FOOD & BEVERAGE

Food & Beverage Operations Management



Food & Beverage Operations Management

Introduction

The write up addresses the two main tasks, pertaining to Food & Beverage operation management. In this assignment, the discussion elaborates the factors, which affect the reparation of recipes & menus. Also, it highlights the cost & staffing in specific systems. The discussion illustrates the financial control in a food industry. Further, the assignment presents food & beverage menu for a hospitality event. Lastly, the write up records recommendations for improving the food quality & services.

Task1: Food & Beverage Production & Service Systems

Characteristics of Food Production & Food/Beverage System

A food production system has three main parts: Input, process & output. The Input refers to a number of elements including technology, staff, raw materials etc. Processing refers to the preparation process; it includes recipes & safety considerations. The term “output” refers to production & finishing of the prepared food. It may include presentation, packaging & tagging. Food production can be aimed to facilitate hotel, banqueting, restaurants, in-flight or event management.

Food & beverage service system consists of two primary systems:

The Service Sequence: This process refers to the delivery of food & beverage to the customers (John et al, 2007, p.164).

The customer process: This system refers to the management of the customers in terms of ordering, serving, consumption, clearing area (John et al, 2007, p.164).

There are four main types of food service systems:

Conventional: Conventional Food service system prepares food on site and distributes it to customers.

Centralised: Food is prepared at a centralized location, from where it is distributed to different kitchens (Laura, 2003, p.n.d).

Ready-Prepared: The food is prepared & chilled. The service provides the food to customers by re-heating (Laura, 2003, p.n.d).

Assembly Serve: Food is purchased and stored in frozen or chilled condition. When distributing to customers, the food is portioned & served (Laura, 2003, p.n.d).

Factors affecting menus & recipes

There are a number of factors, which affect the menus selection & planning. The following factors affect the menu planning process:

The place or location of food service (can be in-flight or special occasion)

Budget availability

The target customers

Specialty of Food service business (can be Chinese, Thai etc)

Menu preferences(Nutrition considerations & eating habits)

Capabilities of staff

Management decisions

Availability of equipments, ingredients, and other physical requirements (John et al, 2007, p.165-166).

Comparison of Cost & Staffing

Conventional Food Services involves intensive labour & high operating costs. It is labour intensive because the cooking time is managed in accordance with the food serving time. Further, peak serving hours require more labour (Lora, 2003, p.17).

Centralised Food Service reduces operational costs to a great extent. It allows cost savings by purchasing large quantities of ingredients (in bulk). Further, cost saving is possible due to single kitchen rather than multiple kitchens. Also, centralised inventory management reduces additional costs. It requires less number of workers compared to the conventional service systems. In this way, labour costs can be lowered significantly (Lora, 2003, p.18)

Ready-Prepared Food Service: this food service also lowers the labour cost because food is prepared one time & ...