Hello there V. Thunder. Making cutting test is the back bone of the meat industry in general. From the meat packer right down to the meat cutter at store level. Its easy, simple and fun and you learn so much from it. You will lean if you are making the gross profit you thought you were making, you will also find out what supplier has the best yielding meat.

There are two ways to take a cutting test;

a) doing it in pounds and ounces

b) converting the pounds and ounces to hundred weight.

Lets do it in pounds and I will use a simple cut of beef. I have no scale in front of me nor any meat. I am going to do this from memory so you can get an idea. I will put in a price on the cuts  but it won't be yours.

Top Round------One box net weight 60 lbs.  ( 3 insides in the box) x  $2.50 = $150

steaks---10 pounds x  $4.95 per pound=$49.50

London broil--12 pounds x $4.75= $57

roasts---12 pounds x 4.50=$54

cube steaks--10 pounds x 5.25= $52.50

round trim---9 pounds x 2.50 ( I take this trim value at 73% ground beef price in case it ends up there.  $22.50

fat-- 6 pounds-----no real value

purge shrink- 1 pound total loss

You bought it for $150.00

You sold all of it for $235.50

Your gross profit is $235.5 minus cost of $150 = $85.50

To arrive at a % of gross profit simply divide the gross profit $85.50 by the total sales of $235.50 = 36% G.P.

To take it a little further you started with 60 pounds, your saleable pounds are 53 pounds or 88% yield. Simply divide the saleable pounds 53 by your starting pounds of 60.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A "FAKE TEST" AND PLEASE DON'T USE IT TO SET YOUR PRICES WITH. YOU "MUST" TAKE YOUR OWN TEST. ALSO REMEMBER THAT ONLY TAKING ONE TEST IS NOT ENOUGH OF A GUIDELINE TO PRICE YOUR MEAT. YOU MUST TAKE SEVERAL TEST OF THE SAME ITEM UNTIL YOU GET A GOOD AVERAGE, CALLED A COMPOSITE TEST!

Every inside round is different, some come from yield grade 3 cattle, some from yield grade 4 cattle and then some from leaner cattle. This is why it is so important to have composite test.

Every time you switch suppliers you should do several test on their products. Then you can ad them together with the others to have a really good composite. You can be sure that  Pathmark had people doing this at corporate because without it they would be doomed. 

Hope this helps.

Vanilla Thunder wrote:

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............... This kind of stuff was always way above my pay grade......................

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what do you mean by that? 

Your a multi store operation? If that be the case it sound like you are doing more than just managing a department. Sounds more like a meat directors function with advertising, and p & L responsibilities and dealing with suppliers. I know we have a member who spent years with Pathmark maybe we can get him to hone in.

Coalcracker wrote:

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A, I will tell you the truth. I never heard of a non-profit supermarket. I couldn't imagine how that works. All my life in the industry I have lived and died by the net-bottom line. I really don't understand what your boss said that you are price gouging. I guess if you are a non-profit organization your company has to file a 990d IRS form if your store is doing more than $50m in sales. That's about all I know about it. The 990'ds are accessible to the freedom of information act if you need to see numbers.

I suppose the mark-up you receive from selling your goods minus their cost goes to paying expenses including labor. If that be the case wouldn't that be like an employee owned company?

Getting back to cutting test, lets just say you had a library of test on hand. When your boss thinks you are price gouging you could show him the actual profits being made on any item that needs further professing. I am in charge of the Resource Pages and I am going to post some composite cutting test on beef for observation only. Only use them as a guide because the cuts, and trim and suppliers can be different from what you are using.

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 You never heard of DECA?  (defense commissary Agecy)?  They are non profit. 

We have a member who started working for the Commissary last year. I wonder how he is doing.  

Thunder it is my understanding that even though the Meat Dept used to be the Money maker for the store, now the produce dept takes that honer in most stores.

Does your store maybe have Government backing? It kind of sounds like it would as it is designed for the low income and a non profit. Very similiar to DECA's model.

Coalcracker wrote:

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A, I will tell you the truth. I never heard of a non-profit supermarket. I couldn't imagine how that works. All my life in the industry I have lived and died by the net-bottom line. I really don't understand what your boss said that you are price gouging. I guess if you are a non-profit organization your company has to file a 990d IRS form if your store is doing more than $50m in sales. That's about all I know about it. The 990'ds are accessible to the freedom of information act if you need to see numbers.

I suppose the mark-up you receive from selling your goods minus their cost goes to paying expenses including labor. If that be the case wouldn't that be like an employee owned company?

Getting back to cutting test, lets just say you had a library of test on hand. When your boss thinks you are price gouging you could show him the actual profits being made on any item that needs further professing. I am in charge of the Resource Pages and I am going to post some composite cutting test on beef for observation only. Only use them as a guide because the cuts, and trim and suppliers can be different from what you are using.

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 Like fdarn wrote: Military commissaries are non profit. Food is very inexpensive there. In 2014, I was at the Moffett Field Commissary and their meat was selling cheaper than our cost! The military people are paid so poorly, that the least the government can do is provide them inexpensive groceries.