FOOD AND

BEVERAGE SECTOR
Chapter 6
Micro Perspective of Tourism and
Hospitality
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History of the Food and Beverage Service

In early history, there was much evidence that certain people cooked together in big
groups and that the early inns provided a crude menu. In the Roman era, some
establishments offered sausage or roast meat, bread, and a cup of wine.
In 1200, public cook shops were opened in London which offered pre-cooked takeout
food. The royal families of Europe introduced cutlery, table linen, crystal glasses, new
foods such as turkey and potato, and the roadside tavern. In the sixteenth century,
British inns and taverns began to serve one meal a day at a fixed time and price at a
common table. The meal was known as ordinary and the dining rooms were called
ordinaries. The most famous ordinary in London was the Castle and Llyod’s.
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History of the Food and Beverage Service

In the 17th century, the ordinaries became fashionable clubs and gambling places as well as
centers for political activities. The word “restaurant” was used in the late eighteenth century for
a Paris dining room serving light dishes.
In the United States, taverns and inns were very similar to those in England. A famous tavern in
New York was Fraunces Tavern. The hamburger was first served in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s
Fair. The first root beer stand was founded by Roy Allen and Frank Wright. World War II
brought many changes to the American public, people became richer. In the 1960s, fast-food
establishments emerged.
At present, modern popular cuisine including French, Chinese, Mexican, and Japanese has
become common in most cities. The role food plays in tourism may not be a direct but an
indirect attraction.
Types of Restaurants
 Family or Commercial Restaurants

 Coffee Shops

 Cafeterias

 Gourmet Restaurants

 Ethnic Restaurants

 Fast-food Restaurants

 Deli Shops

 Buffet Restaurants

 Transportation Restaurants
 Franchise restaurants are a major
component of the food service industry,
particularly in the fast-food sector. Franchises
are beneficial to the franchisees because they
provide operational, training, layout and design
assistance, location assistance, managerial
expertise, group purchasing power, and most
Franchising
importantly, the identification of a well-known
brand supported by regional, national, and
international advertising and promotion.
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Restaurant Profitability
Food Cost Percentage
Food cost percentage is often used to measure a restaurant’s marketing success. It is
determined by dividing the food cost for a period (a day, a week, a month) by the sales for
that same period and then multiplying it by 100. For ex. If the cost of food for one week is
P40,000 and sales is P100,000, the food cost would be: 40%
Gross Profit
Gross profit is the selling price of an item less its food cost.

Item Cost Price Selling Price Cost Gross Profit

Percentage
1 P250 P500 50% P250
2 P60 P250 24% P190
 Labor Cost
Labor costs are controlled by expressing them as a
percentage of sales on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and
comparing the actual cost with the standard desired. Instead
of treating labor costs as separate from food costs. For
instance, they set a standard of 75% above in which food
costs plus labor costs must not increase. As long as the
operation maintains the combined cost below this level, the
restaurant will be profitable.
Average Guest Check
Another profitability measure used in restaurants is
the average guest spending or average check. Average guest
spending is calculated by dividing the total revenue received
for a particular period (a day, a week, or a month) by the total
number of guests served during that period. For ex. If 350
guests are served dinner and the total revenue received is
P198,550, the average spending will be: P567.28
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Menus
The menu is the basic planning document for a
successful restaurant. Several aspects of the restaurant’s operation
depend on the menu. The menu contains what the restaurant
offers, the range of offerings, as well as the selling prices.
The menu also determines the equipment needed and the
investment required. In general, the more extensive the menu is,
the more varied the needed equipment will be. In addition, the
menu identifies the labor costs of a restaurant. It can determine
the number of staff required and the cost of staff training for food
preparation and service.
The menu also helps emphasize, using bolder prints,
which menu items the restaurant would prefer customers to order

Airline Catering
 Airline companies spend
billions of dollars every year on
food purchases. The amount is
less for shorter trips, since the
passengers may be offered only
a non-alcoholic beverage and a
light snack. For longer trips, two
or three meals may be offered
including free alcoholic
beverages, the amount is higher.
Food Quality
 The main problem of airline
companies is to cook the meal
on the ground and serve it
several hours later in an
extraordinarily dry cabin
atmosphere. In 1992, airline
passengers were served a
sandwich and coffee from a
vacuum flask on a flight from
London to Paris. At present,
particularly on long flights,
passengers expect hot meals.
9
Logistics
 .To produce hot meals, the
airline companies have to
prepare specifications for
recipes, ingredients, cooking
methods and temperatures, and
labor for each flight. These
require a forecast using the
actual passenger reservations for
each flight. Menus must be
carefully selected for each flight
to avoid serving the same meal
to a passenger on two
succeeding segments of a trip or
a round trip.
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Airplane Galleys  The first airplane galley was designed in 1936 by

Douglas for its DC-3. Meals prepared on the ground were
kept hot or cold in insulated containers on the aircraft.
After World War II, the introduction of larger airplanes
enabled them to have ovens and refrigerators onboard in
their galleys.
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Flight Kitchens
 The first airplane flight kitchen was opened
in the late 1930s near Washington D.C
Hoover Field airport by a gentleman named
Marriott. He had a restaurant near the airport.
He noticed that passengers would go to his
restaurant to eat before boarding their flights
because no meals were served in the airplane.
He approached Eastern Air Transport, now
known as Eastern Airlines, and offered to
prepare lunch boxes in his restaurant for
Eastern’s passengers. Eastern agreed so the
first flight kitchen was established.
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Difference Between Airline Catering and Restaurant

Catering
 Restaurant catering is different from Airline catering because the cooks in the restaurants
can make last-minute adjustments. In airline catering, the logistics are very complex, but
airlines exert great efforts to serve good meals to the passengers. They even respond to the
needs of passengers on special diets if given enough notice.

Restaurant Promotion
 Local newspaper advertisements are used by most restaurants as a major form of external
promotion. Some use local radio or TV commercials. Many restaurants foster good
relations with nearby hotel employees such as front office staff, bell desk personnel, and
doormen because they are often asked by hotel guests to recommend good nearby
restaurants. Good public relations and word-of-mouth advertising generate a lot of business.
Thank You
Rosel I. Dela Cruz
HTM Instructor