How accurate is your restaurant’s scale? If you don’t know, you could be losing a lot of money. Every lost gram or fraction of an ounce adds up to lost revenue for your business. Edlund is a manufacturer of high quality scales, and they have a webpage that talks at length about the reasons to invest in a scale you can trust. Below is a particularly interesting excerpt from that page:
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The following chart shows examples of protein costs broken down into common protein sizes and the loss factor that could result from using cheap, inaccurate scales. It is easy to see how quickly profits are lost, but more importantly, you can see how quickly an accurate, dependable scale pays for itself many times over.
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Cost per pound
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1/8 oz.
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1/4 oz.
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1/2 oz.
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3/4 oz.
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1 oz.
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2 oz.
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4 oz.
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8 oz.
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Loss Factor
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$0.0079
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$0.0157
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$0.0313
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$0.047
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$0.0625
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$0.125
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$0.250
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$0.500
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$2.00
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$0.016
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$0.031
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$0.063
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$0.094
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$0.125
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$0.250
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$0.500
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$1.000
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$6.00
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$0.047
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$0.094
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$0.188
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$0.282
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$0.375
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$0.750
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$1.500
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$3.000
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$10.00
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$0.079
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$0.157
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$0.313
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$0.470
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$0.625
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$1.250
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$2.500
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$5.000
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$12.00
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$0.142
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$0.283
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$0.563
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$0.846
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$1.125
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$2.250
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$4.500
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$9.000
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If your protein (veal, cheese, pork, beef, fish, etc.) costs $2.00 per pound and your scale is off 1/4 ounce, you lose 3.1 cents every time you serve a portion. 30 portions per day = $.93 per day x 6 days per week = $5.58 x 52 weeks = $290.16 per year. A three year period would be $870.48.
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As you can see, what at first seems like a minor issue can cost a good deal of money over time. An accurate scale that might cost $100 will pay for itself in less than a month of use.
The best way to check your current scale’s accuracy is to use carefully calibrated weights. Failing that, however, you can perform a reasonable check with a brand new nickel or penny. A brand new nickel weighs in at 5 grams, while a penny weighs 2.5 grams. (If your scale only shows ounces, you can do conversions by remembering that 5 grams is equal to .176 oz. The reverse would be that 1 ounce is equal to 28.47 grams.)
Not only is a good-quality scale an investment, but it’s also often equipped with better options. Take a look at Serv-U’s entire selection of scales, including Edlund and other reputable manufacturers.
