Letter from the CEO: Restaurant Industry, Are You Resilient?

We dedicate all our resources to helping restaurants minimise food waste and maximise profits.

This goal aligns with our vision that Apicbase as a company wants to contribute to a healthier planet and a healthier industry. That is why we are building the best F&B management platform in the world. We have invested millions in that goal and will continue to do so to keep improving the software so that our customers can thrive in an increasingly challenging environment.

Today, hundreds of businesses worldwide use Apicbase. They have connected over 5,000 outlets to our platform to manage their back-of-house operations. Every month, millions of euros worth of F&B are purchased through Apicbase.

We defined the scope Apicbase to be within four domains: operational excellence, cost savings, food safety and sustainability because we believe that every business in the restaurant industry, no matter how small or large, should base its operations on relevant data insights. It is the only way to grow profitably and sustainably.

In this letter, because of what is happening in the world, I would like to focus on the ‘healthier business’ part of the Apicbase vision, the part of our solutions that leads to cost savings and, hence, a healthier bottom line.

30% is Worth the Attention

Given that, on average, 30% of each Euro or Dollar earned in a foodservice operation is spent on food & beverage, you inevitably want to get insights into these costs. In fact, I would even say that what makes up 30% of your spending should be managed most rigorously.

With rising inflation and increasing energy and personnel costs, pushing that percentage down is now more critical than ever. Apicbase aims to bring insights into our customers’ revenue and food cost streams.

With rising inflation and increasing energy and personnel costs, pushing the food cost percentage down is now more critical than ever. 

This year, we crunched around 1 billion euros’ worth of sales transactions and 250 million euros’ worth of procurement. Thanks to this big data set, we can detect trends. They show that the restaurant industry has gone through quite some ups and downs over the past years.

Some of them don’t need trend reports to be understood: our customers have shown extreme resilience during the pandemic and pretty good performance across the board in the period that followed the gradual reopening of the world.

But worryingly, we also see a steady decline in revenue recently. This decline parallels the global fall of stocks, alarming news about a recession and the wars in Palestine and Ukraine.

Now is the Time for Back-of-House Optimisation.

If this trend continues, managing costs will be more critical than ever.

In the past decade, front-of-house optimisations have captured, increased, and improved revenue, even during COVID-19. The pandemic brought the importance of delivery management and building relationships with the online customer. But now it is time to digitise the back-of-house. Managing food costs and improving personnel efficiency during staff shortages and rising CoGS is where the focus should be in the F&B industry today.

We see an average food cost reduction of 15%.  

And we have the data to back up that claim. Companies using Apicbase can consistently reduce their food costs by an average of 15%.

Consider the impact: if your business generates €100 million in annual sales with a food cost percentage of 32%, you’re initially spending €32 million on F&B. A food costs decrease of 15% means you only spend €27.2 million (15% of €32 million).

That’s a clear cut of €4.8 million straight from your expenses to your profit. An investment in F&B management software is sometimes seen as expensive. The truth is, the ROI is enormous.

Whether you run a restaurant chain, a hotel group, or even just a few units, I urge you to analyse your back-of-house systems. Focusing your energy here will significantly increase your bottom line, improve the guest experience, and contribute to a healthier industry.

Our experts and consultants are here to help.

Get in touch for more information.

Carl Jacobs
Chief Executive Officer
Apicbase NV