Food Service
Operations
Introduction to Food Service
Foodservice- the practice or business of making,
transporting, and serving or dispensing prepared
foods and beverages, as in a restaurant of
commissary
Characteristics of Food Service Industry
- Largest and fastest growing industry
- Success is due to the contact between the
customer and the food service provider
- Food Service operations run on a 24 hour
basis all year round
- All operations require a combination of
manufacturing expertise, service skills,
people management in a business that
operates round the clock
- It is the busiest when most businesses are
not
- Characterized by shift work and long hours
of work
- Unpredictable nature of work
- Non-traditional schedules
- Employs even unskilled workers
- Style and recognition are important
- Low beginning salaries but high in
remuneration
- Multiple skills are required
Foodservice Issues and Concerns
 Planning Issues
- Plan by focus on menu
- Menu focus on guests’ wants, needs, and
preferences
- Menu impacts operational factors
o Layout/equipment
o Labor for production, service and
clean-up
o F&B products for purchase
 Financial concerns
- All foodservice operations must assess
financial status
o Operating budget
o Income statement/balance sheet/ cash
flow statement
 Emphasis on consumers
- Marketing concerns
- Repeat business important to financial
success
 Cost control procedures
- Necessity for standard operating procedures
- Purchasing/ receiving/ storing/ issuing/ pre-
preparation/ preparation/ serving/ service
Standard Operating Procedures: Cycle of FS
Product Control
1. Purchasing
- Develop purchase specification
- Supplier selection
- Purchasing correct quantities
- No collusion between property and supplier
- Evaluation of purchasing process
2. Receiving
- Development of receiving reports (ex.
Addressing financial and security concerns)
3. Storing
- Effective use of perpetual and physical
inventory systems
- Control of product quality
- Securing products from theft
- Location of products within storage ideas
4. Issuing
 - Product rotation concerns o The artistic features are provided by
- Matching issues (issue & usage) a well-known chef, who leaves his or
- Purchasing as inventory is depleted her imprint on the restaurant’s menu
5. Pre-preparation o Do no recommend that you choose a
- Mise-en-place fine-dining concept for first venture
- Minimizing food waste/ maximizing nutrient into the restaurant industry
retention o In most cases these restaurants are
6. Preparation chef driven, chef would have some
- Use of standardized recipes ownership
- Use of portion control - Family, casual, ethnic (also known as bistro
- Requirements of food and employees safety or grill)
7. Serving o You will need to design a menu that
- Timing of incoming F&B orders aids the customers in quickly making
- Portion control choices, assisted by a friendly and
- Revenue management concerns helpful server
o A commissioned salesperson, usually
8. Service encourages adult to order alcoholic
- Revenue control concerns beverages and family members to
- Serving alcoholic beverage responsibly order high profitable desserts
- Sanitation and cleanliness o You don’t want guests to be so
- F&B server productivity comfortable that they will stay as
long as to prevent you from using the
Flow of Food table
1. Menu planning o Design, ambiance and quality of both
2. Purchasing food and service can be used as
3. Receiving distinguishing marks
4. Storing - Fast-food or quick service
5. Preparing o Usually features paper napkins and
6. Cooking little or no service
7. Holding o Often purchased frozen and fully
8. Serving prepared so that the menu items can
9. Cooling be quickly cooked and served
10. Reheating o Skill level of the cooks will be
minimal
Types of Foodservice Operations o Labor costs can be kept down
 Commercial o Average check are much lower than
- Fine dining in other types of restaurants
o Formal dining room, usually with o Revenue must be generated by high
tablecloths and linen napkins hence turn-over. Style of service is minimal
the term “white-tablecloth operation” so that a fat turnover of customer
o Often found in hotels. Higher costs will be possible
of operating can be absorbed into a o Most quick service restaurant feature
larger operating budget take out/ or delivery
o Prices tend to be high; customer turn o Location is key to success.
over, low Specialization in quick service
o Location is not usually the key top to restaurant is important
the restaurant’s success o Small, targeted menu encourages to
o Service is provided by a well-trained make up their minds, eat and vacate
wait staff professional, who is skilled the premises as quickly as possible
in building a high guest check o Many fast service restaurants fail
because of the addition of the
unneeded and unprofitable items that
 are not compatible with the original
concept
- Commercial cafeterias
- Social caterers
o Many family, quick service, and fine
dining restaurants find that adding
home, wedding, or business catering
allows them finally to be profitable
o Preparing for a large catering
contract provides additional, much
needed revenue, and also provides
management and staff with variety in
their daily routine
o Meals featuring them in local
supermarket became so successful
that a separate facility was needed to
produce sufficient take home items
- Bar
- Theme and specialty restaurants
o Built around an idea, theme,
dish/cuisine
o High cost of investment
o More on ambiance and food
o Chines, Mexican, Italian, seafood,
Korean, thai, japanese
- Foodservice in lodging places
- Grocery and convenient store foodservice
 Non-Commercial
- College FS
- Employee dining
- Industrial FS
- Hospital FS
Types d Foodservice Systems
- Conventional
o Raw foods are purchased, prepared
on site and served soon after
preparation
- Centralized (commissary)
- Ready-prepared
o Also known as cook-chill or cooked
freeze system. Foods are prepared on
site, then chilled or frozen and stored
for reheating at a later time
- Assembly-service
- Combination
o Centralized bakery, all other
production in conventional
foodservice systems
o Centralized warehouse
o Centralized food preparation for
service on-site and at satellites
 Cook/chill method
o Food production method in which
food is prepared and cooked by a
conventional or other method then
quickly chilled for use at a later time
 Cook/freeze
o Food production method in which
food is prepared and cooked by
conventional or other method then
frozen for the use at later time
Site Selection
- The most important thing for the success of
a Foodservice is location
- Poorly located restaurant will experience a
low level of sales
- Coffee shops in a hotel should have easy
access to hotel guests and street traffic
- College campus FS- students selects
convenience
- In a mall- food facility on the immediate left
or right of an entrance is a poor location
 Considerations
1. A. Foot traffic- number of people that pass
by
B. automobile counts- vehicle count
- Can usually be obtained from the local
chamber of commerce, highway department,
mayor’s office tourism agency or other
municipal offices
- Actual count
2. Competition or existing establishments
3. Demand generators- destinations that draw
extensive traffic such as shopping malls,
sports facilities, and public facilities like
museums, zoos and parks
4. Visual Recognition- food facility as easily
seen by potential customers. The appearance
of the outside of the facility must
communicate the character and concept of
the dining experience
5. Convenience- parking, attractive entrance,
valet parking, safe surroundings, access to
public transportation. 200 seat restaurants=
minimum of 75 parking spaces
6. Code restrictions- site selection may involve
local code requirements for setback from the
street, parking capacity, street access, or the
 acceptability of the food facility in a
particular neighborhood. These are available
from the engineering city planning office of
city hall
7. Environmental issues
- Utilities
- Drainage
- Waste disposal
- Flood
- Earthquake belt
8. Zoning – zoning regulations and restrictions
that might