Permanent reduction of 1.5% in cost of goods sold thanks to full transparency

The success story of an international brand gastronomy

1.5

Cost of goods sold reduced

The customer

In recent years,L'Osteria has developed into a well-known brand with locations in several countries. The concept is based on a mixture of a traditional Italian osteria (a type of inn) and a modern pizzeria. The menu includes a variety of pizza and pasta dishes, salads, antipasti and desserts. The dishes are served in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

Jan Hausen, joint venture partner of L'Osteria, uses the sell & pick Management Cockpit on a daily basis to compare his restaurants in terms of sales and cost variances. With the help of location factors, supplemented by the integration of external data such as weather, vacations and public holidays, the influences on historical and future sales can be analyzed. This enables Jan Hausen to react quickly and initiate targeted measures to increase the company's success. In addition to personnel costs, the cockpit also provides a comprehensive overview of the cost of goods sold and allows different locations to be compared. This allows companies with above-average cost of goods to be identified. In this way, training needs can be identified and order quantities optimized to avoid waste. The dashboard thus provides the answers to important questions and enables a precise root cause analysis.

The challenge

Ordering perishable goods in the food service industry is a challenge. On the one hand, the popular dishes should be available in sufficient quantities during peak business hours, while on the other, over-ordering and food waste should be avoided. In addition, fundamental questions such as the reaction of guests to the weekly menu and the number of vegan orders make it difficult to determine optimal order quantities. Location-related challenges, such as the excessive consumption of beer despite low sales, often result from stress and hectic operation when the tap is not closed when changing glasses. The overarching goal is to operate more cost-effectively, efficiently and fairly, both towards customers and internal stakeholders.

sell & pick is a simplified version of Business Intelligence. It enables the comprehensive presentation and analysis of the most important data from various sources. This allows you to gain in-depth insights and filter your own data. It is possible to view past figures and analyze their development over a certain period of time. In addition to the overall use of goods, individual products can also be examined more closely to identify optimization potential. This enables those involved to introduce targeted measures. The forthcoming introduction of a merchandise management system that digitally records recipes and all goods will further improve these possibilities.

- Jan Hausen | Joint Venture Partner L'Osteria

The solution

Maximum transparency is crucial to running a successful business. Working with sell & pick makes it possible to identify untapped optimization potential and turn it into a better result. An overall view and comparison of all locations is important, whereby specific differences in the use of goods must be taken into account. There may well be natural differences here if one location sells more dessert and wine, which generally increases the cost of goods sold. The billbox cost management system is used to keep an overview of the "real" costs.

sell & pick is a simplified version of Business Intelligence. It enables the comprehensive presentation and analysis of the most important data from various sources. This allows you to gain in-depth insights and filter your own data. It is possible to view past figures and analyze their development over a certain period of time. In addition to the overall use of goods, individual products can also be examined more closely in order to identify optimization potential. This enables those involved to introduce targeted measures. The forthcoming introduction of a merchandise management system that digitally records recipes and all goods will further improve these possibilities.

- Jan Hausen | Joint Venture Partner L'Osteria

The result

This new transparency initially met with resistance in the team, but the mindset has changed positively over time with the insight into the data, which can now be easily displayed. Now everyone has recognized the cost pressure the companies have been under over the last three years.

"Your dashboard is the impetus for this. Based on the data that I see in sell & pick, the operations managers can go directly to the store and train the employees. In this way, problem areas can be identified and optimized and costs can be stabilized and sustainably reduced. It is absolutely human for mistakes to happen in a trade business. It is just important to recognize them and be able to react quickly. With the transparency offered by sell & pick, it is now possible to react up to six weeks faster. We now know what the optimum ordering behavior is so that we don't fill up our stocks unnecessarily. Before sell & pick, it took us up to three weeks to calculate the cost of goods. During this time, we were completely in the dark."

- Jan Hausen | Joint Venture Partner L'Osteria

Today, the focus can be on the actual problems, because thanks to the clarity of the data, time no longer has to be wasted on recording figures and discussions, which used to take up 80% of the time.

The collaboration

We are proud to have had L'Osteria as our customer for over two years. The main reason why L'Osteria chose sell & pick was transparency and fairness.

"Dsell & pick is used as a controlling tool, to create transparency and to identify and prevent potential sources of error. The transparency created allows us to communicate fairly and openly. For example, if we notice that sales are falling due to a building site on our doorstep, this is an impetus for change. In such a situation, we can focus more on the individual guest and thus increase the average receipt or use the time gained for internal training. We want information to be simple, transparent and easy to use. Working with you has been an ongoing process that has worked really well and has been fun. However, the manpower required for this should not be underestimated."

- Jan Hausen | Joint Venture Partner L'Osteria

A word of advice

Get started! Choose a building block or KPI that you want to improve and test it with a smaller team that is open to change. Open communication is key here. If you work this way, you will quickly receive feedback, be it positive or negative. Then you can implement and adapt it in a way that leads to progress rather than increased stress. Once you have reached this point, you have everyone on board. Step by step, not all at once. The journey then continues and you can achieve new goals.