Supplier price volatility refers to the frequency and magnitude of price changes from food distributors. Volatile categories include beef (seasonal supply, drought impacts), seafood (weather events, import disruptions), and produce (seasonality, weather). Operators without automated costing tools typically update plate costs quarterly or less frequently, leaving them exposed to margin compression when prices rise between update cycles. MenuMargin addresses volatility by enabling invoice uploads at any frequency, recalculating affected plate costs immediately and alerting the operator to any items whose food cost percentage exceeds target after a price change.
← Glossary
Supplier Price Volatility
Fluctuation in ingredient prices over time, which requires frequent plate cost recalculation to maintain accurate margins.
Related terms
- Invoice OCR — Optical Character Recognition applied to supplier invoices to extract line-item data for automated costing.
- Plate Cost — The total ingredient cost for a single prepared menu item, calculated from the cost per ingredient portion.
- Target Food Cost — The food cost percentage goal set by an operator, against which actual performance is measured and gaps identified.