Food Service - Lesson

HA100 : The Class : Food : Food Service : Food Service

Lesson 4-1-1: Understanding the World of Food Service

The Various Segments of Restaurant Business
Eating and drinking establishments
Hotel food and beverage operations
Food service for airlines, trains and cruise lines
Others: leisure, business and industry, student, health care, prisons

Facts Regarding the Food Service Industry
43 cents of every dollar spent on food, was spent in the food service industry.
Americans eat out an average of 3.8 times per week or 198 times/year.
The most popular ethnic foods:
Italian, Chinese, Mexican
The most popular day for eating out is (1) Saturday, (2) Friday, (3) Sunday.
The least popular: Monday

Eating and Drinking Establishments:

Constitute the largest segment of the food service industry
They Include:

Full-Menu Restaurants

Limited-Menu Restaurants

Cafeterias

Full-menu restaurants:
have more than a dozen or so main-course items
food is cooked to order
can be either casual or formal
are often categorized in terms of Price, Menu, Atmosphere

Price:
High-price
Mid-price
Low-price

High-price is a Luxury Restaurant
cost: $100.00 per person
Employ more kitchen and dining room employees per guest than other restaurant types
Generally cater to a crowd of regulars
Feature regional specialties cuisine

Menu:
Steak Houses/Seafood Restaurants
Ethnic Restaurants
Atmosphere
Architecture
Show Business: e.g.: The Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood
New Old-style Diners: from ‘Happy Days’/nostalgia
Theme: Bobby Magees; TGI Friday’s; Houlihan’s
Mega Restaurants: Huge, 60,000 sq.ft. seats 1,500

Limited-Menu --- Quick Service/Convenience
Offer a small selection, provide limited service: speed of preparation and delivery of service most important
Wendy’s; Pizza Hut; Taco Bell
Convenience is the primary focus of the limited-menu segment
Other considerations for Limited-menu Restaurants:
Being open long hours/24 hours a day: puts stress on personnel and equipment; introduces a need for increased security
“Phychographic” considerations such as:
Fat free foods
Concern for the environment: re: packaging

Cafeterias:
One of the main advantages of the cafeteria is that customers can see the menu items before they choose them, and therefore, they have more control over getting their money’s worth.
The cafeteria industry continues to explore new concepts:
a la carte versus “all you can eat”
hidden cafeteria lines and limited table service
take out food

Lodging Places:
Not long ago, hotels viewed having to have a hotel restaurant – food and beverage operation as a necessary evil.
Now there is a concerted effort to make hotel restaurants distinctive and unique attracting both in-house guests and local residents.
The top eight Hotel Chains in Food Sales per hotel include:
Westin Int’l
Hilton Hotels
Hyatt Hotels
Marriott Hotels and Resorts
…….. ending with Holiday Inn

The Transportation Market:
Airlines, train stations etc. are generally served by contract food services – but that’s changing
Cruise ships take great pride and fan fare in their food preparation
Entrée’s in both are becoming more nutritious, e.g.: Veggie/Seafood/Kosher meals by request on Airlines

The Leisure Market:
Glacier National Park: Restaura
Grand Canyon National Park: Volume Services

The Retail Market:
A major trend in this area is the growth in the take-out and delivery segment of the fast food market. Americans are cooking less. And they are buying food prepared outside the home and then bring it home to enjoy it.
Hence, the popularity of supermarkets, convenience stores, department stores, gourmet delicatessens.
Supermarkets are increasing the size and scope of their take-out food courts to try to win back customers.

The Business and Industry Market:
Most businesses that provide employee meals use Contract Food Services such as Marriott, ARA, and Canteen Corporation.

The Student Market:
Always a challenge – has moved to a la carte options
Often provided by contract services - 42% of the student market
-Usually return 6-10% of the sales to the University
- Contract is for 5 to 10 years
- Some colleges provide their own food service

The Health Care Market:
Consists of - Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Retirement Communities
Most run their own food service departments
Creative changes are taking place in this segment as well to accommodate patients/visitors needs

Prisons:
Must offer a cyclical menu – i.e. A menu that is not overly repetitive
Two unique challenges confronting managers of food service:
Inmates can only use a plastic spoon
All bones must be removed before the meat is served WHY?

Starting a New Restaurant:
The restaurant business is one of the easiest businesses to enter, requiring comparatively little capital and virtually no experience.
However: 50% of all new restaurants close within the first year
Half of the other 50% fail in their second year
By the 5th year, 85% are no longer in business

Restaurants fail because:
Lack of business knowledge: marketing; accounting; human resources, etc..
Lack of technical knowledge: site selection, menu planning.
Lack of working capital: it takes time to develop customers: must be financially prepared to develop a solid guest base.

Building a successful restaurant:
Deciding on the concept
The foundation of the concept – is the menu
Once menu is decided on: than décor, type of service, hours of operation, pricing structure, level of investment.

Site selection:
should be easily visible
should be easily accessible
available
affordable

Feasibility Study
is available from a variety of sources
helps to determine if the location is right for the particular restaurant and whether the restaurant has a good chance of being successful

You should now:

Go on to Assignment #1
or
Go back to Food Service Management

E-mail Claudia Jurowski
or call (928) 523-1705 (Claudia Jurowski)