I eat food. I consume beverages.
Therefore, I am qualified to supervise a Food and Drink operation.
In evaluating the operations of numerous clubs/resorts each month, I discover that one of the most poorly operated, irregular areas of club/resort operations is Food and Drink. Specifically in member owned environments, which are frequently supervised by a club board, people seem to believe that since they dine out, they somehow have some level of know-how that permits them to make company decisions about this essential element of the club. The reality is that this is among the most complex departments in a club to handle, control, and produce a consistent experience.
Let's ask a couple of questions!
Is your Food and Drink experience suitable for what your members/guests want to have in your club/resort? Are you priced effectively, expensive, or too low? How do you know? Are you tracking cover counts by day? By shift? By hour?
Are your food choices stuck in the past, a great balance of old favorites and brand-new choices, or edgy? Is your menu created for function or fashion? Do you alter your menu quarterly, or a minimum of semi-annually to keep it fresh? Or is it changed every year or two and end up being a club dinosaur? What are your product requirements and part sizes? Is every product on your menu costed? What is your objective for a la carte food cost? Do you know the contribution margin on every product on your menu?
What about your unique events. Are they truly spotlights unique? Do they develop a buzz in the Club? Are they eagerly prepared for or the very same thing that was done the last ten years with nothing more than the year changed in the newsletter and marketing piece promoting the event? Is your personnel challenged every quarter to try brand-new occasions? Brand-new cost points?
Got Value?
What about worth added programming? It's happening every day in the hospitality market. Chili's, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Flemings, Cody's Roadhouse, McDonalds, Quiznos, Subway, and lots of other national franchises are actively programming to keep individuals can be found in. Any question the success rate of franchises is over 90% while the success rate of individually owned restaurants is about 10%?
What are you doing in your club to develop a "WOW" for your members/guests in your Food and Beverage offerings? Are you standing pat on your $32 filet and $28 sea bass wondering why you are doing so couple of covers? Or, are you attempting new ideas that may provide "meal replacement" dining rather of only "unique occasion" dining?
Something as easy as Pleased Hour can create extra use. Comfort food such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, lasagna, or comparable for" at $8 or $9 during the week are popular. Taco bars, pasta bars, hamburger night, half price on bottles of house wine, Fresh Fish Fridays or a Friday Fish Fry, a Chef's selection at a special cost on slower evenings, sushi nights, appetisers at a special rate, entertainment, and many other concepts and occasions drive usage, offer incremental earnings, and keep the personnel working. Are you explore new events in your club/resort? Offer it a try. You'll be amazed at the buzz it produces.
The Experience
How is your dining-room provided? With white tablecloths? No tablecloths? Placemats? Are you charging properly for the experience you are providing?
How are your buffets provided? Elegantly with skirting, flower display screens, and shiny silver chafing dishes? Or fundamental with little or no frills? Does it make sense?
Do you have requirements of operation to ensure the food and drink experience for your members/guests? Is every employee using a tidy and pushed designated uniform? Is there a particular manner to present menus, serve, food, cocktails, and wine? Are members called by name? Specify actions of service in location?
Does the service personnel understand the composition of every product, sauce, and part size from the menu? Is training supplied a minimum of month-to-month? Is your staff selling suggestively?
The Technical Aspects
How typically do you take a physical stock? Exists "independence" in the inventory procedure to make sure that the counts are precise? Is stock prices changed routinely to show the most recent cost the club is spending for all inventoried items or is the cost the club paid in 2015 still being utilized to determine inventory worth?
Do you follow this mantra when getting and inventorying products?
If you buy it by the pound, weigh it. If you purchase it by the piece, count it. If you purchase it by ounce or length, measure it? Under no circumstances, accept it blindly.
I am impressed at how often deliveries are accepted and signed for without even physically being in the very same room as the products that were delivered not to mention checking the packaging slip or invoice versus the items got. Delivery people end up being savvy really rapidly to those who hold them responsible and those who don't. A couple of pounds of missing out on steak here or a couple of bottles of missing alcohol there costs a lot of cash over a prolonged period of time.
Just how much unusable food is stored in the freezer, often a chef's buddy, and continues to be counted monthly throughout stock yet is basically worth little or nothing?
What does the organizational structure look like in your club's F&B operation? How are your supervisors compensated? Are they incented to produce a specific financial result, train the staff, and preserve requirements? Or are they paid merely for revealing up?
How is your service staff paid? By hourly wage? Suggestion pool? Some mix of both? Does your pay structure promote tenure or turnover? What about overtime? Are you paying overtime? Legally?
In addition to costing every item on every menu, have you done the same for liquor, beer, and red wine? Do you have defined put sizes? Are they being followed? Do you have pourers which enable just for the pour size for which you are charging? Just how much of your club's resort's cash is bound in red wine inventory? Have you established par stocks?
Do you have a Food and Beverage minimum? Does it make good sense for your club? Do you have a minimum monthly service fee? Should you?
Do you offer a staff member meal? How is it accounted for? Is it accounted for at all? Do you permit workers to get rid of food/beverage from the club? (A bad concept!). Do you permit your workers to consume liquors at the end of a shift? (An even worse idea!!).
Private Events
What about your Private Occasions? Is your catering menu priced right? What does priced right mean? Have you assessed the competitive environment? What are you doing to bring wedding events and meetings to the club/resort? Are you covering the expenses of establishing and breaking down every room based upon the differing requirements of each event?
Do your personal occasion policies make good sense? When is the "warranty' due? When is payment completely required? Do you need a signed agreement? Do you even have an agreement that you need be signed?
A Service
Lots of concerns! Get a management business that will work collaboratively with you to respond to all of these and any others and create a customized food and beverage experience that reflects your special situation and supplies what your members/guests desire and are willing to spend for.