--- title: "Donut Display Case Restock Checklist" canonical: "https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/donut-display-case-restock-checklist/" --- > Source: https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/donut-display-case-restock-checklist/ [Checklists](/checklists/) / [Donut Shop](/checklists/donuts/) / Display Turnover and Restocking by Time of Day # Donut Shop Display Turnover & Day-part Restock Checklist A Donut Shop case should be **full at busy times and neat and low by the end of the day** - restocked to a written target at each time of day, not by eye. These 9 checks cover timed batches through the day, using the oldest stock first (FIFO) at every restock, when to start cutting prices (markdown) in the afternoon, and the hourly sell-out log that turns lost sales into tomorrow's batch size. Each is backed by published waste and pricing research. [Run this checklist - free](/run/donuts/?list=display-dayparts) [Download PDF](/checklists/pdf/peakscale-donuts-checklists.pdf)[Download Excel](/checklists/excel/peakscale-donuts-checklists.xlsx) The checklist · 9 checks ### Match the case to the hour **1\. Restock at each time-of-day checkpoint against a written target, not by guessing** Most trade happens in a short mid-morning window. An unwatched case empties fastest exactly when it earns the most. **2\. Fry and finish in timed batches through the day rather than one morning run** Timed batches keep fresh food ready at every time of day, instead of letting the whole day's food get old before lunch. **3\. Group items together and turn the trays to face forward as stock sells down** A tight, well-faced case still sells. A picked-over case tells customers they are buying leftovers. ### Sell stock before it goes bad **4\. Put the oldest stock first (FIFO) at every restock - older product to the front, new stock behind** Putting new product on top is how the oldest donut gets forgotten at the back. Rotate stock at every restock, not just once a day. **5\. Pull anything past its display window and record it - never re-tray it** Selling one stale donut can cost you the customer for good. Recording the pull is what stops you making the same mistake tomorrow. **6\. Start cutting prices (markdown) in the afternoon, well before closing time** In a controlled study, cutting prices based on time of day reduced planned waste by about a fifth, while category profit still went up. Cutting prices early beats throwing food away late. ### Track what sells and what doesn't **7\. Log sell-outs by item and by hour - what ran out, and when** A sell-out at 10 a.m. is a lost sale that never shows up in the till. Only the log turns it into the right batch size for tomorrow. **8\. Log unsold items by product at each time of day, not just at closing** Data on unsold items by time of day tells you which batch was wrong. A total at the end of the day only tells you that something went wrong. **9\. Check the weekday pattern and adjust amounts for your busy and quiet days** Sales are not the same every day of the week. Adjusting your plan is how you stop both over-baking and running out of stock (stockouts) mid-week. ## Frequently asked questions **How often should a donut display case be restocked?** At fixed times of day against a written target, with fresh batches timed to land through the day rather than one morning run. Breakfast trade is busiest in a narrow mid-morning window - most of 20 US cities were busiest 9–11 a.m. - so an unwatched case empties fastest exactly when it earns the most. Timed batches also stop the whole day's output from going stale starting at 7 a.m. **When should a bakery start marking down unsold product?** In the late afternoon, well before close. In a study of a chain of roughly 99 US supermarkets, pricing that changes by time of day cut planned waste by 20.82% compared with the best fixed-price plan, while profit for that category rose 2.88% chain-wide. Waste fell and profit rose in the same study - cutting prices before close beats throwing food away. The comparison matters because in that same chain, about a third of artisanal baked bread was wasted outright. **Why log donut sell-outs by the hour?** Because a sell-out is a lost sale that never appears in the till. If a line runs dry at 10 a.m. the only record is the log; the sales report just shows the units you did have. Combined with counts of unsold items through the day, it tells you which batch was wrong rather than only that something was - and forecast-led production of this kind was credited with an average 30% cut in bakery returns for users of one machine-learning forecasting service - though the vendor published that number itself, so read it as indicative, not a target. ## More Donut Shop checklists [Opening - Fryer On, Case Full](/checklists/donut-shop-opening-checklist/)[Fry Oil Quality and Change Schedule](/checklists/donut-fryer-oil-change-checklist/)[Glaze, Icing and Topping Station](/checklists/donut-glaze-topping-station-checklist/)[Cream and Custard-Filled Product Control](/checklists/cream-filled-donut-handling-checklist/)[Closing - Unsold, Waste and Tomorrow's Bake](/checklists/donut-shop-closing-checklist/)[Weekly Checks](/checklists/donut-shop-weekly-checklist/) One free app has all of them: [open the Donut Shop Checklists app](/run/donuts/) - offline, no account, add it to your home screen. ## Sources Every statistic on this page comes from public inspection and food-safety data: - [Modified Test Kit for Detecting Polar Compounds in Reused Frying Oil, Foods](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/9/1572) - [FSAI, Survey of the microbiological safety of ready-to-eat cakes, pastries and desserts](https://www.fsai.ie/getmedia/fa18aa77-da0b-41b0-9003-78226f4f28fa/7937-ready-to-eat-cakes-accessible-\(1\).pdf?ext=.pdf) - [NYC DOHMH Restaurant Inspection Results, dataset 43nn-pn8j](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/43nn-pn8j.json) - [Dynamic Pricing and Organic Waste Bans, Marketing Science](https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mksc.2020.0214) - [Bread and Bakery Sector Action Plan, Love Food Hate Waste NSW](https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-02/Bread-and-Bakery-Sector-Action-Plan_Full-Report-1.pdf) - [Polar compounds: a quantitative indicator for life cycle assessment during protracted semi-continuous deep fat frying, IJFST 56(8):3903](https://academic.oup.com/ijfst/article/56/8/3903/7806157) - [Toast Restaurant Trends Report, Q1 2024](https://pos.toasttab.com/news/most-popular-coffee-and-tea-drinks-toast-restaurant-trends-report) - [Machine-learning-based demand forecasting against food waste, J. Industrial Ecology 28(5)](https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/inecol/v28y2024i5p1117-1131.html) - [Microbial Contamination of Cream Filled Pastries Supplied in Confectioneries of Zanjan, Iran](https://jnfh.mums.ac.ir/article_11732.html) - [Filtrox, Frying Oil Quality Legislation](https://www.filtrox.com/blog/2023/10/16/frying-oil-quality-legislation/) - [FDA, Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella: Mini Pastries](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-salmonella-mini-pastries-january-2025) - [FDA, Survey Data on Acrylamide in Food: Total Diet Study Results](https://www.fda.gov/food/process-contaminants-food/survey-data-acrylamide-food-total-diet-study-results) - [Commission Regulation](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32017R2158) - [wheresmyshrink.com, Sales and Shrink by Department](http://wheresmyshrink.com/shrinkbydepartment.html)