ACF Kitchen Management and Costing 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When comparing bids from two food suppliers, a kitchen manager should primarily evaluate:
- Brand reputation only
- Price, quality, delivery reliability, and service (Correct answer)
- Only the lowest per-unit price
- The supplier's proximity to the restaurant
Correct answer: Price, quality, delivery reliability, and service
A comprehensive bid evaluation weighs price alongside quality, delivery consistency, and vendor service to ensure total value.
Question 2: The contribution margin of a menu item is calculated as:
- Selling price minus food cost (Correct answer)
- Selling price minus total operating cost
- Food cost divided by selling price
- Gross profit divided by total revenue
Correct answer: Selling price minus food cost
Contribution margin = selling price − food cost, representing the amount each item contributes to covering non-food costs and profit.
Question 3: A restaurant uses the FIFO method for inventory rotation. This means:
- Newest stock is used first to maintain freshness
- Oldest stock is used first to minimize spoilage (Correct answer)
- Items are used in alphabetical order
- Highest-cost items are used first to reduce waste
Correct answer: Oldest stock is used first to minimize spoilage
FIFO (First In, First Out) ensures the oldest inventory is used first, reducing spoilage and maintaining food safety.
Question 4: Which type of cost remains constant regardless of sales volume, such as monthly rent?
- Variable cost
- Semi-variable cost
- Fixed cost (Correct answer)
- Prime cost
Correct answer: Fixed cost
Fixed costs like rent do not change with production or sales volume within a given period.
Question 5: A cook prepares 20 lbs of carrots that yield 16 lbs after peeling and trimming. What is the yield percentage?
- 75%
- 80% (Correct answer)
- 85%
- 90%
Correct answer: 80%
(16 ÷ 20) × 100 = 80% yield percentage.
Question 6: In menu engineering, a 'star' item is one that is:
- Low popularity and high profitability
- High popularity and high profitability (Correct answer)
- High popularity and low profitability
- Low popularity and low profitability
Correct answer: High popularity and high profitability
Stars are the ideal menu items — high sellers with strong contribution margins that should be prominently featured.
Question 7: A kitchen manager wants to reduce food waste. Which practice is MOST effective for daily production planning?
- Ordering the maximum possible inventory
- Using sales history to forecast production quantities (Correct answer)
- Preparing all menu items in full batch sizes regardless of demand
- Purchasing only from one supplier for simplicity
Correct answer: Using sales history to forecast production quantities
Using historical sales data to forecast production prevents overproduction, which is the leading cause of food waste in commercial kitchens.
ACF Kitchen Management and Costing 3
When comparing bids from two food suppliers, a kitchen manager should primarily evaluate: