close-the-food-cost-gap

name	close-the-food-cost-gap
description	Decompose actual vs theoretical food cost into waste, portioning, price, and theft, so the fix targets the real driver. Reach for this when food cost moves.

Skill: Close the food-cost gap

Actual food cost only means something against theoretical; the gap is the story.

Step 1 — Build theoretical

Recipe-cost the period's mix to a theoretical food cost (§3 #2).

Step 2 — Measure actual

Pull actual usage/cost; the variance is the gap.

Step 3 — Attribute the gap

Split into waste, portioning drift, vendor price, and shrink/theft.

Step 4 — Target the driver

Prescribe to the largest component, not 'food cost is high'.

Output

A theoretical-vs-actual gap, a four-way attribution, and a targeted fix.