This post will cover basic control of inventory, and we will tackle drinks.
Beverages will most likely to increase your income to 200% if proper control is made. Why not? People can go to your food cart and just buy a can of soda and ignore the food. But rarely a customer will eat and don’t buy drinks.
However, drinks are also a double edged sword. It can make you lose money. How? Through pilferage. In Filipino terms, “kupit” or “dekwat“.
OK, bottled, canned and tetra pack drinks are easy to control. You just charge the crew double of missing inventory and they will be on their toes to guard and avoid temptation to quench their (or their guest’s) thirst. However, drinks in dispensers are trickier.
Yup, that gulaman or red iced tea dispenser you have? It’s a ticket to either tubong lugaw (that’s Pinoy idiom for sky high profit) or loss that will eat most of your profit from food sales.
There are many ways your crew will steal pilfer the drinks from your store: To relieve their (or their guest’s) thirst, your crew can…
- bring their own cups.
- use your disposable cups, then tell you it has damage.
- recycle and use used cups by customers. (Nagtitipid sya eh! @_@)
- dilute the beverage powder with lots of water or ice. (poor customer — the taste is bland and he does not get what he paid for)
- steal a whole beverage powder pack altogether.
You can avoid this by:
- performing random spot audits (or have one do that for you if you’re too busy).
- scrutinizing the plastic cups and check for damage, then maintain proper inventory control on the cups.
- putting a sign that says, “Please crush cup after use.”
- having a suggestions/comments box.
- maintaining proper inventory of beverage powder/mix packs.
However, the best inventory control you can do is to screen your employees well. After hiring them, treat them well and they will reward you back with the loyalty and respect you deserve.
[…] Avoiding Pilferage in Beverages […]