The term ‘standard’ is synonymous with the phrase ‘what it should be’, standards are aids to management for the control of food and beverage department and for the measurement of the efficiency of kitchens and bars and especially butchery department.

The term ‘yield’ means the net weight or value of a food item after it has been processed from raw or as purchased (A.P.), weight or value, and made ready to eat (R.T.E.).

It is the usable part of a particular food product after its initial preparation and cooking. In large food and beverage outlets, as large quantities of food per week are purchased, therefore, standard yields must be established for items such as meat, fish, vegetables, etc. In smaller established standard yields may be determined for the most expensive items.

Standard Yields 

Yield may be defined by the number of portions you get or as a yield percentage. A number of portions would be, for example, eight 10 ounce steaks from tenderloin or four servings of potatoes from a one pound bag. A yield percentage is the percent of the usable product. To have an effective control the management must establish the number of standard portions that are obtainable from all major items that appear on restaurant’s menu.

After establishing the standard yield for all the major items it is possible to plan the menu costing and pricing. It also helps in volume forecasting for specific items into raw material requirements. The control department should weight the standard portion size at random to maintain the portion standard. Even the number of portions taken out from a unit should also be calculated as this will help in controlling the food cost and maintaining the standard portion size. It should also be kept in mind that the exact yield of the cooked food will be different from the raw food yield.

Objectives of Standard Yield

• To establish a standard for the quantity and number of proportions obtainable from a specific item of food.
• To establish a standard for comparison with operating results and thereby measuring the efficiency of the production department.
• To establish an objective method of further evaluating standard purchase specification.
• To establish the standard cost factor for the items of food.
• To assist converting forecast requirement into raw material requirements.
• Acts as a double check for the purchasing department.
• Aid to menu pricing and food cost control.

Percentage of Yield = Weight after cooking/ Weight before cooking X 100

Edible portion = As purchased – shrinkage during preparation

Percentage of Shrinkage = Losses during shrinkage / As purchased X 100