Food Management: the Strategy Make More Customers - Essay Example

Food and Beverage Management Name Course Lecture Date All you can eat strategy Based on the manager of a la carte restaurant has observed that the restaurant usually experiences a low number of customers during the midweek period. The lower number of customers is mostly attributed to the high prices charged during mid week. Based on these the manager has introduced an “all you can eat” strategy for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. This strategy will have an effect on the food average spend statistics for the week and also on the cost percentage of restaurant food. The all you can eat strategy is related to a seller offering their services or products and offering unlimited access by the customers over some period of time, for example, in the case the strategy is applied on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. By the adoption of this strategy the companies try to generate a lot of revenue since it focuses more on the consumers that tend to be price conscious (Cousins, Foskett & Pennington 2011). The trick here is to ascertain that customers are able to satisfy their appetite exclusive of overusing it in a manner that can make the strategy unprofitable. Based on the food average spend there will be an increase in these statistics. The main idea for implementation of the strategy is to make more customers to visit the restaurant. Based on these a great number of people may opt to visit the restaurant more often as when they had not adopted the strategy (Lockwood & Davis 1995). Parents will view the strategy as a cost saver on their side since prior to its implementation they would have paid a similar cost for their food and for the food taken by their children. When the strategy is implemented, they will spend lesser amount of money for children food. In relation to the restaurant food cost percentage the strategy that has been adopted will ultimately be lower the food cost percentage. Most restaurants usually place a standard cost that most customers are not likely to exceed and based on these the menus are prepared in a manner in which the restraint will benefit. Through the strategy the menus will offer a totally different amount as compared to the individual cost of each item in the menu. The food cost will at times be around 4 to 6 percent more in buffet as compared to when a standard ordering system is adopted (Ninemeier 2010). When restaurants prepare food to order, one eliminates the aspect of having cooked leftovers as well as waste. Thus a person who would have ordered different items in the menu will tend to pay more as compared to one who plans to use this strategy while eating in the restaurant. Key information to be monitored after implementation of the strategy After the implementation of the strategy certain key information will be monitored and it includes concepts such as the effect of the strategy on the labor cost, overall effect on the food cost, therefore profitability and affect on the amount of food that is prepared daily for the buffet and how to deal with the carryover. The strategy will have an adverse effect on the labor cost. The strategy is characterized by having lesser number of waiters and cooks and this implies that the amount of money that will be spent on paying workers will be at minimal and thus cultivating into greater profits for the restaurant (Page 2011). Though the all you can eat strategy is commonly believed to be an effective concept by the customers the restaurants tend to benefit more. Prior to their implementation of the strategy restaurant owners usually make their calculation to so to come up with menu items that will fetch greater profits for them. It is very unlikely for restaurants to incur losses and thus though the food items are cheaper a great number of people are unable to eat food that exceeds what they have paid for (The Culinary Institute of America 2009). Though the food cost seems to be cheaper the profitability of the restaurant is usually higher since a great number of people are likely to visit the restraint during the Mondays that the strategy have been implemented. The strategy will also have an adverse effect on the amount of food that is prepared daily and the restaurant also need to put measures in place so as to deal with the carryovers from the previous day. Based on the strategy the amount of food that is prepared daily will be less as compared to when the strategy is not being used. This is based on the fact that the restaurant is not willing to incur any losses by preparing large sums of food. Also in relation to menu items, sometimes in the menu will not be prepared for these days since they will not be served. Carryovers seems to inevitable in restaurants and thus measures need to be put in place to deal with the carryover. Irrespective of measures put to ensure that are put in place carry over’s will always be present in restaurants. A major way of dealing with the carryovers is to refrigerate them this ensure that they seem as freshly cooked ones and the customers will enjoy even without noticing. Also the carryovers can be offered at a lesser price as compared to freshly cooked ones (The Culinary Institute of America 2009). Customers may opt to take the carryovers based on their pricing and this will assist the restaurant in that they will not have to throw away the carryovers form the previous day. Based on these the restraint will have additional income as compared to when the carryovers are thrown away. Most average earning people and the lower class people are likely to take advantage of the carryovers (Ninemeier 2010). Investigation of the problems and strategies to be implemented After identification of the problem that during the midweek the restaurant receives a lesser number of customers which cultivates to lesser profits on the side of the restaurant strict investigation needs to be carried out. I would investigate the problem my visiting other similar restaurants to see what they offer and their pricing. Based on this I would view areas where we are going wrong as a restaurant (Page 2011). For example, other restaurants may be offering similar food at a lower price and the customers view them as a better alternative to the restaurant. A major strategy that can be implemented to solve the problem is a change in a restaurant menu. Though restaurants may have spectacular menus, which offers various unique dishes as well as options to their customers, but it may not fit well in the area that the restaurants are situated. Thus the restaurant need to evolve and start offering great menu choices to their customers and the menu choices should also be appealing to a greater customer base so as to achieve desired returns (Ninemeier 2010). For instance, the restaurant ought to offer food items for all groups of people since customers may view it as being costly and thus prefer the cheaper ones. In the above scenarios the lower number is closely attributed to a high cost of food during the weekday and based on these they need to lower the cost so as to attain a greater number of customers. Another strategy that can be adopted is the use of special events. Customers are usually enticed when restaurants offer special days. For instance, the restaurants can offer a special day in the week and during these days they can offer half priced appetizers or other special dinners at reduced prices. The special days will make the customers visit the restaurant regularly and spend additional money than expected and they will also spend money on other items in the menu. The restaurants can also adopt a strategy is community advertising. The manager needs to pass the word about the restaurant when business seems to be unusual. In regard to these the manager and some staff members can attend various community events with advertising promotions and samples of what they offer at their restaurants (Lynch 2010). For example, the restaurant can create a booth during local schools, sporting events and based on these the parents will be offered with an opportunity to try the restaurant food. Also one can make good use of college students who can hand out the promotional coupons for the restaurants to other college students and based on these the restaurant may see an addition to the number of customers visiting their premises. Another strategy that can be adopted is increase in operating hours. By increasing the operating hours of restaurants, the restaurant can expect a new group of clientele who were not able to dine there previously due to time limitation (Lockwood & Davis 1995). For example, restaurants which operate from 4.00pm to 10.00 pm usually losses out on the customers who dine during lunch. Thus, by operating the restaurant at 10.0 am, the restaurants are likely to receive additional customers since during lunch time people will be able to dine and based on these there will be a drive up in sales. Additionally, the lunch time dinners may in a way create regular customers in the restaurant. References Cousins, J, Foskett, D & Pennington, A 2011, Food and Beverage management, Good fellow Publishers, United Kingdom. Lockwood, A & Davis, B 1995, Food and Beverage Management: A selection of readings (Management Reader), Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Lynch, F 2010, The Book of Yields: Accuracy in Food Costing and Purchasing, Wiley, New Jersey. Ninemeier, J 2010, Management of Food and Beverage Operations, Educational Institute of the American Hotel Motel Association, America. Page, S 2011, Tourism Management Routledge. London. The Culinary Institute of America 2009, Remarkable Service: A Guide to Winning and Keeping Customers for Servers, Managers, and Restaurant Owners, Wiley, New Jersey. Read More