NEW Food Cost+ Tool Buffet Profitability Work Sheets

The buffet profitability work sheet is designed to accurately record food cost, labor cost and profitability of
buffets in restaurants, catering, concierge lounge and any other location throughout the hotel or off-site.
A sample of a filled in breakfast buffet sheet, as well as the graphics in this document will show you how to use
and populate the profitability work sheet. The embedded calculations will assist in consistent data and analysis.
The Buffet Profitability Work Sheet document includes
- sample breakfast form
- buffet profitability work sheet - breakfast
- buffet profitability work sheet lunch/dinner
- buffet profitability work sheet other buffets
Buffet food cost and profitability should be calculated regularly, as often as needed, especially when business
shifts to evaluate the business need and financial viability of a buffet.
Cost out buffets in restaurants over several consecutive days (3-5 days) to get good data and an average.
Include some slow and busier days to compare data and to be able to see and analyze trends.
Use the other buffets work sheet to analyze buffets in banquet settings, on coffee breaks, concierge lounge
or off-site caterings.

Marriott International - 2009

Filling in the work sheet:

Fill in yellow and white cells light green and green shaded cells include calculations and are protected, these
do not have to be filled in.
As the document is filled in, the calculations will populate the green cells and add up in the analysis section of
the form.
1. input the amount
prepared for initial set up
2. then input product
added throughout service

input
product

unit size

cost per unit

3. input food that has

not been used ONLY if
it has not been
exposed to customers
and can be recovered
Used amount and cost are
automatically calculated

Once all white columns are populated, the

Cost of complete (initial) buffet set up, as well as
total cost of food
are calculated
automatically

Marriott International - 2009

1 - Add
positions, wages and hours used to prepare,
maintain and
run/man the buffet

1 - Fill in CPV (cost per

value) which you will find
on your PNL statement

2 - Covers, which are

input on top of work sheet
will transfer to here

Fill in yellow highlighted cells you will be

able to get buffet covers and revenue
(after discount) from your micros report

Marriott International - 2009

2 - then add benefit

percentage, which
you find in your PNL
statement

total cost of
wages, benefits
will be added
automatically

3 the total controllable

cost will be automatically
calculated

Total combined
cost will be
calculated
automatically

4 finally the total cost

of the buffet is combined
automatically

All green highlighted cells (protected

cells with formulas) will populate
automatically once form is filled in

Reading the data

Once the form is completed, you will be able to read the following information:

Revenue/cover:
Since many buffets include several tiers, i.e.: continental, healthy start, full buffet, kids buffet, this will be a true reflection of
revenue per cover served.

Cost of food:
Money actually spent on food; includes initial set up and food used to re-fill and maintain the buffet; does not include food
that has been recovered; recovered food must be food that has not been exposed to customers and can be re-used; i.e.:
whole hand fruits; pasteurized eggs that was kept refrigerated on the omelet station and was not opened.

Food cost/cover | Labor/cost per cover | Controllables/cover | Combined cost/cover

All cost per cover numbers will enable you to compare buffet costings over time; this will show if cost savings initiatives in
either area food, labor or controllables are effective, or if a buffet on a weekday might need less labor than a buffet on
the weekends.

Cost of labor:
This will show you how much money is spent on labor (wages + benefits), so when inputting the numbers in the labor
sections, include all labor that is used for the buffet. Include preparation time, buffet attendants and supervisors as per ratio
that is spent on the buffet.
Service labor is excluded on the breakfast buffet samples, since the assumption is that servers would be on duty, even when
serving a la carte.
NOTE: include servers wages for buffet profitability analysis on any buffet not in the restaurant.

Cost of controllables:
This number includes all controllables, i.e.: ware washing, china, flat ware, chafing dish fuel, a.s.o..

Combined Cost:
Total cot of food, labor and controllables

Profit:
Revenue (after discounts) Cost = Profit
How much money you made from the buffet; this will help analyze the profitability of the buffet.

Food Cost | Labor Cost

The % of food cost and labor cost of the buffet. Compare this to your total labor cost on your PNL statement. Check if it is
higher or lower than your average cost. i.e.: does a daily lunch buffet impact your PNL statement positively or negatively.
This will assist you in establishing the impact buffets have on your overall profitability.

Covers needed to break even:

At which point you started to make money off the buffet. Records of several days (include slow and busy days) will help you
establish an accurate break even point for your buffet.

Marriott International - 2009