Best Practices to Prevent Theft in Your Restaurant

Restaurant theft is expensive. One study found that internal employee theft is responsible for 75 percent of inventory shortages and about 4 percent of restaurant sales. That totals between $3 and $6 billion annually. There are all kinds of different types of restaurant theft, ranging from food and inventory, theft at the register and checkout counter, external grease theft, time theft and employee product theft.

It’s also more prevalent than some restaurant owners and managers might want to believe. The same study found that About 75 percent of employees steal from their workplace at least once, if not repeatedly. That means, in a vacuum, three out of every four of your employees could potentially engage in some form of theft from your business. That hurts your bottom line and is regressive to the rest of your restaurant operation. So, how can you put safeguards in place to help deter restaurant and employee theft? Here are a few options to consider.

1. Invest in Security…