This article was written in collaboration with our partner Thaïsa hotel and hotel-restaurant management software.

Running a hotel or hotel-restaurant inevitably means handling food stocks. Whether it's for breakfast, room service or simply because you have a restaurant, you are bound to have to manage this type of product.

Problem: it's a real challenge! Too much stock leads to waste and cost to the company. On the contrary, not enough stock will lead to unstable service quality and customer dissatisfaction!

Voici trois conseils pour vous aider à mieux gérer ces fameux stocks.

1 - Establish internal procedures to manage stock

Qu’est-ce qu’un stock ? Par stock, on entend les matières premières, les marchandises ou encore les produits alimentaires finis destinés à la vente. (ex : aliment qui sera utilisé dans une recette ou canette de soda qui est vendue telle quelle).

Before looking for ready-made solutions to manage your food stocks, think about organising yourself internally. Good logistics are recommended.

First and foremost, educate and train your employees on the importance of well-managed stocks and how to control them. You can even go so far as to designate specific managers to ensure that physical inventories are carried out rigorously. 

The pitfall to avoid is that only one person should know how stock control and inventory is done. If this person is ill or absent, other team members must be able to take over. 

Raising the awareness of the whole team will also allow them to report information in real time on product-related incidents. (e.g.: loss of goods following a fall, spoiled foodstuffs spotted, etc.).

Put in place clear procedures and methods for carrying out stocktaking. This will allow you to avoid human error or oversights (e.g. specific times/days when stocktaking should be carried out, e.g. days when the store is closed).

Finally, remember to keep the food stock in question well organised. It is much easier to do a proper inventory of a well-stocked storeroom or fridges. Again, this avoids mistakes, and therefore cost, customer dissatisfaction and other associated consequences.

2 - Equip yourself with dedicated management software

Managing your hotel or hotel restaurant's food stock by hand can be tedious, especially if you want to take your management strategy further.

In order to control your costs, your food stocks and your profitability, it is interesting to equip yourself with dedicated software . The objective: to increase your gross margin by controlling the entire chain. From procurement, to costs, to pricing, to consumption, to ordering from suppliers.

Finis le papier et les calculatrices, vous aurez accès à des tableaux de bord vous permettant de suivre des indicateurs et des données pertinentes. Vous serez en mesure de prendre du recul et donc des décisions en conséquence.

Exemple : on recommande généralement que le coût des denrées alimentaires et des matières premières ne représente pas plus de 30 % du prix de vente du produit final. C’est un indicateur facile à suivre sur un outil de gestion.

Beyond the notion of cost and profitability, this type of management module is useful for monitoring stock levels, avoiding stock-outs or managing supplies and suppliers.

In short, everything to simplify your life.

3 - Anticipate connectivity with the rest of your hotel ecosystem

Be careful not to forget the specificity of a hotel or hotel-restaurant: unlike restaurants alone, your digital ecosystem is much more complex. Moreover, managing your establishment does not only rely on tracking the food stock (and this is logical).

It is therefore essential to consider connectivity between hotel software. The goal: to build a digital solution that works (and doesn't waste your time and energy).

The first essential connection is between your stock management software and your cash register software. Ideally, this cash register should also be connected to your PMS software in order to centralise the management of your establishment.

These are some of the things to consider when choosing your restaurant's cash register. It would be a shame to get stuck because your till does not fit in with the rest of your ecosystem.

Votre solution digitale doit être au service de votre établissement, c’est-à-dire adaptée aux besoins de votre hôtel, facile d’utilisation et assez flexible pour envisager l’avenir avec sérénité.

To make sure you make the right choice, anticipate as much as possible:

• Faites la liste des fonctionnalités et des services dont vous avez besoin ou pourrez avoir besoin.
• Identify software that can meet these expectations.
• Check the list of partners or ask your business contacts directly if they connect with each other.
• Make your choice by combining these 2 elements

If you are lost, follow this simple rule: avoid hotel software that is too closed. (no partners, no free open API, charging you for connections with other tools...).

Conclusion

Keeping track of the food stocks in your hotel or hotel-restaurant is an excellent idea for limiting unnecessary costs and increasing your profitability. Beyond the internal organisation, do not hesitate to equip yourself with dedicated software that connects to your establishment's digital solution.