The nine numbers every tiffin kitchen should track
A kitchen can have money in the bank and still be losing customers. These nine numbers show you which one you are.
· 4 min read
A tiffin kitchen can look fine and still be in trouble. Meal plans are paid up front, so money comes in before you cook. A kitchen that keeps losing customers can still have money in the bank for months, until renewals stop covering the groceries.
These nine numbers show what is really happening.
1. Food cost
What you spend on ingredients and packaging, as a share of your sales. For example, you might aim for 30%. Food cost often moves first, and for reasons you can fix: a supplier raised prices, portions got bigger, or a dish costs more than you thought.
Check it every month. For example, at 100 meals a day, a jump from 30% to 38% can cost you around $2,000 a month. You won't see it in your bank balance.
2. Profit on each meal
Your price minus the costs that grow with each meal: food, packaging and the cost of driving to that stop. This tells you if a new customer actually makes you money. A customer far away can cost more to deliver than they pay. Every meal you send them makes you poorer.
How to work this out is in how to price a tiffin service.
3. Monthly income from meal plans, and the average a customer pays
Add up what all your active meal plans bring in each month. Divide that by your number of active customers to get the average a customer pays. Together they answer a question your bank balance can't: if nothing changes, what will I earn next month?
The average also shows a slow problem. Customers move from monthly plans to weekly ones. Your customer count stays the same, but your income drops.
4. Customers who stopped
The share of customers who don't renew. The total is worth watching. More useful is how many customers who joined in a month are still with you two, three and six months later.
That tells you if you are getting better at keeping customers, or just finding new ones to replace them. If 15% of customers stop every month, you have to replace almost all of them in about seven months. That is tiring.
5. Money at risk this month
Meal plans up for renewal, plus late payments, plus anyone who said they are cancelling. This is the one number here you can act on *today*. A renewal reminder sent three days early can keep customers who would have stopped just because they forgot.
6. Delivery success
How many stops were delivered, out of all the stops you tried. A failed delivery is a meal you cooked, packed and drove, and can't charge for. Then you also have to say sorry to the customer.
Problems tend to repeat: one bad address, one buzzer that never works, or one driver marking stops from the parking lot. Track why each one failed, not just how many.
7. Sales and cost by delivery area
Look at sales, deliveries and delivery success for each area. Some areas lose money because the customers are few and far apart. Keeping that area going should be your choice, not an accident.
You don't always have to drop it. You can charge more there, deliver there one day a week, or wait for enough customers before you start.
8. What a customer is worth, and your biggest customers
The average a customer pays over the whole time they stay with you. This tells you how much you can spend to get a new customer.
Also check how much depends on your biggest customers. For example, if your top five customers bring 40% of your sales, losing one office order could cut your month in half.
9. Meals for each day of the week
Your average meals for each weekday over the last few weeks. It is simple, and it saves money. It helps you buy the right amount of vegetables on Sunday instead of buying too much and throwing it out.
How often to check
| Number | How often |
|---|---|
| Meals for each day of the week | Weekly, before you shop |
| Delivery success | Weekly |
| Money at risk | Weekly |
| Food cost | Monthly |
| Monthly income and average a customer pays | Monthly |
| Customers who stopped | Monthly |
| Sales by delivery area | Every 3 months |
| What a customer is worth, and biggest customers | Every 3 months |
| Profit on each meal | Every 3 months, or when costs change |
Getting these numbers without doing the maths
You already have the information for every number here: who is on a meal plan, what you cooked, what was delivered and what was paid. The hard part is putting it together. Software can do that for you.
Tiffinware has sixteen reports that cover all nine. They include profit and loss with food cost, monthly income from meal plans, how many customers are still with you, your biggest customers, renewals, delivery success by area, failed deliveries with reasons, sales by delivery area, driver ranking and pay, money in by card, e-transfer and cash with GST collected, best-selling dishes, and skips and pauses.
It is $99 a month. Unlimited customers, no commission on your orders, and a 14-day free trial. You can open the demo and look at every report with sample data, without signing up.