Hotel Operations: Food and Beverage Division

CHAPTER 5

Food and Beverage Management

Director of Food and Beverage
Responsible for efficient operation of the kitchen/catering/banquet depts./restaurants/room service/mini bars/lounges/bars/stewarding

About 20% of hotels operating profit comes from food and beverage dept.
Acceptable profit margin generally 25-30%

Food and Beverage Management (Cont)

Director
start the day at 8 am work week is usually Monday through Saturday unless special functions/events are scheduled stay in close contact with the Sales Dept. Important to attend staff meetings, executive committee meetings, profit and loss statement meetings experience includes practical kitchen work, dining room service, purchasing, stewarding, and room service

Food and Beverage Planning

Monthly forecast is prepared between the 12th and 15th of the month Budget and forecast for upcoming year prepared between July and September Plans for special events sketched out in January

Kitchens
Executive chef
reports to the F&B manager manages the hotel kitchen responsible for efficient kitchen operations, exceeding guest expectations for quality and quantity of food, temperature, presentation, and portion size must maintain company standards and achieve desired financial results

Kitchens (cont)
In smaller hotels, the executive chef may also serve as the F&B Director Cooperation of staff is key to maintain operational controls Software can assist (perpetual inventories, food cost per outlet, standard recipes) Chefs also examine the contribution margin of food items (difference between cost and sale price)

Kitchens (cont)
Performance ratios
Food Cost % equals food cost/sales
averages about 30% for hotels

Labor Cost % equals labor dollars/sales dollars

varies by operation depends on the amount of food made from scratch

Sous chef
responsible for the day-to-day operations

Kitchens (cont)
Chef Tournant
works under the Sous Chefs rotates through the various stations to relieve the station chef heads (also known as the chefs de partie)

Brigade System
developed by Escoffier includes a variety of different types of chefs each having definite responsibilities

Hotel Restaurants
May have several restaurants--usually includes an upscale dining room and a casual coffee shop restaurant Restaurants responsible for variety of duties
For example: quality guest service, hiring, training, developing employees, etc. (p. 217)

Forecasting # of guests difficult due to unpredictability

Hotel Restaurants (cont)

Capture rate--# of guests staying in the hotel who dine in the hotels restaurant Incentives created for guests to dine in their restaurant to increase profitability
Ex: meal discounts, cooking demos, promote restaurant at check in

Difficult to generate profit

Bars
Allow guests to relax and socialize Bar managers run the bar Important source of revenue for F&B Dept. Cycle of beverages: ordering, receiving, storing, issuing, bar stocking, serving, and guest billing Beverages are not perishable--may be held over

Bars (cont)
Bar efficiency measured by the pour/cost%
Pour/cost % equals the cost of the depleted inventory/sales over a period of time If control systems employed, likely to be ~16%

Automated control systems are expensive

provide greater accuracy protects companies from losses due to over pouring, pilferage, etc.

Bars (cont)
Types of bars:
lobby service/backstage catering and banquet pools mini-bars night clubs sports bars

Stewarding Dept.
Chief steward reports to the F&B Manager
responsible for cleanliness of BOH, maintaining clean glassware, maintaining strict inventory controls, pest control, etc.

Extremely important to efficient operation Strict inventory control keeps pilferage to a minimum

Catering Dept.
Functions bring people together May include anniversaries, weddings, political events, etc. Groups that commonly arrange functions (SMERF):
social military education religious fraternal organizations

Catering Dept. (cont)

Banquet--group of people eat together at one time and in one place Catering includes a variety of occasions when people eat at various times may be on or off the premises Director of Catering reports to F&B Director responsible for selling, serving, catering, banquets, meetings, and exhibitions must have close relationship with Executive Chef

Catering Dept. (cont)

Director of Catering
must be able to sell functions, lead a team of employees, set and maintain department sales and cost budgets, set service standards, etc. builds a list of clients through various events over the years conducts the main sales function of the dept. along with the catering sales managers Obtains business leads from various areas (p.226)

Catering Dept. (cont)

Typical flow of function booking (fig.5-6):
inquiry check for space available in bible confirm availability contract and proposal completed modifications made client confirms event arrangements by signing contract

Room set-ups based on client needs (theatre, classroom, horseshoe)

CEO/BEO
Stands for the catering event order or the banquet event order Prepared and completed for each to inform client and hotel personnel Communicates essential info about the function (what needs to happen and when) Based on corresponsdence with the client and the notes taken during the meetings Specifies the room layout and dcor, time of arrival, VIPs, bar times, service details, etc.

CEO/BEO (cont)
Guaranteed # of guests agreed to prior to the function Catering mgrs. closely monitor the final #s for each function Final # required 7 days to 72 hours before the function---more accurate #s Some hotels have a policy of preparing for about 3-5% over the guaranteed # of guests Director of catering holds weekly meetings with key individuals

Catering Coordinator
Responsible for managing the office and controlling the function diary or bible (permanent record is maintained of each function rooms availability, tentative booking, or guaranteed booking) Computer programs used today such as Delphi

Catering Services Manager

Responsible for delivering service that exceeds the expectations of guests and the client very demanding because many things occur simultaneously Duties include: directing the service of all functions, supervising, scheduling, checking guest satisfaction, etc.

Room Service/In-Room Dining

Survey by the AH&MA revealed that 56% of all properties and 75% of airport hotel properties offer room service Economy and mid-priced hotels have vending machines or local delivery
allows them to provide a desired service without additional expense to the operation

Room Service/In-Room Dining (cont)

Challenges include: delivering orders on time, making it profitable, avoiding complaints of excessive charges, and forecasting demand Planning includes proper equipment required, completing accurate staffing schedules, the pricing of a profitable menu the guests will accept

Room Service/In-Room Dining (cont)

Sous-vide now being used
airtight pouches of prepared food that can be quickly reheated provides round the clock quality food to guests

Room service managers analyze the front desk forecast, which gives details of the house count and guest mix Training is critical for staff

THE END