Now available with "one click" import of all inventory items and prices from your Sysco Order Guide (see bottom of page for details*)

EZChefSOFTWARE® is a powerful yet easy to use Excel based program designed to help you save time, increase bottom line profits and learn to sell those menu items that make you the most money. In a nutshell here is what it does:

• Easily manages all food and beverage INVENTORY tasks and processes
• Creates standardized and accurate MENU COSTING for every item on the menu (including your Sub-Recipes!)
• Performs a full MENU ANALYSIS based your "sales mix" (how many of each item you sell) to evaluate and visually display how each menu item impacts profitability

EZChefSOFTWARE® was developed as a Microsoft Excel (Windows based**) application which makes it easy to use from day one! A visual and intuitive Main Menu screen (below) guides the user effortlessly from one task to the next.

Here is a list of just some of the tasks that EZChefSOFTWARE® can do for you:

Inventory Management 

• Simple data entry screens allow your inventory to be manually entered or even copied (and pasted) from another Excel sheet (Note: Sysco customers can import their entire order guide automatically with a single mouse click, see the video clip at the bottom of the page)
• Provides twelve user defined inventory categories (e.g. produce, meats, dairy) to suit your specific needs and menu
• Includes a simple Recipe Unit Conversion Tool to easily convert each Vendors “As Purchased” unit and price to the way you will call for each item costing your fully "plated" menu items (the “Recipe Unit”)
• Permits easy monthly (or any period end) physical inventory counting, with printed inventory sheets, a simple data entry procedure, automated price extensions and totals, and summary page printout
• Creates and prints a weekly Order Guide for each vendor that accommodates up to six orders per week, and includes columns for user defined “par” levels and current “on hand” amounts to assist in ordering only what you need!

Sample screen views of common Inventory Management tasks are displayed below....

1) Use the Main Menu "drops down" windows to perform basic inventory tasks in one of twelve user defined categories.

2) A typical view of the inventory screen and common data entered in each of the inventory sections

3) Use the Recipe Unit Conversion Tool to convert vendor's "As Purchased Units" to the "Recipe Unit" that you will be using in your Menu Costing

        

4) Print your current Inventory Sheets to take your month end or period end inventory counts (includes five user defined locations)

 

5) Enter the Inventory counts as obtained in #4 above

6) View and Print the Inventory Summary after all items are entered as shown above. Use this information to make "Inventory Adjustments" in your accounting system to create accurate Cost of Goods Sold numbers and percentages in your Profit & Loss Statement
 

7) Make ordering easy by print a weekly Vendor Order Guide, with current products and prices, for each food and beverage supplier

Menu Item (and Sub Recipe) Costing

• Provides 100 menu item templates in each of eight user defined categories (e.g. Appetizers, Salads, and Entrees)
• Includes an additional 200 sub-recipe templates to be used as direct inputs for your menu items. Think of sub-recipes as the previously prepared components that are included in many of your menu items (e.g. sauces). The use of sub-recipes greatly reduces the time it takes to cost your menu!
• Links your Food and Beverage inventory items and their current recipe unit costs into each menu item and sub-recipe template
• Permits the manual entry of inventory items and unit costs for those items that do not have a significant impact on cost.
• Auto calculates each menu item’s portion cost, cost of goods sold, and gross margin based on the item’s selling price
• Provides ample space to document the preparation of each menu item and sub-recipe
• Prints each menu item and sub-recipe with all documentation on a single formatted page

Sample screen views of common Menu Item Costing and Sub Recipe Costing tasks are displayed below.... 

1) To add a new Menu Item simply click on the "Add Menu Item and Sub Recipe" window and select the Menu category you wish to add

2) Use the "Recipe Search Form" to locate and/or edit existing Menu Items or Sub Recipes

3) Sample screen shot of a completed Menu Item template that includes both "linked" Inventory items and manual or "unlinked" items. The price of linked items, like "Beef, Flap Meat" will automatically update any time the vendor price is changed from the Inventory section of the program. The price of manually entered items, like Bread and Butter, will not change unless done so in the template.
 

2) To auto-link ingredients from the Inventory section use the "drop down" window under the Inventory Category column (e.g. select Meats in the image below) and then move to the corresponding row under the Inventory Item column. When you select the drop down window in that cell you will view a list of all inventory items in the category (e.g. select Beef, Flap Meat from the list below). Once the Inventory Item is selected the program will automatically input the correct Recipe Unit and the current Unit Cost. All you need to do now is input the Number of Units called for in the Recipe and the  program will do the rest...

                  

Sales Analysis

• Summarizes all price and cost information for each menu item in tabular format (one table for each of the eight menu item categories)
• Based on the simple input of “item sales mix” information from your POS system (e.g. how many of each item you sold in a specified time period), the software graphs each menu item based on the total gross profit dollars it produces, and its corresponding cost of goods sold percentage. This allows you to visually compare the overall profitability of every item in each menu category against all other items in the same category
• Auto calculates the “Ideal or Theoretical” Cost of Goods Sold percentage of each menu section independently, and provides a summary for your entire menu
• Performs “what if” analysis by permitting you to change the item selling price, the item cost or the number of each item sold. Use this information to optimize your menu’s overall profitability!

Sample screen views of common Sales Analysis tasks are displayed below....

1) From the Main Menu select the "Menu Item Analysis" window to click the Menu category you want to view. Remember that each of the eight Menu Categories are user defined to meet your restaurant's needs. Once you have selected the Menu Category you will view a summary table and graph as shown below. Use your POS Menu Item Sales report for a specified time period (e.g. prior period) and enter the number sold of each item in the menu category as shown below. Once this data is input the Table will reveal detailed menu engineering information comparing each menu item and its ranking. The Theoretical Food Cost of each Menu Category is also calculated and displayed.

2) A graphical view of the above Table is a more visual way to see each item's performance relative to all other items in the Category. Each item is placed on a graph with the X axis (horizontal) representing the Gross Profit of each Menu Item for the period (e.g. the number sold times the item's gross profit. The Y axis (vertical) plots the Food Cost % of each item. The most profitable items in that menu section are the PRIMES, those with high profit dollars and low food cost %, and conversely the PROBLEMS generate relatively low gross profit dollars and a corresponding high food cost %. The other categories STANDARDS and SLEEPERS represent menu items that either generate high gross profit at relatively higher food costs, or items with low food costs that are high profit generators. Cross reference each item's number to the Table above, and click on any item to navigate back to the original Recipe Cost template for that item. Use this information to proactively manage the menu mix, selling price and item costs within each Menu Section. This is the most powerful and direct way to increase your restaurants overall profitability. Promote those items that make you money, deemphasize those that do not. Re-price others either from the Selling Price or the Menu Cost to optimize your profits.

3) From the Menu Analysis section of the Main Menu screen select the "Theoretical Menu Cost Summary" button with results shown below.

View a full product video demo:

Standard Version Demo (9:29)

Sysco Version Demo (9:46)

Contact us for additional information on EZChefSOFTWARE®
781-862-7520
info@rrgconsulting.com
 

* Your company's Sysco Order Guide, with all current inventory items and prices, can be easily and quickly exported directly from the www.esysco.net website, or from a Sysco "SAM" order guide file obtained from your Sysco Marketing Associate. Video and text instructions for obtaining and importing the file into EZChefSoftware are included in the program's online documentation. Click here for a video clip demonstrating how easy and fast it is to import your Sysco Order Guide. From the EZChefSoftware HELP window simply click on the Import button, and select the order guide file from the location where you saved it on your computer's hard drive. Within 10 to 20 seconds all your data is imported, and when you click OK you are automatically navigated back to the Main Menu to get started. You can repeat this process on a regular basis to add new Sysco products, and to maintain updated inventory prices and automatically updated recipe & menu item costs. Note: Sysco does not sponsor, nor is it affiliated with, either EZChefSoftware or The Restaurant Resource Group, Inc.

** This program is not compatible with Mac Operating Systems because it includes "macros" (programming features) written in the Windows version of Microsoft Excel . It can however be run on the "virtual" hard drive of a Mac computer with appropriate software installed (e.g. Boot Camp, Windows (all versions) and the PC version of MS Excel (2003 or 2007 ).