How do I actually track food cost and waste?
MB ALFA tracks stock at ingredient level through recipes, so selling a dish deducts every component it contains rather than one line item. Purchase orders, goods receiving, supplier balances, waste and stock counts all post against the same item record, and the profit report subtracts cost of goods, waste, salaries and supplier payments — so the margin shown is what actually remains, not revenue minus an assumed percentage.
Ingredient-level tracking is the difference between knowing your food cost and estimating it. If a system deducts "1 × Chicken Shawarma" from stock, it cannot tell you what the bread, the chicken and the sauce actually cost you this week.
Waste has to be a recorded transaction rather than a variance you discover at stock-count time — otherwise theft, spoilage and over-portioning are indistinguishable in the numbers.