I consume food. I consume beverages.
For that reason, I am qualified to supervise a Food and Drink operation.
In evaluating the operations of numerous clubs/resorts monthly, I find that a person of the most badly operated, inconsistent locations of club/resort operations is Food and Drink. Especially in member owned environments, which are frequently supervised by a club board, individuals appear to think that due to the fact that they eat in restaurants, they in some way have some level of expertise that enables them to make organization decisions about this crucial aspect of the club. The truth is that this is one of 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 Beverage experience suitable for what your members/guests want 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 the past, a great balance of old favorites and brand-new choices, or edgy? Is your menu developed for function or fashion? Do you alter your menu quarterly, or at least semi-annually to keep it fresh? Or is it changed every year or 2 and end up being a club dinosaur? What are your product specifications and part sizes? Is every item on your menu costed? What is your goal for a la carte food expense? Do you understand the contribution margin on every item on your menu?
What about your special occasions. Are they really special? Do they develop a buzz in the Club? Are they excitedly prepared for or the very same thing that was done the last ten years with absolutely nothing more than the year altered in the newsletter and advertising piece promoting the event? Is your personnel challenged every quarter to attempt new occasions? New cost points?
Got Value?
What about worth included shows? It's happening every day in the hospitality market. Chili's, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Flemings, Cody's Roadhouse, McDonalds, Quiznos, Subway, and numerous other nationwide franchises are actively programming to keep people can be found in. Any wonder the success rate of franchises is over 90% while the success rate of separately owned restaurants is about 10%?
What are you performing 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 brand-new concepts that may offer "meal replacement" dining instead of just "unique event" dining?
Something as basic as Happy Hour can generate additional usage. Comfort food such as meatloaf, chicken casserole, lasagna, or comparable for" at $8 or $9 during the week are popular. Taco bars, pasta bars, burger night, half rate on bottles of home wine, Fresh Fish Fridays or a Friday Fish Fry, a Chef's choice at an unique cost on slower nights, sushi nights, appetisers at a special rate, home entertainment, and many other ideas and occasions drive usage, supply incremental profits, and keep the staff working. Are you explore new events in your club/resort? Give it a try. You'll be shocked at the buzz it develops.
The Experience
How is your dining-room presented? With white tablecloths? No tablecloths? Placemats? Are you charging properly for the experience you are supplying?
How are your buffets presented? Elegantly with skirting, floral screens, and shiny silver chafing dishes? Or basic with little or no frills? Does it make good sense?
Do you have requirements of operation to guarantee the food and drink experience for your members/guests? Is every employee using a clean and pressed designated uniform? Exists a particular way to present menus, serve, food, cocktails, and wine? Are members called by name? Specify steps of service in place?
Does the service personnel know the structure of every item, sauce, and portion size from the menu? Is training provided at least regular monthly? Is your staff selling suggestively?
The Technical Aspects
How frequently do you take a physical stock? Is there "self-reliance" in the stock procedure to make sure that the counts are precise? Is stock prices adjusted routinely to show the most recent expense the club is spending for all inventoried items or is the cost the club paid in 2015 still being used to determine inventory value?
Do you follow this mantra when receiving and textile industry waste inventorying products?
If you buy it by the pound, weigh it. If you purchase it by the piece, count it. If you buy it by ounce or length, determine it? Under no scenarios, accept it blindly.
I am surprised at how often deliveries are accepted and signed for without even physically being in the same room as the items that were delivered not to mention checking the packaging slip or invoice versus the items got. Delivery individuals become savvy extremely rapidly to those who hold them liable and those who do not. A few pounds of missing out on steak here or a few bottles of missing liquor there costs a lot of money over a prolonged time period.
Just how much unusable food is stored in the freezer, typically a chef's best friend, and continues to be counted on a monthly basis during inventory yet is basically worth little or nothing?
What does the organizational structure appear like in your club's F&B operation? How are your supervisors compensated? Are they incented to produce a particular financial outcome, train the staff, and preserve standards? Or are they paid simply for revealing up?
How is your service staff paid? By per hour wage? Suggestion swimming 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 very same for liquor, beer, and red wine? Do you have defined pour sizes? Are they being adhered to? 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 stock? Have you recognized par stocks?
Do you have a Food and Beverage minimum? Does it make sense for your club? Do you have a minimum month-to-month service charge? Should you?
Do you supply an employee meal? How is it accounted for? Is it represented at all? Do you allow employees to eliminate food/beverage from the club? (A bad concept!). Do you permit your workers to take in liquors at the end of a shift? (An even worse concept!!).
Personal Occasions
What about your Personal Occasions? Is your catering menu priced right? What does priced ideal mean? Have you examined the competitive environment? What are you doing to bring wedding events and meetings to the club/resort? Are you covering the costs of setting up and breaking down every room based on the differing requirements of each event?
Do your personal occasion policies make good sense? When is the "warranty' due? When is payment completely needed? Do you require a signed contract? Do you even have an agreement that you require be signed?
A Solution
Great deals of concerns! Get a management business that will work collaboratively with you to answer all of these and any others and create a customized food and drink experience that reflects your distinct circumstance and provides what your members/guests want and want to pay for.