Case Study III – Mexican Restaurant (burritos, tacos, quesadillas)
Our partnership with the restaurant began in early 2024, enabling a proactive response to local VAT adjustments. In 2025, the restaurant chose to freeze its pricing. To reduce food costs without raising prices, standardized raw material preparation and portioning rules were implemented, alongside low-temperature cooking methods to minimize meat shrinkage. Continuous Theoretical vs. Actual inventory reconciliation was also introduced, allowing management to quickly identify and eliminate waste.
Without these operational improvements, the 2025 Cost of Goods Sold as a percentage of net turnover (COGS %) would have climbed to 34.19%. Instead, it was successfully driven down to 26.97%. For quick-service restaurants to operate profitably, the ideal COGS % should remain between 28% and 32%. Otherwise, the business enters a high-risk zone where inflated food costs fail to leave enough margin for wages, rent, and utilities.
Through targeted optimization, the restaurant successfully reduced its raw material expenses, with Reca Solutions' fees accounting for less than 15% of the total financial savings generated.
