Food & Beverage · Supply chain
Use your sales data to plan stock and cut food waste
By APAK Business Management · [Date] · 4 min read
Food waste is money in the bin, and running out of a best-seller loses orders. Most small food businesses already collect the data they need to fix both — in their till or online ordering system — but rarely use it.
Export your sales by item and by day
Most EPOS and ordering platforms let you download sales per product. Start with the last eight to twelve weeks and look for patterns by day of the week, weather and local events.
Find your top sellers and your slow movers
A small number of dishes usually make up most of your sales. Protect those and never let them run out. Then look at items that rarely sell but need fresh ingredients — they are your biggest waste risk.
Set simple par levels
For each key ingredient, set a minimum stock level based on your usage on the busiest day plus a small buffer. Reorder when you drop below it. A sheet by the storeroom or a shared spreadsheet is enough to start.
Link promotions to your stock
If you have a surplus of an ingredient, build a special around it and promote it on social media that day. Marketing and stock planning work best when they talk to each other.
Review every month
Compare what you ordered, sold and threw away. Adjust par levels and the menu. Small, regular corrections beat one big annual review.
The takeaway
Start with your ten best-selling items. Getting those right usually delivers most of the savings.
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