Giving your customers the option to find what they want on your menu at the price they want to pay, is the key to making more profits.
It happens all too often now. I'm dining with my wife, a friend or a business associate for lunch and we are both in need of a morsel of libation. But as the sun is still out, a bottle is simply too much - a point that is metaphorically and literally driven in by the glint of my white Mercedes-Benz station wagon near the far end of the parking lot.
When one thinks of visiting Vancouver Island, the typical trip includes a day or two in the bohemian provincial capital, Victoria, followed by a trek north into perpetually verdant British Columbian wilderness or hugging the craggy, wind-swept western coast with most roads ending in Tofino. Along the way are picturesque mountain ranges, hiking trails and some truly incredible people of all walks of life.
Food cost is a never-ending battle in a war that does not end. You can never take your foot off the gas, if you do you will slow down. When you slow down in the food cost world it is costly. Back in the day I cut my teeth as a receiver, F&B cost control clerk and ultimately an F&B cost controller.
Take a moment and imagine the typical minibar in a traditional big box hotel. Stocked with the basic assortment of national beers, a few half-bottles of wine for some plonky mass-produced label, some one-shot servings of the most common hard liquor brands and perhaps a bite or two of sugary snacks, this isn't doing your property any favors.
From the high-tech preferences of Generation Z, to the experiential fondness of Millennials, to the health and wellness realities facing Baby Boomers, hotels continually adjust the amenities and services they offer to satisfy their guests. These adjustments are based on extensive consumer research, much of which has been published in the lodging industry trade publications.
There has been such rapid growth in the hotel food and beverage industry that it calls for a shift in what hotel restaurants and similar food and beverage establishments do in the next one to two years. These shifts are reshaping the industry as it transitions from outdated to modern - even pioneering. The future is promising indeed and among the critical success factors will be the convenience and quality of guest service with alternative menu options that have traceable origins and a fusion appeal. Technology innovation is at the very center of it all.
What is really important to realize is the food cost calculation in your hotel will always come back to the cost of goods formula. Any attempt to track and individualize the outlet food cost that I have ever seen is a big waste of time. It is a waste of time because it always comes back to the fact that the food cost is calculated by adding the opening inventory to the purchases and then subtracting the closing inventory - as well as any legitimate credits at month end - to calculate the food cost. This is never done in hotels by outlet simply because it is completely inefficient to do so.
In today's flourishing wine climate, more grape varieties and excellent wines have been made available. However, where there is choice there can be confusion and the world of wine can be overwhelming, intimidating and complex. Whilst we all can't be sommelier's trained to specialize in all aspects of wine, there is a method to appear trained so you can navigate a restaurants wine list like a pro. Lukasz Kolodziejczyk, head of fine wine at Cult Wines, has created a helpful guide with five tips to help you choose from any wine list with ease.
Rewind half a century and you'll find that the best hotels always had the best restaurants. Everyone knew that fine dining could be found at the luxury downtown properties. Typically, a hotel would have at least two outlets - haute cuisine and a café. That age-old formula seemed to work well, until it didn't.
As a chef, I spend a lot of time trying different foods. Caviar with potatoes, oysters, shrimp and salmon in New York — it was delicious! Portuguese beignets with salted caramel and passion fruit curd in Lisbon — ditto. And that tamal with chipilín and local cheese made a superb breakfast in Chiapas, Mexico.
It's wine education week! Whilst wine does contain alcohol, every wine - be it red or white, still or sparkling - is the unique product of an individual recipe and set of processes. Just like the grape content, the alcohol levels vary from wine to wine. Speaking to senior portfolio manager at Cult Wines, Jack Chapman, he explains how alcohol content is created, measured and may vary.
Gluten free? Nut allergies? Vegan? Keto? Whole 30? … According to Forbes, a whopping 18% of surveyed consumers say they follow a specialty diet. Food producers, restaurants, and investors have all taken note of the growth in food sensitivities with specialty products and programs. The wellness industry is now worth $4.2T - more than global travel - and the segment growth is especially robust amongst the coveted millennial segment.
As young restaurateurs pave the way for the future of the restaurant sector, they are keen to adapt to their customers' and markets' needs and are ready to make F&B an innovative and experience-centered industry. How ready are they to take on tomorrow's challenges, such as adapting their business models to new delivery channels, digitalization or engaging in sustainability practices?
Your menu pricing strategy is directly tied to your bottom line. Which makes me wonder why so many restaurants overlook this important profit center.
In the world of wine, it is important to differentiate between individual reputation and collective reputation. Disassociating the two is crucial because it helps wine drinkers understand the price differences between two wineries that share the same appellation.
As it's not dependent on the natural attributes of a destination such as sun, sea and sand, food tourism can be an important tool for hospitality and tourism businesses, allowing them to attract tourists during off-peak times.
Winemakers seek to create 'balanced' and 'harmonious' wines, defined mainly by flavors which, when combined, produce the wine's complexity or 'structure', as well as 'roundness'. When appreciating wine, those flavors interact with each other and modify the way they are perceived. This effect could have an impact on the wine's balance itself.
There is currently a growing demand from customers for customization in various aspects of the food and beverage industry. Not only the product or service offered, but also the customer experience needs to be unique and feel personal.
Up until the hospitality industry started to change over half a century ago, everyone was accustomed to believing that a city's best restaurant would be found at a luxury hotel downtown. Such a property's premier restaurant would often serve as a perennial draw for both out-of-towners as well as locals, with reservations coveted and those seated immediately bestowing status upon their patrons.