I eat food. I drink beverages.
For that reason, I am certified to oversee a Food and Beverage operation.
In examining the operations of numerous clubs/resorts monthly, I find that a person of the most poorly operated, irregular areas of club/resort operations is Food and Beverage. Particularly in member owned hardware store suppliers environments, which are frequently overseen by a club board, people seem to think that because they dine out, they in some way have some level of proficiency that permits them to make company decisions about this essential aspect of the club. The truth 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 appropriate for what your members/guests wish to have in your club/resort? Are you priced effectively, expensive, 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 nice balance of old favorites and brand-new choices, or edgy? Is your menu designed for function or style? Do you change your menu quarterly, or at least semi-annually to keep it fresh? Or is it changed every year or 2 and become a club dinosaur? What are your item specs and part sizes? Is every product on your menu costed? What is your goal for a la carte food expense? Do you know the contribution margin on every item on your menu?
What about your special occasions. Are they actually unique? Do they create a buzz in the Club? Are they eagerly expected or the exact same thing that was done the last ten years with nothing more than the year changed in the newsletter and promotional piece promoting the occasion? Is your staff challenged every quarter to attempt new events? New cost points?
Got Worth?
What about worth included programming? It's occurring every day in the hospitality industry. Chili's, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Flemings, Cody's Roadhouse, McDonalds, Quiznos, Train, and many 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 separately owned restaurants has to do with 10%?
What are you doing in your club to create 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 trying brand-new principles that may supply "meal replacement" dining rather of just "special occasion" dining?
Something as basic as Pleased Hour can generate additional use. Comfort food such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, lasagna, or similar for" at $8 or $9 throughout 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, appetizers at an unique price, entertainment, and lots of other concepts and occasions drive usage, supply incremental income, and keep the personnel working. Are you explore new occasions in your club/resort? Offer it a try. You'll be shocked at the buzz it produces.
The Experience
How is your dining room presented? With white table linens? No table linens? Placemats? Are you charging appropriately for the experience you are supplying?
How are your buffets provided? Elegantly with skirting, floral display screens, and glossy silver chafing meals? Or fundamental with little or no frills? Does it make good sense?
Do you have standards of operation to guarantee the food and beverage experience for your members/guests? Is every staff member using a clean and pressed designated uniform? Is there a particular way to present menus, serve, food, cocktails, and wine? Are members called by name? Specify actions of service in location?
Does the service staff know the composition of every product, sauce, and portion size from the menu? Is training offered at least monthly? Is your personnel offering suggestively?
The Technical Aspects
How often do you take a physical inventory? Exists "self-reliance" in the inventory process to guarantee that the counts are accurate? Is stock prices adjusted regularly to show the most current expense the club is spending for all inventoried items or is the expense the club paid in 2015 still being utilized to figure out stock value?
Do you follow this mantra when receiving and inventorying items?
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, determine it? Under no circumstances, accept it blindly.
I am amazed at how often deliveries are accepted and signed for without even physically remaining in the exact same room as the products that were provided let alone inspecting the packing slip or invoice against the items received. Delivery individuals become smart very quickly to those who hold them accountable and those who don't. A few pounds of missing out on steak here or a couple of bottles of missing out on liquor there costs a great deal of cash over an extended amount of time.
Just how much unusable food is stored in the freezer, frequently a chef's best friend, and continues to be counted on a monthly basis throughout inventory yet is essentially worth little or absolutely nothing?
What does the organizational structure appear like in your club's F&B operation? How are your managers compensated? Are they incented to produce a specific financial outcome, train the staff, and preserve requirements? Or are they paid just for showing up?
How is your service personnel paid? By per hour wage? Suggestion swimming 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 item on every menu, have you done the very same for alcohol, beer, and white wine? Do you have defined pour sizes? Are they being followed? Do you have pourers which permit just for the pour size for which you are charging? How much of your club's resort's cash is tied up in wine stock? Have you recognized 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 charge? Should you?
Do you supply an employee meal? How is it accounted for? Is it accounted for at all? Do you enable employees to eliminate food/beverage from the club? (A bad concept!). Do you permit your employees to take in liquors at the end of a shift? (An even worse idea!!).
Personal Occasions
What about your Private Occasions? Is your catering menu priced right? What does priced best mean? Have you examined the competitive environment? What are you doing to bring weddings and meetings to the club/resort? Are you covering the expenses of setting up and breaking down every room based on the varying needs of each event?
Do your personal event policies make good sense? When is the "assurance' due? When is payment in full required? Do you require a signed agreement? Do you even have an agreement that you need be signed?
A Service
Lots of concerns! Get a management company that will work collaboratively with you to address all of these and any others and produce a personalized food and drink experience that shows your unique situation and offers what your members/guests want and want to spend for.