Industry Content Flashcards
How do menu designs differ across segments and the underlying reasons?
Prefix versus a La carte menu (fixed menu versus normal restaurant menu). Fixed menu for mass production, less work and more efficient. (used for hospitals, universities). A La Carte offeres more variety & customer satisfaction in restaurants and some hospital/mass produced situations.
Sustainability considerations?
Where are you getting your produce, who are your suppliers, have third party investigation of supply chain, transparency.
The Menu planning process?
planning, development, design, margin analysis, menu engineering
Why more choice isn’t always better?
We love control but choice can become a negative thing, too much choice can be too much effort
On site food service considerations, how do hospitals design menus? And high school and college campuses
Hospitals have both Restaurant style and selective cycle (monthly menu certain food every day)
Choose products based on properties such as…
variety, prep methods, price points
CREATE VARIETY. Why?
From operational standpoint we don’t want every dish to go to same station back of house. Customers also like variety.
Price placement
Obscuring prices had no significant effect on check average.
Increasing reach :
new customers
Increasing Frequency :
increasing loyalty
Why is marketing for Restaurants unique?
- Targeting area around restaurant (geospatial nature)
- Franchising funds (owners have to pay into marketing fund of organization, so there are huge pots of marketing funds for restaurants to use)
- High frequency (opportunity to market to customer multiple times per day)
- Predictable purchase cycle (you can predict when people want to eat)
Geospatial
look for demand generators and restaurants nearby to plan marketing processes
Highlighting items – Menu item wording / descriptions
More descriptions had a positive effect
Price placement
Obscuring prices had no significant effect on check average.
The New Product Development Process
Ideate, investigate, develop, test, launch
Trend Barriers
Are there sourcing constraints, can it be offered in an easily relatable format?
Trend Enablers
Can it find new life late in the cycle? Is it versatile across day parts and applications?
What are the Stages of Trend proliferation?
- Inception: In foodservice: fine dining, ethnic independent and
at Retail: Ethnic markets - Adoption: In Foodservice: Gastropubs, fast casual, casual independents at Retail: Gourmet and Specialty grocery stores
- Proliferation: In food service: Casual chain restaurants and quick service restaurants
at Retail: Traditional supermarkets and mass merchandisers - Ubiquity: In foodservice: Family Restaurants and convenience stores at Retail: Dollar stores and Drug Stores
Menu prep (what is it, examples)
Any production that is completed well in advance of the service period (several hours up to several days) and held without compromising the quality of the final dish:
cleaning,cutting,andtrimmingofvegetablesand/orproduce,
Butcheryofanymeats,seafood,andpoultryitems,
Batchpreparationofvariousmenuitemcomponents(i.e.,sub-
recipes) including some: * Saladdressings
* Sauces
* Soups
* Sidedishes
* Bakedgoods
Station prep (what is it, examples)
Any production that is completed just prior to the service period, generally within a specific station, and held without compromising the quality of the final dish such as the:
– Cutting,trimming,and/orstockingstation-specificproduce,meats,& seafood
– Reheatingofpreviouslypreparedmenuitemcomponents(i.e., batch recipes) including some:
* Sauces
* Soups
* Sides
* Bakedgoods
* Roastedmeats
Considerations for assigning menu items to stations
- Menu considerations:
– Individual menu item components
– Cooking techniques
– Advanced vs. à la minute preparation - Structural considerations:
– Current capacity of each station
– Capabilities of station attendants
– Expected volume of sales
– Dedicated prep person/team
Which station(s) use the product?
Prep time required (active and/or inactive)
Batch size or quantity required?
Shelf-life of the product
Holding/storage temperature of the product
Equipment required
Final production steps
Final production steps/items:
– Order in
– Fire
– Plate
– Inspect & garnish
– Service
NPD Process (flow diagram)
– What is broadly involved in each step
Ideate, investigate, develop, test, launch
NPD strategic considerations
brand image?
NPD tactical considerations
Station capacity
Three pricing approaches –how do they differ?
Fixed is based on Cost per cover a
Menu pricing – other considerations
Such as area and competitors
Recipe costing flow chart
- Which inventory items should be used for ingredients?
- Do the units of measure from recipe match the as purchased units?
- If not, convert into purchased measures and calculate the AP unit costs.
- Does the ingredients need to be trimmed, peeled, etc.
- If yes, identify the appropriate yield percentage and then calculate the APQ, (EPQ/Yield % = APQ)
- If not, then AP cost per unit * APQ
Product specifications – examples, what’s details
are relevant?
Critical for standardizing purchasing, food production, and
quality
* Product name
* Intended use of product
* General description (size, count, brand)
* Detailed description
– Geographic origin
– Product size and type
– Packaging
– Fresh or frozen
– Grade
– Edible yield
* Test procedures for receiving
* Special instructions / requirements
Purchasing objectives
- Maintain continuity of supply
- Minimize investment
- Maintain quality
- Obtain lowest possible cost
- Maintain company’s competitive position
Receiving functions
- Small Restaurants: Head chef or sous chef
- Large Restaurants and Hotels: 3. Dedicated purchasing Dept.
Is it the right product, quality, price, time, source
Details of invoice receiving
- Verify price and quantity (weigh and make sure you aren’t getting shorted (need scale and pen)
- Verify quality, make sure there is tolerance against specs & quality or yield grades are good if applicable
- if something isn’t up to spec it’s up to receiver to make sure that you notate it so that you will get a credit memo signed
1.Ensure product quality quantity, condition, and
price.
2.Expedite products into storage or preparation
3.Aid the purchasing department in evaluating a purveyor’s performance
4.Check the performance of the purchasing department
5.Serve as an accounting checkpoint (invoice)
6.Inform purchasing and production of shortages and returns
Distribution arrangements - 5 types and how they differ
Broad line and speciality Suppliers- Up to distributor to get produce from producer, you as a operator only deals with distributor
System and Co-Ops- You as an operator orders from producer, distributor is still doing payments, picking up products, and delivering, but you have direct purchase agreement with producer suppliers
Self Distribution - Operator owns distributor and directly orders and deals with the producer
Five types of variability – what are they, examples?
– Arrival of customers
– Requests made by customers
– Capability of customers w.r.t. expected involvement
– Effort customers are willing to exert
– Subjective Preference for how service should be delivered
Reduce vs. accommodate strategies
Reducing , how do we make customers adhere to whatever standard.
Accommodate , how can we modify ourselves to accommodate.
If reduce variability, improves efficiency, lowers cost, impersonal experience, compensate with corresponding benefit
Accommodate variability, find ways to make service more flexible, higher cost, increased complexity, may pass higher costs on to customers.
Advantages/disadvantages of each Variability
Arrival :
* Reduce: try to control demand
reservations, early-bird specials, late night specials, happy hour,
* Accommodate: emphasize customer experience
Slack/flexible labor – have more ppl show up, Self-service - write you own name on waitlist, order at the counter, etc.
Requests :
* Reduce
Reservation by request (pre-order) Adj. preferences – menus steer customer, prix fixe menu takes this to the max. Compromise preferences – no substitutions, etc. Target narrow set of customers – wine dinner, beer
dinner, offal menu, etc.
* Accommodate
Cross training – servers all know about wine, line cooks can do several stations, etc.
Self-serve – dress your own salad, make your own salad, toppings bar
Capabilities
* Reduce:
Training: either in advance or during service delivery
Instrumental – pre-reqs in college, gas station instructions
Normative – Starbucks training booklet, employees call back/correct your order
Narrow customers – SAT / ACT score
* Accommodate:
Experienced employees to guide customers, Experienced customers (e.g., online product forums), Self-serve – customers contribute to service experience
Effort
*Reduce:
* Advanced preparation – write your order down on a paper in advance. Normative approach – Starbucks – made standardization an aspiration, created a culture where customers wanted to get it “right”. Target customers of similar effort?
*Accommodate:
* Experienced employees to pick up the slack. Self-serve – firm is less accountable to customers re: service quality
Subjective Preferences *
*Reduce:
* Setting consistent expectations – influence customers to think differently (Fedex overnight)
* Increase customer influence on outcome – self-serve kiosks (ownership) – reduces variability in pref. Target a specific segment
* Accommodate:
* Experienced employees – fine dining, they can read you and know your prefs.
* Self-service
