KITCHEN The Million Dollar Lesson A Story About Portion Control By Dan Collier Photos Josh Keown H ere is a story about Dan. Dan was ready to open his first pizzeria. As part of his business plan, Dan had to plan what food to sell and how much to charge for each item. " I need to consult with an expert. " said Dan. " Where can I find the top pizza experts in the world? The International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas! " Sure enough, one of the seminars offered was exactly what Dan needed. Dan attended Big Dave's menu pricing seminar. With Big Dave's guidance, Dan did the analysis of his pizzas and his food cost. Dan structured menu pricing to achieve 23-percent food cost. He now knew that his perfect Large Pepperoni Pizza needed to have 55 pepperonis. Dan opened his pizzeria. Dan worked seven days a week for the first year. He saw every pizza that went out. He controlled his food portioning by coaching his pie makers every day. Sure enough, the food cost was 23 percent. Dan made enough profit to open a second pizzeria. Dan started to work at his second location. The crew at his first pizzeria was honest, but with no measurement of portioning, and no daily reminder from Dan, the food cost was 2.5-percent higher. That was an 5 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 052_PIZ_0321_IKportion.indd 52 2/10/21 1:38 PM