TOPIC 3: FOODS AND BEVERAGES

The provision of food and beverage for people away from home forms a
substantial part of the activities of the hospitality industry and of the economy
as a whole. Like the hospitality industry, food and beverage operations are
characterized by their diversity. Outlets include private and public sector
establishments and range from small, independently owned, and operated
units to large multi-national corporations managing global brands, and from
hospital catering to catering in the most luxurious hotels in the world.

The foodservice industry in the Philippines is continuously growing. According

to the statistics from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the foodservice
industry generated 551.1 billion in revenues with 30,889 total establishments. It
has also produced 495,973 jobs in 2016.
Food and beverage (or food service) operations in the hospitality industry are
concerned with the provision of food and drink ready for immediate
consumption (but excluding retailing and food manufacturing).

The eight elements in the sequence below may be referred to as the food
service cycle. This summarises what food and beverage (or food service)
operations are concerned with and illustrates that it is not simply about food
production, beverage provision, or food and beverage service (Cousins,
et.al, 2014).

CLASSIFICATION OF FOOD INDUSTRY

1. Commercial Food Service

•Main goal is to provide food and beverage to customers for profit and
create positive guest experiences.
•Examples: Restaurants, hotel foodservice outlets, bars, clubs, cruise ship
food service outlets, transportation food service outlets, food service in
attractions, off-premise catering

2. Non-commercial or Institutional Foodservice

•A budget-oriented enterprise that prepares and serves meals as a
secondary support service to educational institutions and other organizations.
•Examples: Schools, Healthcare facilities (hospitals, nursing homes), military or
government institutions, corporations

3. Management Company or Food Service Contractors

•If institutions lack the expertise to operate F&B service operation efficiently,
they could contract with a Food Service Contractor to run their business for
them.
•Examples:
ARAMARK and SODEXHO: food service provider of airlines and railways,
factories, offices, and other workplaces.

MAJOR CATEGORIES OF RESTAURANTS

Food and beverage (or food service) operations include various types of
restaurants. Restaurants are commercial facilities that provide food and
beverages to customers for profit. Basically, it is furnished with dining tables
and chairs and equipped with cutlery, glassware, linen, etc. according to the
standards of the establishment.

1. FINE DINING OR UPSCALE RESTAURANTS are also called luxury, "gourmet” or

“gastronomic” expensive restaurants which usually offer the highest quality
food and beverage products and services. The main areas of focus are
menu, service, and the ambiance.

2. CASUAL DINING (MID-SCALE) RESTAURANTS are restaurants that serve

moderately-priced food in a casual atmosphere. They offer a fuller but less
formal menu and table service and they have a full bar, larger beer menu,
and limited wine menu.

Bistro is a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a

modest setting with alcohol.

Brasserie is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves

single dishes and other meals. It is expected to have professional service,
printed menus, and white linen and serves the same menu all day.

3. FAMILY RESTAURANTS appeal to families and others desiring comfort foods.

They have a moderately-priced menu. Table service rather than counter
service. Food is served on platters.

4. QUICK SERVICE RESTAURANTS (QSR) are also known as Fast Food

Restaurants. They provide “ready to eat” food in minutes after it is ordered.
There is a cashier counter where food orders are placed, paid for, and
received for consumption either on a tray or in a packed form to take
away. It does not usually require traditional cutlery and flatware. The menu
items are depicted through colorful transparencies behind the counter.

5. ETHNIC RESTAURANTS specializes in foods associated with a particular

culture, country, or region.

6. SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS are restaurants in which the concept of the cuisine

or food is given priority. They feature specific kinds of food such as steaks,
chicken, seafood, doughnuts, or sandwiches.

7. THEMED RESTAURANTS are characterized by a special theme that

incorporates the design, menu, service, and overall “feel” of the
restaurant. Creative, as well as culinary expertise, is needed for the successful
functioning of such an establishment.

8. COFFEE SHOP / COFFEE HOUSE are restaurants without table service that
emphasize coffee and other beverages. Ensures quick service because the
food items offered can be made in a hurry and pre-plated. The restaurant
has a casual atmosphere. Customers can relax and socialize for long periods
of time without pressure to leave promptly after eating.

9. BUFFET RESTAURANT is a type of restaurant concept that includes self-

service and catering. It offers customers a selection of food at a fixed price.
The food is served on trays around bars, from which customers with plates
serve themselves.

10. CAFETERIA / CANTEEN is a self-service restaurant serving ready-cooked

food arranged behind the food serving counter. Cafeterias are common in
hospitals, corporations, and educational institutions. There is no table service.

STYLES OF FOOD SERVICE

1. Table-service: Food and beverage are ordered and brought to the

customer’s table by the wait staff.

a. American Style, food is plated in the kitchen and brought out to the guests
individually, which controls portion sizes and helps to ensure that each guest
receives his food when it’s still hot.
b. English Style is an informal way of table setting wherein the foods are
placed in the middle of the table. Each person will just get what he/she
wants on a plate or the host/hostess serves the individual plates from the
platters or bowls placed in front of him/her.

c. French Style (Gueridon): food is served from the gueridon. A Gueridon is a

rolling cart the same height as the guest's table. It is covered with a cloth and
is placed side-by-side with the table. It is equipped with a small alcohol
stove that is used to keep the food warm for the preparation of sauces and
other special dishes.

This service is very elaborate and elegant. The food is partially prepared
in the kitchen and completed by the Chef or Headwaiter in full view of the
customer.
2. Specialized Service: the food and drink are taken to where the customer is.
This includes tray service in hospitals or aircraft, trolley service, home delivery,
lounge, and room service.

3. Self-service: Customers select their food from the displayed items, they
carry them with or without a tray.

• Buffet service
• Cafeteria service
• Counter service

4. Single-point service: the customer orders, pays, and receives the food and
beverages, for instance at a counter, at a bar in licensed premises, in a fast-
food operation, or at a vending machine. Menu items are consumed off-
premise and are packaged accordingly.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
The various job roles in food and beverage service are identified below.

Food and Beverage Manager

Depending on the size of the establishment, the food and beverage

manager is either responsible for the implementation of agreed policies or for
contributing to the setting up of the food and beverage policies. The larger
the organization the less likely the manager is to be involved in policy setting.
In general, food and beverage managers are responsible for:
ensuring that the required profit margins are achieved for each food and
beverage service area, in each financial period
compiling, in liaison with the kitchen, menus for the various food service areas
and for special occasions
purchasing of all materials, both food and drink
ensuring that quality in relation to the price paid is maintained
ensuring staff training, sales promotions, and the maintenance of the highest
professional standards
holding regular meetings with section heads to ensure all areas are working
effectively, efficiently and are well coordinated.
A. Food production job roles
Head chef/maître chef de cuisine: has overall responsibility for the
organization and administration of the food production operation. He or she
is responsible for the management of the food production team, often called
a kitchen brigade. They also undertake menu planning and development,
overseeing the sourcing of produce, settings standards for the operation, and
ensuring they are maintained.

Second chef/sous-chef de cuisine is the second in command to the chef de

cuisine and will act as head chef when the head is off-duty. He or she may
also cover for or assist a chef de partie when required. They often have
responsibilities for staff training as well as overseeing stock control. In smaller
operations, there might not be a sous-chef, while larger operations may have
more than one.

Chef de partie/section chef may also be known as a section chef and is

usually in charge of a specific area of food production such as fish,
vegetables, roasts, sweets, or the larder. In larger kitchens, each chef de
partie might have several cooks and/or assistants.

Commis chef is a junior chef who works under a chef de partie in order to
gain experience in the section’s work. It is common for commis chefs to work
in a number of sections as part of their training.

Kitchen assistants are often two types of kitchen assistants. Kitchen hands
assist with basic food preparation tasks under the section chef’s direction.
Stewards work in the scullery (a small kitchen or room used for washing dishes
and other dirty household work) and carry out the washing-up and general
cleaning duties. In smaller kitchen operations these two duties are often
combined.

B. Food and beverage service job roles

Restaurant manager/supervisor has overall responsibility for the organization

and administration of particular food and beverage service areas. These may
include the lounges, room service (in hotels), restaurants, and possibly some
of the private function suites. It is the restaurant manager who sets the
standards for service and is responsible for any staff training that may be
required, either on or off the job. They may make out holiday lists and hours
on and off duty and contribute to operational duties (depending on the size
of the establishment) so that all the service areas run efficiently and smoothly.

Reception head waiter/receptionist is responsible for accepting bookings

and for keeping the booking diary up to date. They will take reservations and
work with the head waiter to allocate these reservations to particular stations.
The reception head waiter or receptionist greets customers on arrival and
takes them to the table and seats them.

Head waiter/maître d’hôtel/supervisor has overall charge of the staff team

and is responsible for seeing that all the pre-preparation duties necessary for
service are efficiently carried out. The head waiter will aid the reception
head waiter during the service and will possibly take some orders if the station
waiter is busy. The head waiter also helps with the compilation of duty roster
and holiday lists and may relieve the restaurant manager or reception head
waiter on their days off.

Station head waiter/section supervisor/service captain: For larger

establishments, the restaurant area is broken down into sections. The station
head waiter has overall responsibility for a team of staff serving a number of
stations within a section of the restaurant area. Each of the sets of tables
(which may be anything from four to eight in number) within the section of
the restaurant area is called a station. The station head waiter will also assist in
taking food and beverage orders and assist with service if required.

Station waiter/chef de rang provides service to one set of tables (between

about four and eight) known as a station within the restaurant area. The
station waiter will take the food and beverage orders and carry out service at
the table with the help of the assistant station waiter.

Waiter/server/commis de rang acts by instruction from the chef de rang. This

person mainly fetches and carries, may do some of the services of either
vegetables or sauces, offers rolls, places plates upon the table, and helps to
clear the tables after each course. During the pre-preparation period much
of the cleaning and preparatory tasks will be carried out by the commis de
rang.

Carver/trancheur is responsible for the carving trolley and the carving of joints
at the table as required. The carver will plate up each portion and serve with
accompaniments as appropriate.

Wine butler/wine waiter/sommelier is responsible for the service of all

alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic bar drinks during the service of meals. The
sommelier must also be a good salesperson. This employee should have a
thorough knowledge of all drink to be served, of the best wines and drinks to
go with certain foods, and of the liquor licensing laws in respect of the
particular establishment and area.

Bar staff/bar tender/mixologist The people working within bar areas must be
responsible and competent in preparing and serving a variety of wines,
drinks, and cocktails. They should have a thorough knowledge of all alcoholic
and non-alcoholic drinks offered within the establishment, the ingredients
necessary for making cocktails, and knowledge of the liquor licensing laws to
ensure legal compliance. A mixologist is an employee who mixes and serves
alcoholic beverages at a bar and is also often used as a name for people
who create new mixed drinks. The term can also mean a cocktail maker or
simply bartender. Mixology is the art of making mixed drinks.

Barista: In Italian, a barista is a male or female bartender who typically works

behind a counter, serving both hot and cold beverages as well as alcoholic
beverages. Barista does not mean specifically a coffee maker although it is
now often used as such.

Buffet assistant/buffet chef/chef de buffet is in charge of the buffet in the

room, its presentation, the carving and portioning of food, and its service. This
staff member will normally be a member of the kitchen team.
Function catering/banqueting staff/events staff: In establishments with
function catering facilities, these will include the banqueting and
conferencing manager, one or two assistant managers, one or two head
waiters, a dispense person, and a secretary to the banqueting and
conferencing manager. In small establishments where there are fewer
events, the manager, assistant manager, and headwaiter will undertake the
necessary administrative and organizational work.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

1. Food safety
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that
each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans, about 48 million people, suffer from food-
borne disease. In Europe, a 2015 report published by the European Food
Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and
Control (ECDC), confirmed a total of 5,196 food-borne and water-borne
outbreaks, 43,183 human cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) has
acknowledged that often it is not a single issue but a combination of factors
that are responsible for illness. In the hospitality sector, food handling errors
such as failure to ensure critical procedures (cleaning, separation of raw and
cooked meat) are effectively followed, insufficient food safety-related record
keeping, and ineffective training are commonly implicated in food-borne
illness. These are often attributed to not only a lack of adequate food safety
knowledge, but also to time constraints, lack of resources (e.g. financial, time,
supplies, etc.), and behavioral issues, including those related to employee
motivation and cultural perceptions of food safety practices (Komitopoulou,
2016).

In the 21st century, businesses must acknowledge that inadequate food

safety is not just the matter of a sick customer, it will mean the erosion of
brand loyalty and reputation and, in an age of social media, that negative
message will spread faster than ever.

2. Food wastes
Restaurants, though generally considered to be a “clean industry”, still
substantially contribute to the waste stream.
The management of solid waste disposal remains a growing challenge as
towns and cities remain ill-equipped to deal with the consequences of higher
population density and urbanization. Some restaurants have adopted
recycling in terms of food packaging, and some fast food companies have
reintroduced the use of non-disposable beverages and food containers for
dine-in orders.

3. Climate change
The increasing frequency of natural disasters such as forest fires, hurricanes,
droughts, typhoons has the potential to interrupt food production and the
supply chain which affects the availability of ingredients. On the other hand,
food production is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas
emissions. The foodservice industry needs to consider alternative energy and
food sources to mitigate the depletion of natural resources, deforestation,
massive pollution of the land and ocean, and water scarcity.

4. Competition with non-traditional establishments

In addition to competing with other restaurants, many foodservice
establishments now have to compete with non-traditional operations, like
grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas stations. Many of these types of
establishments are starting to offer high-quality pre-made and ready-to-order
meals that appeal to busy customers. These businesses are usually well-
established, so they have the capital and connections to offer these meals at
low prices that are hard for independent operations to compete with.

TRENDS
The foodservice industry is a highly dynamic and evolving industry. It is driven
by the quick change in consumer preferences and their sense of exploration
of various tastes and flavors. The increased threat of new entrants in the
market aids the key players to come up with innovative ways in improving the
service to gain a competitive advantage. The advancement in technology
contributes to the change in lifestyle and well-being of society. This chapter
highlights the various trends in the food and beverage industry.

I. Consumer Trends

Eating out or Eating in

A report from the USA has suggested that the eating out behavior of
customers, particularly the millennial generation, is changing and so
threatening the success of many casual dining operations (Taylor, 2017).
Customers, millennials in particular, being more attracted to cooking at
home, and ordering delivery from restaurants to eat home. Cooking at home
has become more popular as both retail and delivery companies put
together meal packs that provide a quick and easy solution with all the
ingredients for the meal easily at hand. Restaurants have responded by
offering more home delivery options either through a third-party delivery
service or by developing their own. With the COVID-19 pandemic, fear of
contracting the virus led people to opt for delivery or take-out service. This
forced the food and beverage establishments to adopt innovative products
and business practices.

Global flavors
Growing mobility, improved logistics, and new technologies have made
possible the globalization of tastes that rapidly change the culinary
landscape. Specifically, the exchange between food cultures is the
characteristic feature of the trend identified as the globalization of flavors,
which nurtures a feeling of curiosity for other peoples’ food and lifestyle
customs.

Photo by pixelshot.com on Freepiks

2. Healthy menu concept

Younger generations are willing to pay higher prices for healthy meals
specifically tied to buzzwords such as GMO-free, all-natural, or organic. With
a decrease in foodservice visits and shifting consumer views on health,
restaurant operators must drive menu development strategies focused on a
balance between comfort cravings and healthy offerings.

Photo from welltodoglobal.com

II. Technology Trends
1. Electronic commerce or E-commerce refers to a business model that lets
firms and individuals buy and sell things over the internet (investopedia.com)

Online platforms
Food ordering and delivery businesses are going through a paradigm shift.
Powering this change are hi-speed internet and the increase in smartphone-
usage. The huge potential of the market has resulted in the proliferation of
countless online platforms. These websites function as a marketplace where
customers can browse nearby restaurants that deliver food, access their
menu, compare prices for similar food items, place an order and delivery,
and make a reservation using a simple user interface (UI).

Payment systems

Digital payments are the future. Digitization of payments was a huge jump
towards the goal to achieve an easy, convenient, fast, and secure payment
method. In the coming years, payment methods will transition from physical
cash to digital payment methods. Contactless payment allows the customers
to simply wave their smartphone across the reader. This method of waving is
way faster and more convenient than inserting a card. The global COVID-19
pandemic has the unintended effect of accelerating the use of other forms
of payment aside from physical banknotes and coins because paper money
and coins can potentially spread infection according to the World Health
Organization (WHO).

2. Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Robotics and AI
Merriam-Webster defines robotics as ‘technology dealing with the design,
construction, and operation of robots in automation’. Robotics also includes
the computer systems that are required for their control, sensory feedback,
and information processing. Advancements in various technological domains
during the last two decades have transformed ‘fiction’ robots into reality
(Zohaib et al., 2014). Flippy is a robotic arm that flips and cooks burgers with
ease and fries up to 80 baskets of food per hour, monitor the food to ensure
it’s cooked and can clean up after itself. These robots have been designed
to be used in restaurants and hotels with chef automation. Robotics and
automation in the food industry are growing with more and more
applications and robots being used than ever before. An article in Nikkei
Asian Review (Tani, 2017) suggests that the food industry is the industry with
the second highest number of activities open to automation (68.5% of
production and service activities). Although it is evident that automation is on
the increase, it is highly unlikely that it will completely replace the human
element; as this article in Big Hospitality suggests, consumers still rate personal
and attentive service as one of the top elements of eating out (Thompson,
2016).

Photo from greenbiz.com

Photo from technologiemedia.net

Digital menu boards

Digital displays used in a food services environment as menu boards,
promotional panels or for infotainment, offer benefits for the customers and
the establishment. Digital menu boards influence customers during the point
of purchase, improve ambiance and are easy to read. Updates to menu
selection, pricing and special can be dynamically updated and integrated
with brand messaging.
Photo by netvisual.ca

Touchscreen kiosks and tablets

To address the challenges of delayed service delivery, the use of restaurant
kiosks has emerged and grown at an incredible speed. It makes the food
ordering process more efficient and eliminates customer frustration over
waiting in line to place their orders. With the emergence of ordering kiosks
systems, customers can now scan and select on-screen menus before
placing their orders. The process is fully automated without any human
involved as payments can be made via credit cards. This technology helps
streamline the ordering process, can speed up the service, and reduce labor
costs.

Photo by inquirer.net

As the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, restaurants and food

services companies are affected in various ways. With major countries having
declared a state of emergency, closure of non-essential businesses, and
social distancing, the foodservice industry sales went down. While few
restaurants are able to maintain normal revenues by providing meals via
takeout and delivery options, others are still contemplating whether to
choose to remain open or close temporarily. For restaurants to survive during
the coronavirus crisis, they will need to find creative solutions and adapt to
customers’ plight. This article Top Foodservice Industry Trends for 2021 |
WebstaurantStore enumerated innovative ways on how businesses can
adapt to the new normal and adhere to the health protocols.