A food cost that jumps 1.8 points without a single franchisee changing anything
How Variance Origin Trace traces food-cost and labor-cost variance to its structural origin in multi-unit QSR networks.
Multi-Unit QSR Operations Leader | Franchised & Corporate Networks | Closing the gap between HQ decisions and restaurant P&L
Most QSR margin isn't lost in the kitchen. It's lost between the decision and the restaurant.
In Canada, I led a corporate and franchised QSR network across Quebec and Ontario: 27 restaurants (5 corporate stores, 22 franchised units), about $26M in annual sales, 6 to 8% operating margin. P&L management across the network, franchisee coaching and accountability, and direct line management of corporate store General Managers. Before that, 12 years in France: I built and ran my own restaurants, led multi-unit operations and openings for a plant-based QSR brand, launched a franchise location at Paris-CDG, and co-founded a functional-food company (patent filed, FR2021/051716). And before all of it, five years in the French Foreign Legion, where execution is not optional.
The pattern I see in every multi-unit system: the franchisee absorbs variances he doesn't control, HQ can't see what the field sees, and reports multiply while decisions slow down. My work is to trace every food-cost and labor-cost variance to its origin, network decision or local execution, and turn it into a decision someone owns this week.
Native French speaker, professional English. Certified SafeCheck® Advanced Food Safety.
A governance model for multi-unit restaurant networks: every food-cost or labor-cost variance is traced to its source, network decision or local execution, before it hits the unit P&L. The franchisee is evaluated on what he actually controls. The network sees the real cost of its own calls. Applied across 27 restaurants in Quebec and Ontario, with food cost reduced from 32 to 33% down to 26 to 27%, held across 10 restaurants in 2026.
How Variance Origin Trace traces food-cost and labor-cost variance to its structural origin in multi-unit QSR networks.
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