planning and operation various food and beverage outlet

June 11, 2012

planning and operation various food and beverage outlet

ANCILLARY AREAS

In general, especially in large operations, five main back-of-the-house service areas can be identified:
1. Still room/ Pantry
2. Kitchen stewarding
3. Hot plate/ food pick up area
4. Linen room
5. Store

RESTROOMS

The size of your restroom will depend on the seating capacity of your restaurant. Among
Experts, there are two very different schools of thought about restroom placement. One group thinks they should be located near the entrance, so that guests can freshen up before dining; the other thinks they should be nestled discreetly at the back of the dining area. Suit yourself. Realistically, restroom locations are most likely a function of where your plumbing lines are, and these are usually near the bar and/or kitchen. Minimum restroom space requirements based on the number of guests in your restaurant at any one time are spelled out in city ordinances. The requirements spell out the number of water closets (the common legal name for toilets in stalls), urinals for men’s rooms, and lavatories (washbasins) for hand washing.

resroom area calculation

PANTRY

The pantry or service room is located between the kitchen and the restaurant. It stores items such as hollowware, special service equipment, glassware, linen, condiments, disposables, etc. that are not stored is sideboards or hotplate. The servers can collect coffee, open wine, prepare trays, wipe the edge of dishes, prepare bread baskets, collect water, etc. in the pantry. This area is used for getting ‘ready to serve’ or ‘organizing for service’ which usually cannot be done in the small area of the sideboard.
Two swing doors connect the pantry to the service area. One is to enter the restaurant and the other to return to the pantry. Using wrong doors may lead to accidents. The doors may be fitted with see through glass to see the other side of the door and the bottom of the door is fixed with metal strip minimum 6” high to withstand the kicking of waiters while opening the door.
The equipment required in the pantry depends on its location> For a restaurant situated on ground level, one does not need an exhaustive list of equipment as it is located closer to the main kitchen, still room, and wash –up area. Given is a list for pantry of a restaurant located far from still room, main kitchen, and wash up:
•    Cupboards-for glassware, condiments, disposables, special service equipment, linen
•    Linen box-for soiled linen
•    Stainless steel work table
•    Plate warmer
•    Bain-marie
•    Range for making coffee /tea
•    Water cooler
•    Refrigerator
•    Sink for washing service equipment
•    Sink for hand wash
Some hotels or restaurants may have less or more equipment than what has been listed depending on menu items on offer, service styles and location of kitchen and service area.
The following are examples of some activities carried out by waiters in the pantry:
•Waiters come in with soiled linen, throw it in the soiled linen box located near the swing door.
Pick up fresh and clean ones from the linen cupboard, go to the restaurant to prepare the table.
•Waiters coming into the pantry with dirty crockery, cutlery, and glassware deposit them on the landing table near the wash, properly stacked for washing. Cutlery is placed in cutlery box and food waste is pushed into trash. The washed crockery, cutlery, glassware are air dried/wiped and stored in the appropriate area. (Imagine the situation if waiters are to carry all these soiled ware to centralized wash area at ground level)
•Waiters pick up food from bain-marie and serve.
•They collect dishes from kitchen/pantry, pick up the plate from warmer, and proceed to the restaurant for service.
•Coffee, tea, etc. may be prepared by pantry staff and tray for beverage is prepared on the work table.(Imagine the situation if waiters are to collect coffee from the still room)
•Water is collected from the cooled during service.
•Finger bowls, lemon pieces, and warm water are collected from the pantry and made at sideboards just before the end of a meal.

Waiters should be encouraged to wash their hands frequently during service:
At end of service, the service staff must make sure that
•The pantry is thoroughly clean, including equipment, and floor.
•The plate warmer is turned off.
•Stock in refrigerator is stored properly and recorded.
•Soiled linen is counted, recorded, and sent to the housekeeping department for washing and fresh linen is collected.
Before the start of service, the pantry staff must
•Plate warmer is on
•Bain-marie is on
•Adequate supply of disposables, condiments and sauces is available
•Butter pats are ready
•Bain-marie is loaded with dishes
•Adequate supply of beverage pots
•Availability of fresh linen
•Adequate supply of soft drinks
•Good supply of lemon, olives, cherries etc.

Layout of pantry

pantry layout

KITCHEN STEWARDING

discussed in separate post

STEPS IN PLANNING

steps in planning restaurant

FACTORS IN PLANNING

Themes, Branding, And More
If a concept is a generalized idea, a theme takes the idea and runs with it, reinforcing the original concept. A generation ago, for example, the American dining public was bombarded with a wave of so-called theme restaurants. It became the norm to dine out in a Roman ruin, a Polynesian village, an English castle, or a train car. These illusions were costly to create, distracting at best, and downright boorish at worst. Today, this type of recurring theme is viewed with some skepticism, perhaps because often more attention was paid to the trappings than the quality of food served.
In discussing concept development, restaurateurs must understand that food choices in an affluent society are highly personal, based on one’s family background, income level, work environment, living conditions, and the particular social occasion, to name a few.
There are so many variables to the dining experience that 100 people can sit at the same table (not at the same time, of course), order the same menu item, be served by the same waiter, and pay the same amount, and yet it will be a different experience for each of them.
Therefore, you cannot escape the application of marketing principles to ensure a satisfactory meal experience. Consider a group of people who have deliberately decided to eat at a certain restaurant. Sure, they thought about the types of food and beverages that will be served; you can almost take that for granted. Ultimately, however, they chose the place because it suited their mood, their dress, their time frame, and so on.

Branding is a buzzword you’ll hear a lot in the foodservice industry. It is the combination of the advertising and design elements used to familiarize consumers with a concept—everything from the logo and colors selected for signage, to a slogan, the menu, business cards, advertising, uniforms, catchy names for signature dishes or drinks, and so on. Your brand is what you are building when you take your concept and decide how to market it to the public, differentiating it from competitors as well as strengthening the promise and emotional benefits that you want customers to associate with your concept.
Branding also gives your business some legal protection from competitors and copycats.
The branding process begins when you first start searching for a business name, by researching any other business that may already use the name, and/or registering the name legally for your own use.
The costs associated with branding go beyond the fees of hiring a designer or advertising agency to help you create a logo and branded materials, which can be quite expensive.
Legally registering the name as a trademark or service mark can cost a minimum of $1,500, and more if foreign rights also are sought. If yours is going to be a small business limited to a single state, it is considerably cheaper to apply for a trademark only in that state.

Studying The Market
If you have a clear vision of where and what your restaurant will be in the future, you have a much better chance for survival. Why? You know where you are going and have thoroughly researched potential advantages and pitfalls. In determining the potential success of your concept, we have to see if it will: Work in the particular location you have chosen Generate sufficient sales to realize a profit Have a certain amount of “staying power” no matter what the economy does Any potential investor will most definitely want to see the proof that you have thought through these items thoroughly and put them in writing. The written document is your feasibility study, the research you have done to justify the implementation of your concept.
There are two basic types of feasibility studies, and you should do them both. A market Feasibility study defines the target customer, analyzes the competition, and also looks closely at the trade area around the restaurant. A financial feasibility study covers the money matters—income versus outgo—plus the costs of getting started.

Market Feasibility Study
How you go about this research depends on whether you have a site in mind already, or whether you have a concept and are searching for the best place to locate it. Site specific research will focus on data for the immediate and nearby neighborhoods; research to pick a location will probably include data for an entire city, to be narrowed down as your site choices narrow.

Potential Customers
If you have decided on your concept first, this is the time to define it sowell that you can convince investors it is worth financing. The study’s goal is to pinpoint who the average, most frequent guest at your proposed restaurant will be. To do this, you need demographics on these folks: their age, sex, income per household, level of education, number of kids, ethnic group, religious affiliation, and so on. Categorize them by lifestyle and see how much you can find out about them. Also consider the life cycle of the potential population.
Singles marry and have children, or not. Traditional families may end up as two singleparent households after divorce. Empty nesters eventually retire and become affluent, middle-, or low-income senior citizens, active or inactive. Gauging these life cycle trends can help you fine-tune a concept that won’t lose its appeal because its primary group of customers is dwindling.
This type of research can be time and labor intensive, and it may be easier to purchase data on some topics, so build in a modest budget for it. Most investors understand that market research is an investment that will not pay off for many months. However, they also understand that it is absolutely necessary.
Trade Area and Location
Research into trade area and location begins after site selection is well under way. Can the location support your concept? Here we evaluate the strength (or weakness) of the local economy. How much industrial, office, or retail development is going on?
In what shape are nearby houses and apartments, and what is the vacancy rate? How much is property worth? What’s the crime rate? How often do businesses and homes change hands? In short, you’re learning about the overall stability of the area.
This part of the study should also include details about a specific site: its visibility from the street, public accessibility to the driveway or parking lot, availability of parking, city parking ordinances or restrictions, and proximity to bus or subway lines. Ask about your ability to change the structure, if you decide to add a deck, a porch, or a second floor.
Don’t forget to add details about your proximity to a museum, park, hotel, sports facility, college, military base—anything that would serve as a regular crowd generator for you. Starting from the potential location of your restaurant, the five-mile radius around the site is your prime market for customers. For QSRs, the radius is a little smaller; for table-service restaurants, a little larger. You’ll want to get to know this five-mile circle as well as you know your own home.

Competition
You will be eating out a lot to do the research for this section! In your five-mile radius, you must find out, in great detail, what other types of restaurants exist. Classify them as self service or table-service; then zero in on any restaurant that has a concept even remotely similar to yours. These will be your direct competitors. Take notes as you observe their seating capacity, menu offerings, prices, hours of operation, service style, uniforms, table sizes, décor—even the brand of dishes they use is valuable information. Will your concept stand up to their challenge? In your market feasibility study, you might classify the competition in one of two ways:
1. The existing direct competitors seem to have more business than they can handle, so there’s room for you.
2. Even though they’re direct competitors, they have distinct weaknesses—outdated décor, overpriced menu, limited parking—that give you a viable reason to enter the market. If their concept is poorly executed, test your own skills by figuring out why.

Obtaining Operating Capital
Here’s a universal truth: Everyone in the restaurant business needs money, whether it is to open a new place or remodel an existing one, to open a second location or smooth out a particularly uneven business year. Most have to borrow money from a bank, with the noble goal of using other people’s money (OPM) for pursuit of their own business happiness. Another universal truth: Bankers seem to prefer the pain of a root canal to the prospect of financing a restaurant. It doesn’t seem fair—unless you know that the foodservice industry is hardly a model of stability and/or predictability. It is a complex, highly competitive business, and even the “next big thing” is never a sure thing.

Financial Feasibility Study
The idea of opening or working at a new restaurant is fun and exciting, but don’t let the mood carry you away before you do the paperwork. You may be encouraged by the results of your market study. Unfortunately, however, in this business, romantic notions often determine failure rates.
It is going to take a solid financial analysis to make your dreams into reality. Your financial feasibility study should detail these elements: your projected income and projected expenses, including both food and labor costs.
Projected Income
The first requirement is to project sales levels for each day, each week, and the entire year. However, if you haven’t even opened yet, how in the world do you calculate that?
You must first determine:
1. The number of guests you plan to serve each day
2. The average amount that each guest will spend (known as the average check or check average)
The first “Dining Experience” box presents a simple example of these calculations.
Understandable? Just remember, you can’t get accurate projections unless you have realistic numbers to start with. And in putting your final plan together, it is always smart to slightly underestimate sales. After all, every seat will probably not be filled for every meal, every day. Leave yourself a buffer.
Projected Expenses
Before you decide you’ll be a millionaire restaurateur, you must also calculate your expenses. The three major (meaning “most depressing”) costs are food, beverage, and labor, which collectively are known as prime costs.
example of American restaurants
The NRA conducts extensive annual studies to compile the expenses and percentages for many different types of restaurants. Because the organization uses national averages, the figures are only estimates. Taking a look at them, however, will be very helpful in making your own calculations.
After studying the most recent NRA Restaurant Industry Operations Report, Chez Ralph owners have decided that their food costs will total no more than 30 percent of the restaurant’s income and beverages will cost 10 to 12 percent of its income. (How much food will people buy versus how much beverage? Chez Ralph figures the check will break down to about 85 percent food and 15 percent beverage.) We’ll add labor costs to that in a moment. But, first, using the numbers we have, let’s calculate the daily food and beverage costs for Chez Ralph.
This type of guesstimating may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but it is really a simple, logical process based on your own estimates of how many people will walk into your eatery and how much money they will spend there.
Labor Costs. You can’t decide how many people to hire or what to pay them until you’ve figured your labor costs. From the same NRA surveys, you can get an accurate picture of what restaurants spend on payroll, and compare this to the local wage and employment figures you get from the city. Of course, labor costs are always higher the first few months of business, since it takes extra time to train your staff and you may hire more than you need at first. At this writing, a restaurant spends 30 percent of its income on labor costs. This does not include employee benefits (some of which are optional), which add another two to four percent to overall costs.

Selecting A Site
Be aware that in site selection, there are two important designations: whether your concept is convenience oriented or destination oriented. A convenience-oriented restaurant, like a fast-food franchise, depends primarily on a nearby base of customers to be drop-ins, generally for unplanned visits. Because it is likely to have similar competition throughout the area, customers probably would not drive a long distance to visit this particular site, unless it happens to be a convenient part of their daily commute or errand route.
Destination-oriented restaurants attract guests often because of their unique concepts.
Customer visits in this case are planned ahead of time, and may involve driving 10 or more miles, depending on the attractiveness and availability of the concept. A destination restaurant is more likely to be the choice for a special occasion or fancier meal. Ideally, you’ll attract both types of customers: some drop-ins and some who planned their visits.
It includes
1) Site selection research
2) Guide lines for site selection
•The type of customer
•Construction or remodeling costs
•Investment requirements by lending institutions
•Local ordinances, state and federal laws
•Availability of workers
•The option to sell alcoholic beverages
•Parking availability and accessibility
•Occupancy costs: rent, taxes, insurance, and so on
3) Utility requirements
4) Speed of traffic
5) Proximity to workforce-Almost as important as being accessible to the public is the need to be located close to a potential labor pool. Are your employees able to live close by? Do the routes and hours of public transportation systems mesh well with your business? The foot traffic patterns also are worth close examination. Do plenty of people pass your prospective location on foot? Are the sidewalks wide enough, in good shape, and brightly lit? Can customers access your building from the outside, or must they enter another door first before they can find yours?
6) Previous Ownership. Was this site previously a restaurant? If so, take great care to determine why it closed. If it is appropriate, talk with the previous tenants and neighboring businesses about the pluses and minuses of the location. Putting up an “Under New Management” sign is not enough to guarantee success where others have failed. A bankruptcy in the building’s past may make it more difficult to secure financing for another venture there. Today’s investors are cautious.
7) Visibility
8) Parking
9) Accessibility
10) Restaurant Cluster. There are streets in most cities that seem to be lined with eating places. Such areas are commonly known as restaurant clusters. People tend to congregate in these areas, which helps your place become a regular destination for some. For all their advantages, however, clusters have life cycles. Make sure you choose one that is not headed for a downturn in economics or popularity. Do not try to duplicate any of the concepts already at work in your cluster, and remember that the national, casual dining chains seem to work better in a cluster than fancy, white-tablecloth establishments.
11) Guests, both Regular and Infrequent. You want 50 percent of your guests to fall into the category of “regulars,” who visit your restaurant three to five times per month. The market segments that typically can provide these diners are:
Singles
Young families
Retirees
Affluent empty nesters
Office or professional crowd
These folks must live or work nearby. When you visit your competition to do market research, notice who eats out and when. Observe what they order and how long they stay.
What is it about this particular site that seems to attract them?
However, do not overlook the infrequent guest as an attribute. Having a strong base of infrequent guests—tourists, conventioneers, regional salespeople who come to town occasionally— helps insulate a restaurant against the impact a new competitor may have on the whims of the regulars. A regular clientele may suddenly evaporate, at least temporarily, as they all rush to try a new eatery, while the infrequent guest is not prey to these whims.
12) Working with a Design Team
The design process is very much a team effort. The composition of the team will vary depending on the capabilities (and budget) of the owner and the requirements of the project.
For our discussion, this team will consist of these professionals:
An architect (with engineering, mechanical, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning [HVAC] professional advisers)
An interior designer
A kitchen designer
A foodservice consultant
A general contractor, with construction crew (builders, plumbers, painters, electricians, roofers, etc.)

13) Creating Comfort
There is some debate about exactly how much impact the look and feel of a restaurant has on its success as a place to eat. After all, the most important elements are food and service. However, it is the look and feel of the restaurant that invites people to go in. Often you’ll hear the word “comfort” associated with atmosphere. Of course, comfort means different things to different people. The temperature of the room, the style or padding of the chairs, personal preference for booths instead of tables, a sense of privacy or openness, proximity to other diners, ability to separate diners with small children from those who want a less boisterous experience, and accessibility for patrons with physical limitations are just a few common concerns. Discomfort is almost always attributable to a poorly designed atmosphere.
14) Dining Area Layout
Restaurateurs like to think every seat is the “best,” of course. When designing the dining area, a well-planned scheme carefully shapes the customer’s perception with these components:
Table shapes, sizes, and positions
Number of seats at each table
Multiple floors, steps, or elevated areas of seating
Paintings, posters, or murals
Type and intensity of lighting
Planters, partitions, or screens
Attention to sight lines, to block any undesirable view (restroom, kitchen, service areas)
Muffling of distracting noises (clattering dishes, outside traffic, or construction)
Placement of service areas (coffee stations, dirty dish bins, etc.)

STAFF REQUIREMENTS CALCULATION

The number of staff required for a function is determined by many factors such as
•    Number of people to attend
•    Type of function
•    Types of food service
•    Number of dishes offered

In a formal banquet, one food server is for every 10 covers.
One wine waiter for every 15 covers, if beverages are served on cash basis: for every 25 covers, if drinks are inclusive and limited.
One waiter for 30 covers for buffet service, in general however, it cannot be calculated by applying this norm as it depends on the number of food stations and other counters to be manned, number of dishes to be served by the waiters, etc
One supervisor for every 30 covers for a formal function and 75 covers for a buffet.
One head wine waiter for every four to five wine waiters.
The banqueting in-charge must ensure that the duty allocation is done properly in such a way that everyone is distributed with adequate tasks and no waiter remains ideal. The wine waiter engaged for the service may assist in the mise en place and in food service. Briefing the staff on the service procedure is the most essential part for the successful service which should be done just before the function.

OBJECTIVE OF GOOD LAYOUT

The main objectives of plant layout are to optimising the process of production process within the plant. such an optimizing results in :
1- Productivity of activities
2- Reduction of cost regarding to:
a) Money
b) Time
c) labour
d) Land
e) Psychological
3- Smooth flow of:
a) Job
b) Materials
c) Labour force
above overall objectives could be mentioned in details as follow:
•To provide enough production capacity
•To reduce the cost of material handling
•To minimize the accidents and hazards to personnel
•To reduce the congestion and to utilize the space efficiently and effectively
•To utilize the labor efficiently and to improve the morale of the employees
•To achieve the easy supervision
•To make the maintenance process easier as well as to achieve high degree of machine/equipment utilization
•To improve productivity

MENU PLANNING

what is menu?
Comes from French, meaning “a detailed list” The menu is a mission statement; it defines an operation’s concept and communicates that concept to guests.

Purpose of menu
1. Inform guests of items available and price
2. Inform employees of items to prepare and purchase
3. MENU is primary control tool for the operation
4. Menu is critical to communicating and selling items to the customer

Menu Planning Objectives
•    Menu must meet or exceed guest’s expectations.
•    reflect tastes and preferences of guests
•    Menu must attain marketing objectives.
•    What guest wants, location, prices, times
•    must bring guests back for more visits
•    Menu must meet quality standards
•    quality and nutrition go hand in hand
•    flavor, shapes, textures, palatability, flair
•    Menu must be cost-effective
•    Menu must be accurate

Truth In Menu
•    adhere to FDA guidelines on terminology
•    Menu should blend old with new.
•    balance between traditional and innovative
•    give new menu items to give guests fresh perspective
•    Staff must be able to produce and serve items on the menu
•    Menu must be based on amount and types of production and service equipment available.
•    Menu must be appropriate for operation’s facilities.

Factors Influencing Menu Planning
Customer Satisfaction
Management Decisions

1.    Customer satisfaction
• Food preferences/habits
• Nutrition
• Aesthetic factors
• Socioeconomic factors

2. Management Decisions
Food Cost
Menu Pricing
Production capacity
Type of service
Food availability
Menu Rationalization- simplified menu for operational efficiency (using same food items for multiple items) to streamline purchasing, receiving, and storage

a.    Capability/Consistency
Chefs or cooks capability to produce the quality and quantity of food items is a basic consideration
Use of standardized recipes helps ensure Consistency
b.    Equipment
Proper equipment must be installed in an efficient layout to produce menu items
Menu items selected to avoid overuse of one piece of equipment
c.    Availability
Ingredient items must be easily available
A constant, reliable source of supply must be maintained
Must take advantage of items that are in season to help keep costs low
d.    Price
Price is major factor in menu selection, Customer sensitive to price-value relationships
Value created by what you provide and what you charge for it Factors which influence value perception:
1. Portion size
2. Quality of product
3. Reliability or consistency of product
4. Uniqueness of product
5. Service convenience & speed of service
6. Comfort level
7. Reliability or consistency of service
Selling price determination questions:
1. What is competition charging?
2. What is item food cost?
3. What is labor cost to produce?
4. What other costs must be covered?
5. What profit is expected?
6. What is contribution margin of the item?

Menu pricing strategies:
Determine competition pricing and price accordingly
Factor method based on food cost
Use odd-cents increments for digits to right of decimal point
For items with drastically increases in price, place in less noticeable spot on menu
Try reducing portions before raising prices
NEVER increase price of all menu items at same time
Put “market -price” on items that fluctuate widely in price

Nutritional Value:
Customers becoming more concerned about nutritional value of foods.
Concerned about total fat content, cholesterol, sodium and calories.
Should offer meatless main dishes or vegetarian selections
15% customers want vegetarian fare, 20% order meatless dishes

Contribution Margin: (CM)
Difference between sales and the cost of the item is the CM
Want to put items on menu that bring a relatively high CM in order to cover the fixed and variable costs as well as profit margin

Flavor of menu items:
Americans are embracing ethnic cuisines
Flavor is the key tool to differentiate one restaurant from another
Terms like marinated and smoked being featured more on menus
FLAVOR is the sum of sensory experiences people have when food enters the mouth
Total flavor perception is combination or aroma, taste, texture, sight, sound – all involving the senses.

Accuracy in Menu:
Must be accurate and truthful when describing dishes on the menu
Butter must be butter; fresh cream must be fresh cream, etc.
Be careful of nutritional terms used- must show how nutritional data was derived

Menu Items:
Items selected will depend on type of restaurant
Number and range of items critical to overall success
Must keep abreast of trends, new items

HEAVY DUTY EQUIPMENTS

There are several key pieces of equipment in most commercial kitchens that do the majority of the heavy lifting during day to day operations. Modern restaurant equipment can be surprisingly complex. But selecting the right equipment does not have to be a chore. Learn what to look for with these helpful guides.
1. Commercial Ice Machines
Did you know that certain ice can improve your profits? From classic cubes to chewy nugget ice,
2. Commercial Dishwashers
Commercial dishwashers are available in a variety of types and sizes.
3. Commercial Refrigeration
The right kind of cold storage is vital to a successful food service business.
4. Commercial Convection Ovens
Short on time or staff and have a large amount of food to bake? A commercial convection oven can help with that.
5. Commercial Ranges
Commercial ranges are a staple in professional kitchens. With a variety of models and options available,
6. Commercial Fryers
From Twinkies to potatoes and many more creative recipes in between, the commercial fryer is a staple in a majority of professional kitchens.
7. Warming & Holding
Food safety is paramount for a successful food service business. Keep cooked foods warm and gently heat up cold foods with the right warming and holding equipment.
8. Commercial Steamers
Commercial steamers provide healthy and efficient methods of cooking.