How to Maximize Profit on Your Most Expensive Menu Items

Proteins are your most expensive - and potentially profitable - items in your inventory.

As a startup operator you need to look at all your inventory, but particularly your proteins, through the eyes of your guests, chef, and accountant.

Consider that rib-eye steak in your walk-in cooler. Your hungry guests look at that $40 item on the center of the plate as a sumptuous, well-presented meal that represents quality and a good story.

A competent chef looks at these expensive proteins like gold, particularly if the restaurant spends the extra money waste. Usable trimmings go into other products, such as soups and stocks. (See "Stretch Your Protein Purchases With Regular Specials" below.)

And a reliable accountant looks at all restaurant inventory as a "current asset"; that is, cash that has been converted to meat, and which has the potential to be converted quickly back to cash - hopefully at a profit.

Most concepts offer some form of pricey protein on the menu. It behooves (no pun intend) all restaurant management to be conversant in the language of beef, lamb, pork, and poultry.

As a startup operator, the better you understand these products, and the marketplace that dictates their availability and pricing, the more able you will be to gain this 360-degree view of your products. And the more control you have over your menu - and your financial statements.

So how much do you know about your pricey protein inventory items?

In this article, we present the basics. Read on to test your knowledge.