Understanding Tare Weight

Tare weight is the weight of a container or wrapper that is deducted from the gross weight to obtain the net weight. Tare weight is used to accurately measure the weight of a weighed menu item. For example, in a restaurant with a salad bar where salad is sold by weight, the customer should not be charged for the weight of the container. To prevent this, a tare weight is configured for the salad menu item, and the weight of the salad’s container is automatically subtracted from the weight of the salad.

When a weighed menu item posts to a guest check or customer receipt, the weight and tare weight (if set) appear and factor into the calculations with the same level of precision. The level of precision is determined by the Unit of Measure (UOM) as follows:

• Kilograms: 0.000

• Pounds: 0.00

• Ounces: 0.0

This precision formatting meets the United States Department of Agriculture Weights and Measures requirements for scale certification.

The UOM must match in the Enterprise Management Console (EMC) configuration and on the scale setting. For example, the scale must measure in ounces and EMC must be set to use ounces. You cannot set the scale to measure in ounces and set EMC to measure in pounds. When a mismatch occurs between the scale and EMC, the POS client rejects the posting and informs the workstation operator that there is a UOM mismatch due to configuration in EMC.