How To Control Usage of Cleaning Supplies for a Restaurant

When running a restaurant there is the big three in terms of costs that every owner must consider if he plans on being successful – food cost, labor cost, and bar/beverage cost.  However, the truly great restaurant owners who stop not at one restaurant but go on two open two, three, even one hundred know that every little details adds up in a restaurant.  With this fact in mind, we will focus our attention on how to control usage of cleaning supplies for a restaurant this time around.

As with any cost, in order to control cleaning supplies, you need to know what you need to clean.  Start by doing a thorough walkthrough of your restaurant with your management team/key personnel.  Identify what needs to be cleaned, how often, and to what extent (in theory you will clean everything daily, but there will also be periodical deep cleaning).  With this information in mind you will formulate your daily and weekly cleaning list.

Now that you know what you need to clean, the next step is how to clean it.  A great launching pad for this step is to begin with the distributor from whom you bought your restaurant equipment.  They should be able to provide you with clear instructions about how and when to clean your equipment.  Armed with this information, set up a meeting with a restaurant supplies provider.  You want to get all of your cleaning supplies for them.  The cleaning supplies that you buy at the grocery store are good for home use, but not sufficient and too expensive to use in a restaurant.  Meet with the company rep and do another walk-through of your restaurant this time with your cleaning sheets and instructions for the equipment in hand.

Once you have the right cleaning supplies ready and your lists, you need to educate your staff on the proper usage of the cleaning supplies, how much they should use and how often.  Without the correct training, your team members will overuse your supplies and you will run through them like crazy.  This training process is not a one-time deal.  With every new team member you should repeat this training process.  It is also recommended that once a week you take one cleaning supply and review the proper usage with your team members.  Finally, be present, supervising the cleaning that is going on.  Do not just assume that because you explained something, that the team will head your instructions.

One final peace of advice is to lock up your cleaning supplies.  While this may seem a little rash, cleaning supplies can add up very quickly.  By rationing out your supplies not only can you control their usage better, but if you happen to run out of something, you will be able to use that opportunity as a coaching moment to ensure that the same mistake does not occur the following week.

With these tips in mind, you are well on your way to capturing one of those little costs that can make a big difference in your restaurant.

Article source: Contributed by RestaurantNewsResource.com, a global restaurant news distribution service.


Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Reader Comments:

Be the first to leave a comment for this article

Tweet