Theft in the restaurant industry is a widespread phenomenon, in part because the products available are items everyone can use.
“A restaurant is like a ship punctured by holes created by theft,” says Dan Cosgrove, CEO of Mercantile Systems in Brentwood, Calif. “An owner or manager has to try and fill those holes so the ship doesn't sink. And you can’t eliminate theft completely — you can only manage it to an acceptable percentage so that you can sleep at night. Otherwise, you can drive yourself crazy.”
Cosgrove estimates that restaurant theft costs the industry approximately 4 percent of annual sales. Mercantile Systems consults restaurants on how to minimize theft, including techniques like mystery shopping, cameras and investigative services. Over the years Cosgrove has seen the gamut of industry theft, from blatant stealing of products or cash to grayer areas, such as bartenders over-pouring alcohol for friends or regulars without charging extra.
“In a bar environment when you’re putting alcohol together with cash at night, it creates an opportunity that people sometimes cannot pass up,” he said.
One client that stands out in his memory was an Italian restaurant that was not making any profit. After conducting dining and bar surveys, Mercantile Systems showed bartenders failing to record drinks, up to 55 drinks at a time. The chef was cooking food for staff to take home with them before closing up the kitchen and was using the restaurant’s scale to weigh and sell marijuana to customers and employees.
Click here to read the full story which ran in the March issue of SeaFood Business >
