I eat food. I consume beverages.
Therefore, I am certified to manage a Food and Beverage operation.
In evaluating the operations of numerous clubs/resorts monthly, I discover that a person of the most poorly operated, inconsistent locations of club/resort operations is Food and Beverage. Particularly in member owned environments, which are typically supervised by a club board, individuals seem to think that due to the fact that they dine out, they somehow have some level of proficiency that permits them to make business decisions about this important element of the club. The reality is that this is one of the most complicated departments in a club to handle, control, and produce a constant experience.
Let's ask a couple of questions!
Is your Food and Drink experience proper for what your members/guests wish to have in your club/resort? Are you priced properly, too high, or too low? How do you understand? Are you tracking cover counts by day? By shift? By hour?
Are your food choices stuck in yesteryear, a nice balance of old favorites and brand-new choices, or edgy? Is your menu created for function or style? Do you alter your menu quarterly, or at least semi-annually to keep it fresh? Or is it changed every year or two and end up being a club dinosaur? What are your item specifications and portion 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 item on your menu?
What about your special events. Are they actually unique? Do they produce a buzz in the Club? Are they excitedly prepared for or the same thing that was done the last ten years with absolutely nothing more than the year changed in the newsletter and promotional piece touting the occasion? Is your staff challenged every quarter to try new events? Brand-new price points?
Got Value?
What about worth added programming? It's occurring every day in the hospitality market. Chili's, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Flemings, Cody's Roadhouse, McDonalds, Quiznos, Subway, and numerous other national franchises are actively programming to keep people being available in. Any question the success rate of franchises is over 90% while the success rate of separately one-time offer owned dining establishments has to do with 10%?
What are you performing in your club to produce a "WOW" for your members/guests in your Food and Beverage offerings? Are you standing pat on your $32 filet and $28 sea bass questioning why you are doing so couple of covers? Or, are you attempting brand-new ideas that may supply "meal replacement" dining rather of just "unique celebration" dining?
Something as simple as Pleased Hour can produce extra usage. Comfort food such as meatloaf, chicken casserole, lasagna, or similar for" at $8 or $9 throughout the week are popular. Taco bars, pasta bars, burger night, half rate on bottles of house red wine, Fresh Fish Fridays or a Friday Fish Fry, a Chef's choice at an unique rate on slower nights, sushi nights, appetizers at an unique price, home entertainment, and lots of other ideas and events drive use, provide incremental profits, and keep the personnel working. Are you explore new occasions in your club/resort? Give it a shot. You'll be amazed at the buzz it creates.
The Experience
How is your dining-room provided? With white table linens? No table linens? Placemats? Are you charging appropriately for the experience you are providing?
How are your buffets presented? Elegantly with skirting, flower displays, and shiny silver chafing meals? Or simple with little or no frills? Does it make good sense?
Do you have standards of operation to guarantee the food and drink experience for your members/guests? Is every employee using a clean and pressed designated uniform? Is there a particular manner to present menus, serve, food, cocktails, and white wine? Are members called by name? Are specific steps of service in location?
Does the service staff understand the structure of every product, sauce, and part size from the menu? Is training supplied a minimum of monthly? Is your staff selling suggestively?
The Technical Aspects
How frequently do you take a physical inventory? Is there "self-reliance" in the inventory procedure to make sure that the counts are precise? Is stock pricing adjusted routinely to reflect the most recent cost the club is paying for all inventoried products or is the expense the club paid last year still being utilized to determine stock value?
Do you follow this mantra when getting and inventorying items?
If you purchase it by the pound, weigh it. If you purchase it by the piece, count it. If you purchase it by ounce or length, determine it? Under no circumstances, accept it blindly.
I am surprised at how frequently shipments are accepted and signed for without even physically being in the exact same room as the products that were provided not to mention examining the packing slip or billing versus the items got. Shipment people end up being savvy really quickly to those who hold them liable and those who do not. A couple of pounds of missing steak here or a few bottles of missing liquor there costs a lot of money over a prolonged period of time.
How much unusable food is stored in the freezer, typically a chef's buddy, and continues to be counted each month throughout inventory yet is essentially worth little or absolutely 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 monetary result, train the staff, and maintain standards? Or are they paid just for showing up?
How is your service staff paid? By hourly wage? Idea pool? Some mix of both? Does your pay structure promote period or turnover? What about overtime? Are you paying overtime? Legally?
In addition to costing every product on every menu, have you done the same for alcohol, beer, and white wine? Do you have specified pour sizes? Are they being complied with? Do you have pourers which allow just for the put size for which you are charging? How much of your club's resort's money is tied up 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 regular monthly service fee? Should you?
Do you provide an employee meal? How is it accounted for? Is it represented at all? Do you allow staff members to remove food/beverage from the club? (A bad concept!). Do you enable your staff members to take in alcoholic beverages at the end of a shift? (An even worse idea!!).
Private Occasions
What about your Private Events? Is your catering menu priced right? What does priced right mean? Have you examined the competitive environment? What are you doing to bring weddings and conferences to the club/resort? Are you covering the expenses of establishing and breaking down every room based on the differing needs of each occasion?
Do your personal event policies make sense? When is the "guarantee' due? When is payment in full needed? Do you require a signed agreement? Do you even have a contract that you require be signed?
A Service
Lots of questions! Get a management company that will work collaboratively with you to respond to all of these and any others and develop a personalized food and beverage experience that shows your special scenario and supplies what your members/guests want and are willing to pay for.