ClearCOGS Blog
Setting It Up Was Never the Hard Part
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Plenty of restaurant groups have set up an inventory and recipe system properly. A surprising …
Three a Day Is Harder to Forecast Than Three Hundred
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS An operator running a growing group in a smaller market described her problem to me …
Your Sales History Isn’t Your Demand History
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Quick Answer: No, they are not the same thing. Your point of sale records what …
The Guest Count Is Only Half the Answer
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS A server once came to my table after a youth soccer game and whispered, in …
You’re Not Ordering for Next Week
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Quick Answer: A weekly order almost never covers seven days. It has to cover the …
The Lunch Rush Is Won at 9am
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Almost every business case for prep forecasting gets built on the cost side. Less waste, …
Cheap to Buy, Expensive to Make
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS There is a sentence I have heard in some version from almost every operator I …
How Accurate Does a Prep Forecast Need to Be?
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Quick Answer: There is no single accuracy number that makes a prep forecast good. Accuracy …
Ask the Vendor About Their Worst Customer
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS There is a moment in most software evaluations that decides the outcome, and it does …
Hotels Forecast Rooms. Why Not the Restaurant?
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Walk into the revenue office of almost any hotel and ask how many guests will …
The Menu Item With No History
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Every brand that runs limited time offers has a version of the same week. The …
Do You Need Inventory Counts to Forecast Prep?
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Quick Answer: No. An inventory count tells you what is on your shelves right now, …
The Waste You See and the Waste You Don’t
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS On a call last week, the operations director and training director of a regional brand, …
Restaurant AI Is Talking to the Wrong Person
The industry’s AI conversation is happening in dashboards and operations meetings. The prep sheet is still built the same way …
Why Food Cost Varies So Much Between Your Locations
Quick Answer: Food cost varies between locations of the same restaurant brand for three reasons: sales mix (some locations legitimately …
Your Managers Aren’t Bad at Scheduling
A technology consultant with a hospitality background recently walked us through the operation she is assessing tools for: a five-location, …
The App Got Smarter. The Prep Sheet Didn’t.
Restaurant Technology 2.0 is making the guest experience smarter. The kitchen is still waiting for its upgrade. The restaurant industry’s Technology …
Food Hall Operations: Forecast the Hall, Not the Stall
By Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS Quick Answer: Food halls struggle with vendor waste and inconsistent vendor profitability because every stall …
