Food and Restaurant Management: Carluccios and Nandos - Case Study Example

Food and Restaurant Management Executive Summary The main objective of the report is to analyse the operations of two food and beverage company. It includes various operations such as the product-customer connection, customer satisfaction, staffing, resources, and menus of the companies. It has been analysed that customers are well satisfied with the services and products of Carluccio’s and it helps them to increase their sales of products and therefore the revenue. The employees are also friendly with the customers and greet them with smile besides providing superior service. It helps them to build good brand image. Both the companies make use of rich and fresh ingredients in their products which help them to build good product-customer connection/relationship because the customers are very much satisfied with the food and ambiance of the restaurant. However, Nando’s did not include vegetarian item in its menu which may decrease the number of footfalls so, they are required to add more vegetarian food items to draw more customers as well as to differentiate them from competitors. Table of Contents Introduction 5 Customer Profile 5 Nando’s 5 Carluccios 5 Strength and Weakness of the Operations 5 Menu 5 Staffing 6 Resources 7 Macro Environment factors 8 Macro environment factors of Nando’s 8 Macro environment factors of Carluccio’s 9 Conclusion 9 Reference List 10 Appendices 12 Appendix 1 12 Appendix 2 13 Appendix 3 14 14 Appendix 4 15 Appendix 5 15 15 Appendix 6 16 Appendix 7 16 Appendix 8 17 SWOT analysis of Nando’s 17 SWOT analysis of Carluccio’s 18 Appendix 9 20 Introduction The report has been prepared to analyse the food and beverage operations of two different companies. Nando’s is a global dining restaurant chain established in 1987, headquartered in South Africa. It operates in almost 30 countries through its 1000 outlets. The company is having highest branches in UK (Nandos, 2015). Carluccio’s Cafe was established in 1991 in London. It operates from more than 80 locations of UK. Their aim is to offer authentic, great quality Italian food at reasonable price (Carluccios, 2015). Customer Profile The main purpose of performing customer analysis is to recognize who are the target customers, their taste and preference, how they actually select products, and from where do they purchase (Dorf, 1998). Nando’s The customer profile of Nando’s includes children, youngsters, students, and also middle aged people. It Maximum number of customers who visits the company site is from the United Kingdom followed by the United States and Australia (Nandos, 2015). Carluccios The customer profile of Carluccios includes young adults, and middle age people. The restaurant create happy bustling atmosphere and appreciate any comments and feedback from the customers (Carluccios, 2015). Strength and Weakness of the Operations Menu Nando’s: The menu of Nnando’s include chicken dishes along with herb and lemon, peri-peri marinades, lime and mango, spicy rice, garlic bread, coleslaw, salad, creamy mash, macho peas, soft drinks, hot drinks and desserts, beer, wine, wrap, pitta, and burgers, etc (Nandos, 2015a) (See Appendix 1, 2, 3 and 4). It provides its dishes keeping in mind the preference and tastes of children so, it is also a children friendly restaurant. Strengths of this operation include their presence on social media which will help the customers to view menu online and result in more customer traffic. Second strength is that they are known for providing healthy food and this helps to augment the profit or earnings of the company (See Appendix 8). Carluccio’s: It provides wide range of products such as pasta, crostini spreads, sauces, spices and herbs, antipasti, arancini, mushrooms, fish, rice and polenta, tiramisu, coffee gift hampers and boxes, wine, gift vouchers, preserves and jam, and seasonal groceries (Companiesandmarket, 2015) (See Appendix 5, 6 and 7). It also provides main dishes of beef, lamb, and chicken (Hoovers, 2015). The brand image of Carluccio’s is good and it aids in driving more revenue and profits. It has been analysed that Nando’s main strength lies in its menu, presence on social media and providing healthy food to its customers. All these factors help in the boost of its profits and revenue and help to build good brand image. Carluccio’s strength lies in its menu items as it provide fresh items and it helps to build good brand image. It has also been scrutinised that Carluccio’s does not spend much time and money on social media and also does not possess its own app. Carluccio’s do not have its own app. It is recommended that Carluccio’s should become active on the social media because nowadays people view the menu online and also give their feedback about the improvement if required. Having own app will also help the company to boost its profit because maximum number of customers are having Smartphones and they view the features of the company online and rate them accordingly. Having its own app and more presence on social media will also aid Carluccio’s to see their position as compared to their competitors by means of the reviews and ratings provided by the customers. It is also recommended that they should spend much time and money on social media and should launch their own app. It will help to attract more customers and consequently result in increased sales and revenue. Staffing Nando’s: The Company sometimes fails to recognize and enquire what customers desired. This emerges as the weakness of the company. However, the restaurant offers delicious food and friendly atmosphere along with friendly service and it is one of the strengths of Nando’s (Nandosforeshore, 2015). Carluccio’s: The employees are friendly with the customers and address them with smile besides providing superior service. This emerges as strength for the company in building up their good brand image. It has been analysed that Nando’s sometimes fails to recognize the demand of its customers in terms of their preferences and taste. Though, the human resources i.e. the employees are very good at their service. The restaurant offers friendly service to their customers. The good customer service of Carluccio’s emerges as one of their strength which helps them to earn more profits. It is recommended that Nando’s should do more investigation on the taste of its customer segment. The company need to additional flavours in their food items. They should also communicate more with their customers to well identify their desires. As it is a children friendly restaurant so, it should include more dishes which suites the tastes of children. Resources Nando’s: They make use of rich and fresh ingredients in their products (See Appendix 9). This is one of the strengths of the company. The human resources i.e. employees are good in nature and provide customers with superior service. The product-customer connection/relationship is good. By considering the health conscious matter of the customers, they reduce or take most of the fat contents from the chicken as they are specialised in the chicken dishes. They make use of rich and fresh ingredients in their products. Involving maximum number of chicken dishes leaves the vegetarian customers with very few or no options. This emerges as the weakness of Nando’s. Carluccio’s: The Company make use of fresh material or ingredients in their products keeping in mind the health issue of customers. The staffs are very kind and they offer good service. So, the product-customer connection/relationship of Carluccio’s proves as strength for them because the customers are very much satisfied with the food and ambiance. Moreover, the costs of the products are also reasonable. It has been analysed that Nando’s do not includes the vegetarian dishes in its menu and it leaves the vegetarian customers with very little options. In this way, the Company is keeping vegetarian customer away from them which will result in less number of footfalls. It is recommended that Nando’s should introduce fresh items especially for the vegetarians. Their competitors are kebab shops and subway which are also recognised brand and are well-known for chicken dishes. Therefore, Nando’s is required to differentiate its product by including more number of vegetarian dishes in its menu. The company should also include special hot food in the winter season such as red meat as well as required to reduce some of its dishes in that season like fish to draw more customers in the winter season. Macro Environment factors Conducting the macro environment analysis will help to observe all the necessary factors that may affect the failure or success of the company (Doke, Hatton and Smortfitt, 2007). Macro environment factors of Nando’s The economic factor which may have an effect on the sales of Nando’s is the impact of seasonality (See Appendix 8). So, they should save their earnings in summer season to overcome the sales of winter. The rising speed of the social media signifies that the information about Nando’s can be communicated internationally within a minute. It may bring positive result for them because it can provide the message of their services or products directly to the customers with minimum financial costs (Bagelnash, 2015a). Advancement in the technologies can be seen as an opportunity as well as threat for the Company. If the technologies become more advance, then communications between the customers and the company regarding any queries will be done promptly. However, the advancement in technologies is also considered as a threat for Nando’s because it does not possess its own app and these days customers are seen with an increase use of mobile browsing. The legal and political factor which may affect the operations of the company is the Data Protection Act 1998 (Legislation, 1998). It means that the company is required to follow this law otherwise the loss of management on the personal customer information can have a negative impact on the company. Macro environment factors of Carluccio’s The political factors which affect Carluccio’s are the regulation and tariff of global trade law. The influence of the tax policy on the company is chiefly on the imports from several countries, which have an effect on the competitiveness of their global sales. In latest times, the financial crisis prevalent in the world resulted in high unemployment in several areas and it also affected the sales of the company in those areas. Conclusion This essay assesses the usefulness of the operations. The human resources i.e. employees of both the companies are good in nature and provide customers with superior service and therefore the product-customer relationship is good. Customers are well satisfied with the services and products of Carluccio’s and it helps them to increase their sales of products and therefore the revenue. The staffs are also friendly with the customers and greet them with smile besides providing superior service. The products are fresh and delicious, and their price is reasonable, which provide customer satisfaction and help to draw more customers and thus add to their revenue. Nando’s main strength lies in its menu, presence on social media and providing healthy food to its customers and it helps to build good brand image. However, they are required to include vegetarian dishes in the menu to draw more customers. Reference List Bohm, A., 2009. The SWOT Analysis. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Carluccios., 2015. Carluccios – About Us. [online] Available at: < http://www.carluccios.com/about-us> [Accessed 4 March 2014]. Carluccios., 2015a. Arancini – Filled rice balls. [online] Available at: < http://www.carluccios.com/about-us/recipes/primi/arancini-filled-rice-balls> [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Carluccios., 2015b. Tiramisu. [online] Available at: < http://www.carluccios.com/about-us/recipes/dolci/tiramisu> [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Carluccios., 2015c. Carluccio’s. [online] Available at: < http://www.carluccios.com/> [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Companiesandmarkets., 2015. Carluccio’s PLC (CARL) – Financial and strategic SWOT analysis review. [online] Available at: < http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Market/Retail/Company-Profile/Carluccio-s-PLC-CARL-Financial-and-Strategic-SWOT-Analysis-Review/RPT975258> [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Doke, L., Hatton, E. and Smortfitt, R., 2007. Entrepreneurship. South Africa: Pearson Education. Hoovers., 2015. Carluccio’s Ltd Company profile. [online] Available at: < http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.Carluccios_Ltd.b340ffba81518be5.html> [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Legislation, 1998. Data Protection Act 1998. [online] Available at: [Accessed 21 February 2015]. McDonald, M., Rogers, B. and Woodburn, D., 2000. Key Customers: How to Manage Them Profitably. Massachusetts: Butterworth – Heinemann. McDonald, M. and Wilson, H., 2011. Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, how to use them. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Mello, S., 2010. Customer Centric Product Definition. Boston: PDC Professional Publishing. Nandos., 2015. History of Nandos in the UK and Ireland. [online] Available at: http://www.nandos.co.uk/restaurants/our-restaurants > [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Nandos., 2015a. Nandos – Checking out the menu. [online] Available at: < http://www.nandos.co.uk/restaurantmenu/appeteasers> [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Nandos., 2015b. Nandos – Restaurant Menu. [pdf] Available at: < http://www.nandos.co.uk/sites/default/files/en_Restaurant-Menu.pdf> [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Nandosforeshore, 2015. SWOT. [online] Available at: < http://nandosforeshore.weebly.com/swot.html> [Accessed 4 March 2015]. Appendices Appendix 1 (Source: Nandos, 2015a) Appendix 2 (Source: Nandos, 2015b) Appendix 3 (Source: Nandos, 2015b) Appendix 4 (Source: Nandos, 2015b) Appendix 5 (Source: Carluccios, 2015a) Appendix 6 (Source: Carluccios, 2015b) Appendix 7 (Source: Carluccios, 2015c) Appendix 8 SWOT analysis of Nando’s Conducting SWOT analysis assists to figure several probable ways of meeting the needs of customers in comparison to its competitors (Bohm, 2009; McDonald, Rogers and Woodburn, 2000; McDonald and Wilson, 2011; Mello, 2010). Strengths Popular brand: Nando’s is one of the well recognised brands as they already encompass customer loyalty as well as awareness. It is known for providing healthy food and this helps to augment the profit or earnings of the company. Health conscious: By considering the health conscious matter of the customers, they reduce or take most of the fat contents from the chicken as they are specialised in the chicken dishes. They make use of rich and fresh ingredients in their products. Friendly service: The restaurant offer delicious food and friendly atmosphere along with friendly service (Nandosforeshore, 2015). Presence on social media: They also have their presence on social media which will help the customers to view menu online and result in more customer traffic. It is one of the main strength of Nando’s. Weaknesses Only chicken: As Nando’s is known for its chicken dishes so, there exist very less options for the vegetarians. They are required to introduce fresh items especially for the vegetarians. Brand name: As mentioned above there is a requirement to introduce the vegetarian dishes but it cannot be done so easily. This is because it is a global brand so; they cannot make any modification by their own choice. Fail to recognise customer demand: Sometimes the company fail to recognize the desires of customers (Nandosforeshore, 2015). Opportunities Rapid developing as well as expanding culture of the social media has facilitated the company to generate a Twitter and Facebook account. The campaigns of social media which are centred on constructing customer relationships/links with the organization are more effectual than the marketing campaign. By selling their products in the grocery stores, the company has the chance to link with other beverage or food brands in order to produce more products and develop their business (Nandosforeshore, 2015). Threats The main threat for Nando’s is the competition prevailing in the market. The competitors are kebab shops and subway which are also recognised brand and are well-known for chicken dishes. Another threat is the seasonality factor. During winter season the footfalls of customers reduces as compared to summer season. This results in decreased sales during winter season (Nandosforeshore, 2015). SWOT analysis of Carluccio’s Strengths The brand image of Carluccio’s is good and it aids in driving more revenue and profits. It provides fresh products to its customers as well as the rates of the products are reasonable, which helps to draw more customers and therefore result in high rate of growth. Skilled and friendly employees provide good service to the customers. Weaknesses The Company does not spend much time and money on social media. The company does not possess its own app. The small business unit of Carluccio’s Cafe is one of its weaknesses. The company invest very little in research and development. Opportunities The Company have opportunity in terms of unique features of their cafe. Carluccio’s restaurant is not just the place to eat; people have a great time here. Threats Competition is the major threats for the company. All competitors have presence on social media and are also offering their products at affordable price, so Carluccio’s really needs to differentiate their products. Appendix 9 Check-List for Nando’s Sl. No. Areas of Concern Evaluation 1. Are the ingredients used in the products are fresh and healthy Yes 2. Do employees cooperate well with the customers Yes 3. Do employees provide better service to the customers Yes 4. Is the price of products are high No 5. Do the company has its presence on social media Yes Check-List for Carluccio’s Cafe Sl. No. Areas of Concern Evaluation 1. Are the ingredients used in the products are fresh and healthy Yes 2. Do employees cooperate well with the customers Yes 3. Do employees provide better service to the customers Yes 4. Is the price of products are high No 5. Do the company has its own app No 6. Does the lack of personal app affect the revenue of the company Yes Bibliography Adams, A.C., 2008. The restaurant manager’s success chronicles. 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