Food and Beverage Operations

Introduction

For customers, if the food at an event is substandard, it will be the main topic of discussion at each and every table. When dealing with a potential audience or client, it is important to know who will be attending and what their general eating preferences. The cultural and religious issues may follow the sequence of it (Johnson, 2006).

Another issue is the serving of alcoholic beverages. If alcohol is to be served, it may be wise to issue guests drink tickets, which are available in the registration area at included in the price of the meal. Most hotels require to use their personal liquor service and corkage fees and the catering operator should determine the capability of this kind of service.

Productivity and Saving Costs

Saving or controlling the cost is important to produce appropriate products. Therefore, right form the beginning of operation, the right information about the costs and setting boundaries beyond it is important as part of the system cost analysis. The advantages of keeping the cost at control can disclose the net profit made by each section of the organization and shows the cost of each meal produced.

In addition, controlling the cost can reveal the possible resources of economy and other substitutes that can result in a more effective use of labor and materials. The costing can provide information that is necessary for the formation of price policy since the food and beverage industry is the one concerned with it. And with the right idea about the cost, the next event engagement will be easier for the catering operation and keeping the budget intact.

Controlling the costs may come in a way of procuring the important workforce and giving clear instruction on them. It is possible that the amount of labor force can be more efficient if the people are organized and has years of working experience. The right formation of the needed labor will help lessen the costs in a catering operation (Alsagoff, 2007).

Another trick that may come in dealing with the innovation is creating delicacies that is unusual yet tasty and at minimal costs. Like for example, instead of using cakes or short cakes as the dessert, the catering service can replace it with other sweet course that was produced in less time or in less cost.

Planning an Event

Planning is essential in the beginning of the operation, and since the food and beverages are involved in planning, the management team or rather the whole team should find ways on how will they create an impressive production and service for their customers.

The general planning objectives can be identified for all types of catering facilities. The customer appeal is the main objective in planning for a catering service. The culture and promoted cuisine can be easily prepared when the right appeal on the market has been identified. It will bring the customers to their expectation on what type of operation, standard of food, and level of service they will receive.

In planning, the supervision and management is important in catering operation, especially when there are individuals that are focused particularly on the production and service. The supervision includes the allocating of personnel, training, and demonstrations. Meanwhile, the management is keeping all the process aligned to achieve their common goal in catering operation (Alsagoff, 2007).

In food production, the main concern may come in food flow or in food preparation such as purchasing, processing, or stuffing. The decision as to which food production method to use in a particular gathering is part of the planning. Traditionally, in African culture, the combination of fruits, cereal grains, and vegetables, milk and meat products are used. But African food differs in different part of Africa and has distinction in cooking styles. It is in the first phase of planning to identify the right way of cooking their food, and asked the head of the hotel about the dishes they wished to be prepared to serve it well. In this way, the management can balance the projected costs and allocate the resources.

Timeline

Day 1: Welcoming of the guests with refreshments.

Day 2: Introduction of the basic delicacies accompanied with cultural shows.

Day 3: A day where the guest can create a tasty South African food of their choice.

Day 4: The information about the food nutrients, myths, and facts.

Day 5: Guests can have a tour in a place where the vegetables are harvest and make staple out of simple ingredients.

Day 6: The guests cooking contests, where they can compete with other guests by creating their own version of South African food.

Day 7: Taste of sweeteners for their home voyage.

Due to the unique characteristics of the South African culture, the catering service should prepare wide variety of choice, grades and perish ability of raw materials. There is also a choice on how the food and beverage will be served (Alsagoff, 2007). The pressure on food and beverage manufacturers is maintaining the profitability while satisfying price-conscious customers. The food and beverage manufacturers struggle to manage costs as they continue to focus on long-term objectives and benefits (Manning, 2008). The quality, innovation, delivery, and safety should be optimized to obtain the profitability.

Therefore, the manufacturer or catering operators should apply the five essential ingredients to achieve their own saving. They should focus on efforts, pursue the knowledge of the current market conditions, structure a disciplined process, dedicate a time to prepare, and set a defined process in management (Manning, 2008).

References:

Alsagoff, W., 2007. Food and Beverage Operations DHM 102, The Official Guide. [Online] Available at: http://www.boston.webhostguru.net/.../FoodAndBeverageOperations.pdf. [Accessed 18 2009].

Johnson, Y., 2006. A Useful Guide to Planning Special Events for Arts Organizations. [Online] Available at: http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Johnson%20Yolanda%20F.pdf?akron1146153249. [Accessed 18 Nov 2009].

Manning, D., 2008. Fast Facts on Food Processing. Supplier Relationships Flying Under the Past: A Thing of the Past. [Online] Available at: http://www.gt.com/staticfiles/GTCom/files/Industries/Consumer. [Accessed 18 Nov 2009].