How can hospitality overcome recent inflation?

It’s no secret that costs for our basic needs and utilities have recently increased, and it appears to affect everyone, including businesses.

Hospitality businesses in particular are looking at a considerable price increase in things like energy and electricity usage, transportation costs, food and beverage stock, and more. It’s important to look at ways you can reduce your outgoings and maximise your profits.

Let’s break down some of the ways you can save on your bills in 2022…

Burning the candle at both ends?

The cost of electricity has surged approximately 36% in comparison to prices in 2020, and your fridges are an appliance that unlike ovens cannot be switched off at the end of the working day. Fridges and freezers run 24/7 and you could be seriously overpaying for yours! Having fridges and freezers running outside of optimal temperatures could be costing your business a small fortune.

Not only the energy costs, fridges, and freezers over running (firstly, uses a lot more electricity) but also makes them more vulnerable to breaking down and need more maintenance which is also costly. From a food safety perspective, overrunning appliances may cause your food stock to be stored below or above recommended temperatures, therefore becoming a higher risk of food poisoning.

How can you avoid these costs? The Sensee System is a great option for ensuring you’re keeping your appliances within optimal temperature range as well as having loads of food safety and money-saving benefits, it is a win-win!

In simple terms, two small devices, one inside and one outside your fridge/freezer monitors your temperatures 24/7 and sends you custom alerts when they fall outside of range. The other benefits of Sensee include:

• 24/7 automatic temperature recording for 100% compliance with Environmental Health & Safety
• Reduce food waste
• Save on energy and fridge & freezer bills and maintenanceÂ
• 100% accurate readings for peace of mindÂ
• Reports are available on the Sensee app anytime, anywhere

There’s never been a better time to shop local

Hitting the headlines and for a good reason, fuel prices have seen the biggest rise in recent costs, and it’s definitely worth looking into how this will affect your hospitality business. With the cost of pints going up by an average of 45p in large pub chains there is an obvious rise in stock, and fuel prices may have something to do with this. Large alcohol and food suppliers need to cover their transportation costs, which can be a very, very long distance. So this may be where looking into local suppliers could actually reduce your outgoings.Â

As well as spending less on shipping and delivery fees from major suppliers, switching to local food and drink stock will also help support other small local businesses. Most major towns and cities have a brewery or distillery such as Brighton Gin, which is becoming increasingly popular amongst towns across East and West Sussex.

ForecastingÂ

Things like stock and staffing can be huge expenses for any business, but as a business owner have you ever caught yourself with staff who are wandering aimlessly and other times wishing you’d put that extra person on shift? We’ve all been there!

Forecasting helps you look at your patterns over periods of time and could pick up details in its algorithm that you may not see, including which foods and drinks are popular on certain days, months, and seasons. How many covers you seem to have to help your staff shifts more efficiently and how much stock you need of specific items to help you avoid throwing money in the bin…literally.

Forecasting software can be easily found and can save you huge amounts of money in the long run as well as help you run your business effectively.

The bottom line…

There are many ways to reduce costs in your hospitality business. Some are old school and foolproof, simple things like importation and delivery costs are a no-brainer, and shopping around never hurts.

On the other hand, technology is evolving and is saving money in every business all over the world, and does a lot of the hard work for us! So it’s important to take advantage of it! If you’d like to know more about Sensee, please visit our website.