I consume food. I consume beverages.
Therefore, I am certified to supervise a Food and Beverage operation.
In assessing the operations of many clubs/resorts every month, I discover that one of the most inadequately operated, irregular locations of club/resort operations is Food and Drink. Specifically in member owned environments, which are often overseen by a club board, people appear to believe that because they dine out, they somehow have some level of knowledge that permits them to make business choices about this essential aspect of the club. The reality is that this is among the most complicated departments in a club to manage, control, and produce a constant experience.
Let's ask a couple of questions!
Is your Food and Beverage experience appropriate for what your members/guests want to have in your club/resort? Are you priced effectively, too high, or too low? How do you understand? Are you tracking cover counts by day? By shift? By hour?
Are your food selections stuck in yesteryear, a nice balance of old favorites and new selections, 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 more and become a club dinosaur? What are your item requirements and part sizes? Is every product on your menu costed? What is your goal 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 truly unique? Do they produce a buzz in the Club? Are they eagerly 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 touting the event? Is your staff challenged every quarter to attempt new occasions? Brand-new rate points?
Got Value?
What about value added programming? It's happening every day in the hospitality industry. Chili's, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Flemings, Cody's Roadhouse, McDonalds, Quiznos, Subway, and many other national franchises are actively programming to keep individuals coming in. Any wonder the success rate of franchises is over 90% while the success rate of separately owned restaurants has to do with 10%?
What are you carrying out in your club to create a "WOW" for your members/guests in your Food and Drink offerings? Are you standing pat on your $32 filet and $28 sea bass questioning why you are doing so few covers? Or, are you trying new principles that may supply "meal replacement" dining rather of just "special celebration" dining?
Something as simple as Pleased Hour can create additional 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 cost on bottles of house red wine, Fresh Fish Fridays or a Friday Fish Fry, a Chef's choice at an unique rate on slower evenings, sushi nights, appetizers at an unique rate, entertainment, and numerous other concepts and occasions drive use, offer incremental revenue, and keep the staff working. Are you explore new events in your club/resort? Provide it a shot. You'll be amazed at the buzz it creates.
The Experience
How is your dining-room presented? With white tablecloths? No table linens? Placemats? Are you charging appropriately for the experience you are providing?
How are your buffets presented? Elegantly with skirting, flower screens, and shiny silver chafing meals? Or simple with little or no frills? Does it make good sense?
Do you have requirements of operation to make sure the food and drink experience for your members/guests? Is every staff member using a tidy and pushed designated uniform? Exists a particular way to present menus, serve, food, cocktails, and wine? Are members called by name? Are specific steps of service in place?
Does the service staff know the composition of every item, sauce, and portion size from the menu? Is training offered a minimum of month-to-month? Is your staff offering suggestively?
The Technical Aspects
How frequently do you take a physical stock? Is there "independence" in the inventory procedure to ensure that the counts are accurate? Is inventory prices adjusted routinely to reflect the most current cost the club is spending for all inventoried products or is the cost the club paid last year still being utilized to identify inventory worth?
Do you follow this mantra when getting and inventorying products?
If you buy it beauty products by the pound, weigh it. If you buy it by the piece, count it. If you buy it by ounce or length, measure it? Under no circumstances, accept it blindly.
I am astonished at how typically deliveries are accepted and signed for without even physically being in the exact same space as the products that were delivered let alone checking the packing slip or invoice versus the items received. Shipment people become savvy very rapidly to those who hold them liable and those who don't. A couple of pounds of missing steak here or a few bottles of missing out on liquor there costs a great deal of money over an extended time period.
Just how much unusable food is stashed away in the freezer, frequently a chef's best friend, and continues to be counted monthly throughout inventory yet is essentially worth little or nothing?
What does the organizational structure look like in your club's F&B operation? How are your managers compensated? Are they incented to produce a specific monetary outcome, train the staff, and maintain requirements? Or are they paid merely for revealing up?
How is your service personnel paid? By per hour wage? Tip pool? Some combination of both? Does your pay structure promote period or turnover? What about overtime? Are you paying overtime? Lawfully?
In addition to costing every item on every menu, have you done the same for liquor, beer, and wine? Do you have defined put sizes? Are they being adhered to? Do you have pourers which enable only for the put size for which you are charging? How much of your club's resort's cash is tied up in wine inventory? Have you established par stocks?
Do you have a Food and Drink minimum? Does it make good sense for your club? Do you have a minimum month-to-month service charge? Should you?
Do you supply a worker meal? How is it represented? Is it represented at all? Do you enable staff members to eliminate food/beverage from the club? (A bad idea!). Do you enable your workers to take in liquors at the end of a shift? (An even worse concept!!).
Personal 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 weddings and meetings to the club/resort? Are you covering the costs of setting up and breaking down every room based on the varying requirements of each occasion?
Do your personal occasion policies make sense? When is the "warranty' due? When is payment in full required? Do you need a signed agreement? Do you even have a contract that you need be signed?
An Option
Lots of questions! Get a management business that will work collaboratively with you to address all of these and any others and produce a customized food and beverage experience that reflects your distinct scenario and provides what your members/guests want and want to pay for.