Excess Ingredients

Did you know? Using more ingredients than the standard can significantly increase your costs and hurt your store’s profitability

Adding extra ingredients may seem well-intentioned, but it directly impacts costs and the store’s COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), while also affecting sandwich consistency.

This guide will help you identify, correct, and prevent excess ingredients by standardizing preparation and ensuring every sandwich follows franchise standards.

Step-by-step resolution:

1. Identify occurrences 🔍

Review approvals in Visio Pista: Identify which images show excess ingredients. Be sure to mark the ingredient in excess as the rejection reason;

Observe the team: Identify which employees are not following the standard during sandwich assembly;

Analyze the context: Understand the causes—is it lack of knowledge of the standard, rushing, or attempts to please the customer?

Add more details: Use the comments field in Visio Pista during reviews to include important details about the excess.

For example: an employee who previously got the salad portion right but started overdoing it again, or when you don’t reject a sandwich because you can see in the Player that the customer requested extra.

2. Reinforce the assembly standard 📏

Review the franchise manual: Revisit the exact quantities for each ingredient in every type of sandwich;

Demonstrate in practice: Conduct hands-on training, emphasizing how to weigh ingredients and follow visual standards. “Hand portioning” may be necessary if errors continue even after initial reviews and guidance.

3. Provide constructive feedback 🗣️

Speak directly with the employee: Explain where they are overdoing it and how it impacts costs and store standards.

Be specific: “I noticed you’re adding more lettuce than the standard. This increases our costs and creates a sandwich with too much lettuce, which makes it harder to eat. Let’s review the manual together?” This is a good example of how to approach the team.

4. Monitor results 📊

Monitor through Visio Pista: Use reports to track the reduction of excess ingredient incidents. Identify which issues persist and which have been resolved;

Compare the numbers: Analyze weekly whether there has been improvement in COGS and standardization. If you don’t have access to COGS data, inventory can be a good indicator—check which ingredients are lasting longer under the same demand;

Celebrate successes: Recognize the team’s progress and highlight employees who follow standards. Consider creating simple rewards for those who consistently prepare sandwiches correctly.

Extra tips to prevent excess ingredients

⚖️ Use visual guides: Place posters or images with exact ingredient portions at the prep station;

🏆 Set goals: Create challenges for the team to reduce store costs, recognizing those who follow standards most consistently.

Now it’s time to adjust operations and standardize your sandwiches!

Did this guide help you control your store’s COGS? 📩 Don’t forget to share your results with our team.

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