The recipe card identifies the dish, standard portion size, unit cost of raw materials, total cost to arrive at the cost per portion. The recipe card also has the method of cooking to ensure standard cooking. Recipe cards last for a long duration on the assumption that prices stay stable. Fluctuating higher prices of raw materials can reduce profit margins. Outlet arrange annual contracts with suppliers at a certain price and quality to protect themselves from fluctuations. In this case the supplier takes the brunt of fluctuating prices. Another way to manage price fluctuations is to go for seasonal menus, which incorporate raw materials that are in abundance in that season. In this case the restaurant will have separate menus for each season. Another method of managing price fluctuations is to go into frozen and processed food that either are got off the shelf in a supermarket or procured and stored as they have longer shelf lives. Only when profit margins are eroded consistently, does it call for sale price revisions. Figure 12.3 shows a standard recipe card.