How to Set Par Levels for a Restaurant (With a Worked Example)

A par level is the amount of an item you want on hand so you can get through service until your next delivery arrives. On order day, you count what's on the shelf, subtract it from par, and order the difference.

Most kitchens start with pars that someone guessed years ago. Some items run out every weekend while others go bad in the walk-in. This guide shows how to work out pars from your own usage and delivery schedule, so the number on the order guide means something.

The short answer: the par level formula

For an item you order on a regular schedule:

Par level = (average daily usage × days of coverage) + safety stock

• Average daily usage is how much you actually go through, measured from counts and deliveries.
• Days of coverage run from the moment you count until the next delivery after this one arrives.
• Safety stock is a buffer for busy days, late trucks, and counting errors. You choose it based on how risky a shortage is for that item.

Then compare the par to shelf life and storage space. Par is the most you should need on hand. It is not a number you have to hit if the product will spoil first.

Par level vs reorder point

People often use these two terms as if they meant the same thing. They don't.

Many kitchens use both. A par drives the twice-weekly produce order, and a reorder point tells the closing manager when the last few cases of deli containers have to go on the next order.

Illustrative reorder point example: say a restaurant goes through about 0.5 case of 16 oz deli containers per day. Its paper-goods vendor can take up to 4 days to deliver, and the manager wants 1 extra case as a buffer. The reorder point is (0.5 × 4) + 1 = 3 cases. When the shelf is down to 3 cases, the item goes on the next order.

How to set par levels, step by step

1. Pick the count unit for each item

Before you do any math, decide what unit your team counts in: pounds, bags, quarts, or cases. Par levels, counts, and usage all need to be in that same unit. If you buy in cases but count in packs, record the conversion on the item. Our guide to restaurant inventory units covers how to set that up.

2. Measure actual usage

Don't rely on what you think you use. Work it out from your own records:

Usage = starting count + received − ending count

Do this for at least a few weeks, and include a busy week if you can. A single slow week will set pars too low, and a holiday week will set them too high. Unless you track waste separately, this number also includes spoiled and wasted product. That's fine for setting pars, but it's worth noticing if an item's usage looks high.

3. Map the order cycle for each vendor

For each vendor, write down:

• The days you count and place orders (before the vendor's cutoff)
• The days deliveries arrive
• How many days pass from each count until the next delivery after the one you're ordering

If a vendor delivers twice a week, the gaps are often uneven, for example Tuesday to Friday and then Friday to Tuesday. In that case each order day needs its own par. One par for every order day leaves you short on the longer gap or overstocked on the shorter one.

4. Calculate the base par

Multiply average daily usage by the days of coverage. If your restaurant is closed some days, count only the days you're open, or use average usage per service day.

5. Add safety stock

There's no universal right percentage. Size the buffer based on:

• How much usage swings. Compare your busiest week to your average week.
• How reliable the vendor is. Late or shorted deliveries justify a bigger buffer.
• What happens if you run out. Pulling a signature dish from the menu (86ing it) is worse than switching to another brand of paper towels.

Keep buffers small on perishables. Extra protein or produce that goes bad doesn't protect you.

6. Check against shelf life and storage space

If the par is more than you can use before quality drops, or more than fits in the walk-in, cap it. Then order more often or split the order across vendors instead. For food you prep in-house, also keep local food code date-marking limits in mind. Under the FDA Food Code, refrigerated ready-to-eat foods that need temperature control, prepared and held more than 24 hours, are generally limited to 7 days at 41°F or below (CDC summary). States adopt different versions of the code, so confirm the rule with your local health department.

7. Convert to order units and decide how to round

Most vendors sell whole cases, so the amount you need rarely matches what you can order. Decide item by item whether to round up and carry extra, or round down and rely on the buffer. The worked example below shows both options.

8. Write the pars down and review them

Put the par next to each item on your count sheet or order guide so the person ordering never has to remember it. Recheck pars when the menu changes, when the seasons change, before large events, and any time an item keeps running out or keeps getting thrown away.

Worked example: Roma tomatoes on a twice-weekly produce order

This is an illustrative example, not data from a specific restaurant.

Setup:

• The restaurant is open 7 days a week.
• Roma tomatoes are counted in pounds and bought in 25 lb cases.
• Produce deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday mornings before service.
• The cutoff is the afternoon before delivery, so the kitchen counts and orders on Monday and Thursday mornings.

Usage from the last four weeks

Average weekly usage: 322 ÷ 4 = 80.5 lb
Average daily usage:  80.5 ÷ 7 = 11.5 lb

Days of coverage for each order day

• Monday order (arrives Tuesday): Monday's count has to carry the kitchen until Friday's delivery. That's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, or 4 days.
• Thursday order (arrives Friday): Thursday's count has to carry the kitchen until Tuesday's delivery. That's Thursday through Monday, or 5 days.

Safety stock

The busiest week was 91 lb, which is 10.5 lb over the 80.5 lb average. The chef rounds that to a 10 lb buffer. This is a judgment call, not a formula.

Pars

Monday par:   (11.5 × 4) + 10 = 46 + 10   = 56 lb
Thursday par: (11.5 × 5) + 10 = 57.5 + 10 = 67.5 → 68 lb

Romas hold up well for that many days in this kitchen's walk-in, so neither par needs a shelf-life cap.

Turning a count into an order

On Monday morning the count is 21 lb.

Needed:        56 − 21 = 35 lb
In cases:      35 ÷ 25 = 1.4 cases

The kitchen can't order 1.4 cases, so it has two options:

• Order 2 cases (50 lb): 21 + 50 = 71 lb, which is 15 lb over par. That's safe if the extra will get used before it softens.
• Order 1 case (25 lb): 21 + 25 = 46 lb, which is 10 lb under par. That uses up the entire safety buffer, which is risky before a busy stretch.

On Thursday the count is 30 lb:

Needed:        68 − 30 = 38 lb
In cases:      38 ÷ 25 = 1.52 → 2 cases (50 lb), ending at 80 lb (12 lb over par)

Common par level mistakes

• One par for every order day. If your delivery gaps are uneven, your pars should be too.
• Counting only from delivery to delivery. Product gets used between the count and the truck. Leave those days out and you'll be short every time.
• Mixing units. A par in cases and a count in pounds gives you a meaningless subtraction. Keep par, count, and usage in one count unit, and convert only when you build the order.
• Using padded pars to hide a vendor problem. If you keep raising pars because deliveries come late or short, deal with the vendor too.
• Setting pars once and never revisiting them. Menu changes, seasons, and catering orders all shift usage.
• Ignoring shelf life. A par that's mathematically right but more than you can use before it spoils just adds waste.

Next step: start with your top 10 items

You don't need pars for every SKU this week. Start with the 10 items you order most often or run out of most often:

1. Pull your last few weeks of counts and invoices for those items.
2. Calculate usage, then a par for each order day.
3. Write the pars on your count sheet next to each item.
4. After two or three order cycles, compare what you ran out of and what you threw away, then adjust.

If you'd rather not keep this in a spreadsheet, Proteus Kitchen stores a par level for each inventory item along with each vendor's order deadlines and delivery days. When you build a purchase order, it shows each item's current amount, its target, and a suggested quantity.