A new supplier sheet says the case is $27.50. The recipe was costed when it was $24. Typing in the new price is the easy part. The hard part is knowing which product it’s for, when it started, and what is still riding on the old number.

Keep the source beside the proposed change

Before you change the price, write down the supplier, the document, the date, the product description, the pack, the unit and the amount. A price with no source leaves you nothing to argue with when the invoice comes in different.

If it came off a scan and you’re not sure what it says, don’t just let it through. Hold what was read, show anything unclear exactly as it appeared, and have a person confirm the product and the amount.

Compare the same amount of food

You can only compare two case prices once they’re in the same pack size and unit.

Supplier A: $27.50 for 20 lb = $1.375 per purchased lb
Supplier B: $31.20 for 24 lb = $1.300 per purchased lb

Supplier B has the higher case total but the lower purchased-pound price. Which one you buy can still come down to usable yield, spec, minimum order, delivery, and whether you’ve approved that swap.

Choose what becomes current

A price list is what they’re offering. It doesn’t prove you paid it. An invoice shows you bought something, but the pack and quantity that showed up still have to match the record. Change the price on purpose, and keep the date it took effect.

Let the current price reach recipe cost

Once you change the price, every active recipe that uses that ingredient should cost from the same record. Sub-recipes carry their new share up into the dishes that use them, and menus carry the dishes into cost per guest.

The risk starts when a draft quote still carries the old cost. Until it’s committed, a draft should cost at today’s prices. For a confirmed event, keep what you quoted and show today’s cost next to it. Don’t rewrite what you already promised.

Review the affected decisions

After a price change that matters, check:

  1. Recipes where the ingredient is a large share of cost.
  2. Menus close to the configured food-cost target.
  3. Draft quotes not yet sent or confirmed.
  4. Confirmed events where current cost has moved away from quoted cost.
  5. Buying choices where another approved supplier pack is now the better buy.

For every price change, CostCook lists the recipes, menus, draft quotes and confirmed events it reaches, in Purchases > Price changes. Here’s how to read one and close it.

One price, with its source, should run through the whole costing chain. Not six hand edits that nobody can date or trace a month from now.