---
name: close-the-food-cost-gap
description: "Decompose actual vs theoretical food cost into waste, portioning, price, and theft, so the fix targets the real driver. Reach for this when food cost moves."
---

# Skill: Close the food-cost gap

Actual food cost only means something against theoretical; the gap is the story.

## Step 1 — Build theoretical
Recipe-cost the period's mix to a theoretical food cost (§3 #2).

## Step 2 — Measure actual
Pull actual usage/cost; the variance is the gap.

## Step 3 — Attribute the gap
Split into waste, portioning drift, vendor price, and shrink/theft.

## Step 4 — Target the driver
Prescribe to the largest component, not 'food cost is high'.

## Output
A theoretical-vs-actual gap, a four-way attribution, and a targeted fix.