Why Unit Conversions Matter
In restaurant operations, the same product is often measured in different units depending on the context:
- Your vendor sells chicken in 40-lb cases.
- Your inventory counts chicken by the pound.
- Your recipe calls for 8 ounces of chicken per portion.
Without proper conversions, you cannot accurately connect what you buy to what you use to what you count. This leads to unreliable food cost calculations, inaccurate inventory valuations, and recipe costs that do not reflect reality.
Conversions are what tie purchasing, inventory, and recipes together into a single, consistent system.
How Conversions Work in Garde
Garde has default weight-to-volume and each-to-weight conversions for 2,500+ common products. This means many conversions are already set up for you when you start building recipes. One weight-to-volume conversion unlocks all related weight-to-volume conversions for that product. For example, if you tell Garde there are 4 cups in a pound, the system also knows how many tablespoons are in an ounce.
Garde uses a conversion chain to translate between different units of measure for the same product. When you set up conversions, you are telling Garde how to move between units so that data flows accurately across the platform.
The Three Key Contexts
- Purchasing (Vendor Item) — The unit your vendor uses on invoices. For example, a “case” of 6 cans.
- Inventory (Count Unit) — The unit you use when counting stock. For example, “each” (individual cans) or “pounds.”
- Recipe (Usage Unit) — The unit your recipe calls for. For example, “ounces” or “cups.”
Garde converts between these contexts using the conversion factors you define. For example:
- 1 case = 6 cans (purchasing to inventory)
- 1 can = 14 ounces (inventory to recipe)
With these conversions in place, Garde can calculate that 1 case = 84 ounces, and use that to determine recipe costs based on your invoice prices.
What Conversions Enable
When your conversions are set up correctly, Garde can:
- Calculate accurate recipe costs. Garde knows that if you pay $45 for a case of chicken and there are 40 pounds per case, the per-pound cost is $1.125, and an 8-ounce portion costs approximately $0.56.
- Value your inventory correctly. When you count 25 pounds of chicken on hand, Garde can tell you exactly what that inventory is worth based on your latest purchase price per case.
- Track theoretical usage. By combining recipe data with sales data from your POS, Garde can estimate how much of each product you should have used, but only if conversions link recipes to purchasing units.
- Compare apples to apples. When looking at purchasing trends, Garde can normalize data even if a vendor changes pack sizes.
Common Conversion Scenarios
Here are some everyday examples:
| Product | Vendor Sells | You Count | Recipe Uses | Conversions Needed |
|---|
| Chicken breast | 40-lb case | Pounds | Ounces | 1 case = 40 lbs; 1 lb = 16 oz |
| Olive oil | 1-gallon jug | Gallons | Fluid ounces | 1 gallon = 128 fl oz |
| Tomato sauce | Case of 6 cans | Each (cans) | Cups | 1 case = 6 each; 1 can = 13 cups |
| Flour | 50-lb bag | Pounds | Cups | 1 bag = 50 lbs; 1 lb = 3.6 cups |
| Eggs | Case of 15 dozen | Dozen | Each | 1 case = 15 dozen; 1 dozen = 12 each |
Products vs. Vendor Items
It is helpful to understand the relationship between products and vendor items when thinking about conversions:
- A vendor item is a specific item from a specific vendor (for example, “Sysco #1234 Chicken Breast 40lb Case”).
- A product is your universal item in Garde (for example, “Chicken Breast”).
Multiple vendor items can map to the same product. Conversions are typically set at the product level, so Garde can handle the translation regardless of which vendor supplied the item.
You can find conversion data on the Product edit page under vendor item details. Navigate to Inventory > Items, find the product, and click to edit it. At the bottom of the edit screen, you will see vendor item details and any conversions that are currently set.
Packaging conversions (case, bottle, pack) may require manual input because these are not standard units of measure and vary by vendor. Unlike weight-to-volume conversions, packaging conversions cannot be inferred automatically.
Use the swap arrows on the far right side of the conversion equation to rearrange your measurements for clarity. This makes it easier to verify the conversion is correct.
When Conversions Are Missing
If a conversion is missing or incorrect, you may notice:
- Recipe costs showing as $0 or an unrealistic number.
- Inventory valuations that do not make sense.
- Theoretical usage calculations that are way off from actual usage.
- Warnings in Garde prompting you to set up a conversion for a specific product.
If you see any of these signs, check your conversion setup. See Setting Up Unit Conversions for step-by-step instructions.
