A common scenario occurs in commercial kitchens when profits decline and decisions about cutting food costs need to be made. Teach your students can cutting so they can be ready for the difficult decisions ahead.

Can cutting compares the quality, quantity and price of several products. All shoppers, whether commercial or not, face questions about what a product costs versus how good is the product. Use these two activities to instruct students how to conduct a product survey, record their observations and most importantly justify the reasoning behind their selections. 

For the first activity, I suggest using canned tomatoes. Since these tomatoes are rarely seen in their out-of-the-can state on the plate, their significance to the students at first may not seem important. However, it will help students understand the importance of sacrificing costs versus sacrificing taste. It’s the first step in appreciating costs vs. quality vs. tastes.

Purchase three cans of whole tomatoes: a purveyor or store brand, expensive name brand, and cheap name brand. Have the students compare the As Purchased (AP) price, Edible (EP) price and determine product characteristics such as color, consistency, flavor, defects and size. Direct the students to rank their choices and justify their decisions. (Click here for an example of a handy color wall chart.)

The next activity helps students understand the decisions behind purchasing a product versus making it in house. Select a product that will be front and center of the plate to help students understand all the associated product costs including labor. A perfect and inexpensive example of such a product: French fries. Students will discover differences in quality, price and whether it should be purchased or house-made.

For this activity, compare two brands of bagged frozen fries with house-made hand-cut, twice-fried batonnet fries. Begin by determining the AP and EP price of the bagged frozen fries. Have students make the hand cut fries and compare the three fries while all are hot. Additionally, have students compute the labor costs (I give them the necessary figures), total costs and annual costs. From all this data, students can make the best decision and have the figures to back it up.

You can also include these additional discussion questions. How will making fries from scratch affect your overall purchasing plan? Does the generic brand matter when it comes to such a ubiquitous item? This activity can also be tested with time as a variable, seeing which of the fries holds and/or reheats the best in today’s world of takeout and delivery.

Preparing students for a successful career starts with understanding how costing works in relation to quality. These activities help them thoroughly understand the food cost balances required in a successful operation.

Attachments:
Can cutting activity for tomatoes
Make or buy activity for French fries

Chef Jennifer M. Denlinger, PhD., CCC, CHEP, is the Culinary Management Program Department Chair at the Poinciana Campus of Valencia College. She is also the vice president of ACF’s Central Florida Chapter. Additionally, Chef Denlinger earned the 2020 Innovation Award, sponsored by CAFÉ and the Idaho Potato Commission, for a creative escape room based on safe food handling procedures. She also earned the 2021 Green Award sponsored by the United Soybean Board and was runner up in 2021 for the Postsecondary Education of the Year sponsored by Sysco Corporation.