F&B Cost Controller
Department: Finance / Operations
Reports to: Finance Head / Operations Head
Location: Bangalore-Lalbbagh
Employment type: Full-time, on-site
Role Overview
The F&B Cost Controller owns the accuracy and profitability of everything that moves through the kitchen, café, and confectionery production line. This person is the bridge between the culinary/production teams and finance — tracking the true cost of every recipe, batch, and menu item, and making sure what’s ordered, stored, produced, and sold all reconciles. The role spans a multi-vertical F&B operation: a dine-in café, packaged confectionery products, and retail/gifting inventory. This person works closely with the Executive Chef, Purchase Department, Stores, Finance, Operations and some other stakeholders to maximize profitability and minimize wastage.
The ideal candidate is precise, curious about margins, comfortable on the floor and in spreadsheets, and able to tell the operations team not just what the numbers are but why they moved.
Key Responsibilities
Costing & recipe management
Build and maintain standard recipe cards and costing for every menu item, confectionery SKU, and gifting product
Calculate and monitor food cost percentage, beverage cost percentage, and contribution margin per item
Re-cost recipes when ingredient prices, portion sizes, or suppliers change, and flag items that fall below margin targets
Inventory & stock control
Oversee daily, weekly, and monthly stock counts across kitchen, café, production, and retail
Reconcile physical stock against system stock; investigate and report variances, wastage, and spoilage
Maintain par levels and minimum order quantities to avoid both stock-outs and over-ordering
Purchasing & supplier control
Verify purchase prices against agreed rates and quotations; challenge discrepancies
Track price trends on key ingredients and packaging, and advise on cost impact
Support supplier negotiations and periodic rate comparisons
Reporting & analysis
Produce daily/weekly/monthly cost reports: actual vs. standard food cost, variance analysis, wastage reports, and slow-moving/expiring stock
Analyse menu and SKU profitability; recommend menu engineering actions (re-price, re-portion, promote, or remove)
Support monthly closing with accurate consumption, inventory valuation, and COGS figures
Controls & compliance
Enforce receiving, storage, and issuing procedures; audit for compliance
Monitor portion control and yield tests across production
Identify and help close leakage points — theft, over-production, incorrect billing, and waste
Requirements
Essential
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Hotel Management, or a related field
2–4 years of cost control experience in F&B, hospitality, cloud kitchen, QSR, or food manufacturing
Strong grasp of food costing, inventory management, and variance analysis
Advanced Excel / Google Sheets skills
Hands-on experience with an inventory or F&B management system (e.g. Petpooja, DigiPos, POSist, Marketman, or similar) and familiarity with accounting software (Tally / Zoho Books)
High attention to detail and comfort working with large volumes of transactional data
Preferred
Experience across multiple verticals (café + packaged products + retail) rather than a single outlet
Understanding of production/manufacturing costing and batch yields
Familiarity with GST and its treatment across food service and packaged goods
Key Skills & Attributes
Analytical and numbers-driven, with strong commercial instinct
Organised and process-oriented; builds systems rather than firefighting
Confident communicator who can hold suppliers, chefs, and managers accountable
Discreet and trustworthy when handling cost and margin data
KPIs / Success Measures
Actual food & beverage cost held within target of standard. Build real time variance reports as diagnostic tools for business health.
Reduction in wastage, spoilage, and stock variance over time
Timely, accurate cost reports and monthly closing inputs
Improved contribution margins through menu/SKU engineering
Benefits:
Food provided
Provident Fund
Work Location: In person
Pay: ₹12,511.67 - ₹31,019.27 per month
Work Location: In person
