Food and beverage operations and management

Food and beverage (or food service) operations are concerned with the provision of food and a variety of beverages within business. The international food service industry provides millions of meals a day in a wide variety of types of food service operation. For managers in food and beverage operations, skills in marketing, merchandising, staff management, team development, training, customer relations, financial management and operational management are necessary for the management of both the service sequence (delivery) and the customer process (experience), and ultimately for the survival of the business. The various elements that make up a food and beverage operation can be summarised into the eight stages of the Food Service Cycle.

Operational areas, equipment and staffing

Creating new operations, or renovating existing ones, means being involved in developing new concepts or rethinking old ones. This can include activities such as developing new menus, beverage lists and rethinking approaches to production and service, as well as concepts and design ideas which can be innovative and creative in approach, or follow a tried and proven delivery format. This in turn leads to reconsidering plant, and equipment such as crockery, glassware and cutlery, through to staff uniforms, and so on. Other trends in restaurant design have included the opening up of the kitchen to be viewed by the customer, as part of the total dining experience, with some fine dining restaurants offering the opportunity to sit at the chef’s table as part of the meal experience, a reorientation of the role of the chef as they become part of the customer dining interaction. There are also the minimalistic New York loft style restaurants. Traditional plates have been replaced by food presentation on wooden boards, glass plates, marble squares and slate, which can offer novel service concepts, and for some, a unique and exciting customer experience, but for others an unnecessary move away from traditional approaches to presentation. It is important to be abreast of new food service approaches. It is the innovator who is able to capture the new market share, but the earlier adopter can capitalise on it and bring it to market before the product life cycle wanes.

Making strategic decisions

Assessing the achievement of an organisation against its aims and within the business environment leads to the requirement to consider making strategic decisions about the current operation and the future of the organisation. Strategy is the means by which organisations attempt to achieve their objectives. In most organisations there is likely to be a complex set of stakeholders concerned to influence the objectives and hence the strategy of the organisation. Rather than be too concerned about the right definition of strategy it is useful to develop an understanding of what different writers or speakers mean by strategy, i.e. what are the underlying concepts that they are trying to get across?

Appraising performance

In order to systematically appraise a food and beverage operation it is necessary to identify the component parts of an operation and appraise them separately before bringing them all together and appraising the operation as a whole. For a food and beverage operation the first component parts for performance appraisal are: - Revenue - Costs - Profits - The product. The nature of revenue, costs and profits are complex. Each of these is considered in detail together with the approaches that might be used to appraise them. An identification of key points for each aspect is given at the end of the section where they are examined. The appraisal of the product is then considered taking account of the data, which the appraisal of the revenue, costs and the profits might provide. The next stage, which is considered in Chapter 10, is to bring the various strands together in order to complete the appraisal of the operation as a whole and to make strategic decisions about the current and future operation and the business.

Concept development

In Chapter 1 we introduced issues regarding the nature of products, sectors of the industry, the nature of demand and the nature of the food service product. This chapter extends this material and proposes that a systematic approach needs to be adopted, in order to be effective in identifying the key issues, which shape the nature of demand for food and beverage products and create the consumer–product relationship. Literature concerning consumers and markets is readily avail­able, and much of it applies specifically to food and beverage operations. The literature explores the nature of demand for products from different view­points. These viewpoints include marketing, psychology, anthropology, economics, sociology, geography and social psychology.

Beverage provision

There is increasing concern about higher levels of alcohol consumption and the health risks associated with it. Various initiatives are being tried such as improving information on labels, alcohol exclusion areas at certain times, restrictions on price promotions and also on licensing. Those who sell and serve alcoholic beverages, as well as being the subject of various licensing arrangements (see Chapter 1, page 28) are also being giving far greater encouragement to become more responsible. The majority of the population drink alcohol for many reasons: to quench a thirst, as a relaxant or simply because it is enjoyable. A small amount of alcohol does no harm and can even be beneficial. However, the more you drink and the more frequently you drink, the greater the health risks. Alcohol depresses the brain and nerve function, affecting a person’s judgement, self-control and skills. The four general stages of becoming drunk are: Stage 1: Happy (relaxed, talkative and sociable). Stage 2: Excited (erratic and emotional; movement and thinking affected). Stage 3: Confused (disorientated, loud, out of control). Stage 4: Lethargic (unable to stand, talk or walk). It is important that members of the service staff are aware of these stages so that potential problems can be identified and handled properly before they become more serious. This can include refusing to serve more alcohol to intoxicated persons, which is either required under the law or may be undertaken as a safety precaution – such as with people on aircraft.

Product development

In Chapter 2, the first stages of developing the consumer-product relationship were considered. These were market research, identifying potential markets, idea evaluation, concept development and setting goals and objectives.In order to progress from the concept development phase, the next requirement in developing a consumer–product relationship is to consider the nature of a food and beverage product. Within this phase, questions need to be addressed, and decisions made, in order to turn a consumer focus (the abstract concept that consumers purchase) into an operational focus. Customers may view a food and beverage product as a quick snack, a night out, a celebration, an indulgent extravagance or an absolute necessity. The nature of the occasion and the expectations from the meal experience is varied. What is one customer’s dining out is another’s eating out. The concepts are what customers purchase, but the food and beverage product, as an amalgamation of the tangible and intangible elements, is what operators construct and provide in order to satisfy the customer requirements. The marketing focus towards food and beverage service delivery tends to identify the product as: a central consumer concept known as the core concept; a surrounding layer of tangible features, and an outer layer of augmentation (see Section 1.3, p. 19 on product augmentation). Placing this framework on a food and beverage product might show that the core product is, for example, a wedding celebration, the tangible product is a full wedding banquet, and the augmented product includes the opportunity to pay by instalments. It is helpful to apply this type of product framework to the development of concepts. This is where frameworks such as the meal experience can be useful.

Food and beverage service

Food and beverage service is a difficult job. Whilst there have been changes in food and beverage service, with less emphasis on the high level technical skills (mistakenly bemoaned by some as deskilling) what wasn’t initially being recognised was that other parts of the job are just as, if not more, important. The other thing that wasn’t initially recognised was that the provision of high quality service was not confined to a particular type of restaurant and a particular type of service style. In other words excellence in food and beverage is not defined by the inclusion of a narrow range of high-level technical skills.

Food production

The term menu du jour (French) or menu del dia (Spanish) is sometimes used instead of the term table d’hôte menu. Another menu term used is carte du jour (literally ‘card of the day’), or ‘menu of the day’, which can also be a fixed meal with one or more courses for a set price. A prix fixe (fixed price) menu is similar. A ‘tasting menu’ (menu degustation) is a set meal with a range of courses (often between six and ten). These tasting menus are offered in restaurants where the chef provides a sample of the range of dishes available on the main menu. These tasting menus can also be offered with a flight (selection) of wines – a different wine for each course., with the chef coming to the customer’s table to explain the production of the dish. For all menus the price of the meal might also include wine or other drinks. In addition to menus for main meals, such as luncheon or dinner, there are also requirements for other types of menu such as all day menus, floor/room service menus, lounge service menus, hospital tray service menus, airline tray service menus and rail service menus and event menus.

Events, conferencing and banqueting

An event is the planned management of an occasion that takes place between a space provider and a customer. The sector is commonly referred to as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) but other names used can include catering, events, conferences and banqueting. A list of event categories and examples is given in Table 8.1.