Team: ACE

◎  Functions and Responsibilities of F&B Operations

In addition to providing meals for customers, F&B operators have several functions and responsibilities.

1) Procurement of raw ingredients for making food

Restaurants need to purchase materials to prepare the meals and the purchasing process has direct impact on the food quality. For example, they have to find reliable suppliers to provide fresh and safe ingredients.

2) Management of food

Chefs and workers have to keep track of every food in the kitchen. They are responsible for the storage and disposal of the food in a proper way. For example, using preservation kits to preserve the food and arranging regular check ups can help screen out the expired or denatured food, to achieve food safety.

3) Frontline operations

There are several positions for frontline operations. These functions are of vital importance that how well it does is actually representing the restaurant’s image. Waiters or waitresses serve customers like food ordering and answering enquiries. Chefs are to cook the meals ordered by customers while janitors are responsible for keeping the restaurant clean. They are dependent on one another so communication and cooperation are significant.

◎  Recent Trends and Challenges in Operating F&B Operations

Trends

1) Healthy lifestyle

Healthy lifestyle is highly emphasized by general public nowadays. Customers are willing to select the fresh ingredients and cook in a healthy way. For instance, people tend to buy the food with higher nutrition values and less fat and suger.

2) Convenience

People are busy. Most of the working people like office ladies do not have time to prepare the meal by themselves, especially on weekdays.

The new “ready meal” concept is advocated. It offers premium meals that are new and at a high quality.

3) Development of E-marketing

Technology creates a new form of socialization and interaction. One example is the E-marketing. Many organizations use the social network like Facebook and Youtube to do promotions. They announce the promotional events regularly in order to capture more customers.

Furthermore, it is common for companies to adopt online reservation system. The capacity planning can be carried out more accurately and effectively.

4) Packaging

Companies try to do the packaging in the more innovative and environmentally friendly way. Using renewable materials, reducing the use of packages and introducing environmental sourcing policies are the feasible practices. These can help the company build up a positive brand image by fulfilling corporate social responsibility.

5) Quality beverage

The market of quality beverage is booming. For example, more and more people prefer quality specialty coffee rather than low-priced coffee. It may contribute to the higher purchasing power and willingness to pay.

Challenges

1) Aging population

Aging distribution poses a great effect of the food products. Some of the customers are getting older but have a strong incentive to stay young. They appeal to the natural products at high quality but at low prices. It makes the businessmen annoyed how to strive for a balance between quality and price.

2) Soar of price

The food and beverage industry is greatly affected by the climate change. Climate change results in the rise of agricultural commodity prices and the increase in price volatility due to the decreasing yields.

For example, global sugar prices have reached a 8-year high, in part because of the lower production in India. The increasing prices of raw materials will hurt the financial conditions of food and beverage operators.

3) Stricter regulations

The regulation development brings the pressure to the food manufacturers. For example, the regulations in nutrition labelling, complete removal of hazardous substances, guarantees of traceability, and production hygiene are getting stricter. Enforcement is expected to be even more rigorous in the future.

4) Corporate responsibility

Consumers are increasingly sensitive to corporate responsibility. Some retailers and producers were aware of this trend and have reacted by adopting green practices. Also, some of them try to modify or reengineer their supply chain to reduce pollution and other negative impacts to the earth. It definitely increases the operations and R&D costs, particularly in the beginning.

Ref: Retrieved from https://hmforever2012.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/find-out-more-recent-trends-and-challenges-in-operating-fb-operations/

◎  Different Ways of Sustainability in F&B

1. Ethical sourcing

This is an important part for hotels to maintain good brand images. The companies should deal with the suppliers ethically. For example, they should pay extra for the work overtime and pay for the products at reasonable prices. Therefore, the business relationship can be sustainable, and the quality and quantity of food supply can be maintained and consistent.

2) Lean operations

Companies can adopt lean operations to reduce wastage of materials, which can result in the decrease of the cost of operations and negative impact to the environment. For example, hotels can use washable plates and dinnerware that easily fit into eco-friendly washers to maximize the efficiency and minimize waste.

◎  Issues Occurred in F&B Operations -
A Case Study of KFC

KFC is a chain fast food shop offering fried chicken.

An incident of mouse

There was a mouse entered a KFC store located in Sha Tin in 2012. It made the customers shocked and created the negative brand image in terms of store hygiene.

It is investigated that the mouse got into the store through the ceiling and it jumped onto the dishes bought by a customer. It ate the food and drew the customers’ attention. The staff was informed and then started to catch it by pouring the mouse together with the whole plate into the rubbish bag.

Hygiene issue

1. Staffing policy

This incident aroused the discussion about the hygiene of KFC. It was discovered that there were insufficient number of cleaning staff in the dining area to clean the tables. Some customers complained that they needed to find the staff to clean the tables for several times and found that it was annoyed. Also, some of the staff was not well-trained or unskilful to deal with their duties.  It created customers’ dissatisfaction and some impatient customers will clean the tables by themselves.

Therefore, KFC should tackle this staffing problem by arranging the right number of staff and plenty of training should be provided. If necessary, supervisor may need to monitor the staff to ensure the service speed and quality.

2) Cleaning problem

Besides, some interviewees said that the store was not tidy enough. Even though KFC did the cleaning every day, it was not at a satisfactory standard.

To solve this problem, KFC should revise their cleaning process, methods and the use of cleaning materials. For example, they should revise the schedule of cleaning the towels. They should clean the towels at a certain time and for several times per day, in order to keep them wet and clean. Also, they should test whether the detergents are strong enough to remove the oil from the table surfaces. These can facilitate the cleaning process and ensure the tables are clean.

3) Pest control

They should carry out pest elimination at least once a month and place the needed chemicals at the right places. Remove the dead pest and mice, and clean the affected area, when needed.

Ref: Video of the mouse entering KFC retrieved from http://www.getjetso.com/forum/thread-554639-1-1.html