goes, and the answer is almost always the same: food cost. In most Indian restaurants, ingredients take up somewhere between 28% and 35% of revenue. A few percentage points either way can be the difference between a profitable month and a stressful one.

The good news is that food cost is one of the few expenses you can actually control. Here is how.

Start with recipe costing

Break each dish down into its ingredients and quantities, then calculate what one serving really costs. Include the small things too: oil, spices, garnish, and packaging for delivery. Once you know this number, you can price the dish properly and spot items that look popular but barely earn anything.

Standardise your portions

If one cook puts in 150 grams of paneer and another puts in 200, your cost swings for the same price. Fixed recipes and measured portions keep both your food quality and your margins consistent.

Track stock every day

A weekly stock check is too slow. Wastage that begins on Monday is only discovered on Sunday. Even a simple daily count of your top ingredients helps you notice missing stock, over-portioning, or items that are spoiling before they are used.

Buy smarter, not just cheaper

Compare rates from two or three suppliers and keep a record of what you paid last time. Prices of vegetables, dairy, and oil change often in India, and small increases go unnoticed unless you track them. Order according to expected sales, not habit.

Use the FIFO rule

First in, first out. Older stock should always be used before newer stock. Label items with dates and arrange your storage so the oldest items are at the front.

Plan your menu around shared ingredients

If five dishes use the same base gravy or the same vegetables, you buy in bigger quantities, waste less, and cook faster. A smart menu is one where ingredients overlap.

Watch for hidden leaks

Wastage is not always spoiled food. It can be unrecorded staff meals, complimentary items nobody noted, wrong orders that were cooked and discarded, or portions that quietly grow over time. What is not recorded cannot be fixed.

How Orderix helps

Doing all of this on paper is possible, but it is tiring, and details slip through. With Orderix, every sale is recorded automatically, so you can see which dishes move fastest, which barely sell, and how your consumption compares with your purchases. Instead of finding out at month-end that something went wrong, you notice it while there is still time to act.

Better visibility means less wastage. Less wastage means more profit from the same sales. That is the simplest way to grow your margin without raising a single price.