Explore different characteristic of chain and independence restaurant

For ownership, the chain restaurants are mostly belonging to the company or a corporation. The owners of the restaurants are some stockholders and they do not usually get involved to the daily operation. However, the independent restaurants are owned by one or a group of people such as family business. And the owners will usually get involved to the day to day operation.

For linkage, the chain restaurants are different type of restaurants that owned by the same company in the market concept, design, service, food and name. But the independent restaurants do not affiliated with any national brands and names.

For service and operation, the chain restaurants in different locations will have the same menu, food, quality, level of service since the decision of the operation are designed only by the top manager. The dependent restaurants otherwise will have some more creative idea and menu in their restaurants since the decision are made by the owner who will involve in the daily business day to day.

 

For the risk level, the chain restaurants usually has the lower risk level since it is belong to some large scale of corporation. So, the chain restaurants have a larger segment location of different brand of restaurants. So, their total sales revenue is much more stable since even one of their restaurant profit drop another restaurant profit may cover it up. However, the independent restaurant has a higher risk level. Since it scale is small and it may only owner by one person, the economy depression or just some little change may crush that business.

 

For management, chain restaurants have less flexibility since the complexity and level of management, almost many decisions are made by the top manager of the corporation. The front line and employee don’t have the authority to make or change the decision. On other hand, the independence restaurants have much more flexibility and creativity in managing the restaurants. It is because the owner usually involved in the day to day operation so he or she can change and make the decision immediately.                                                                   

 

 

 

Reference:
http://www.nevobusiness.com/independentrestaurants/independent.html
http://www.coloradoeats.com/sites/independentrestaurants/independent.htm

How Restaurants do their Forecasting and Food Cost Control Process?

Forecasting 

An accurate forecast has two important elements: 

1. The Data

Historical data and researched data are vital for forecasting. They provide the predicted demand for each month so that managers can forecast the labor and food needed in each season. 

2. The Analysis

While most POS systems gather the data and produce historical reports, it lets you forecast what the impact of a promotion will be.

How?

1.      Budget

Predict all the supporting facilities needed, including place, seats, billing and so on.

2.      Forecasting for labor

There are different positions in a restaurant including host, greeter, steward etc. The service time is also different for each position. Managers are asked to predict how many staff should they have and set a schedule for each staff.

3.      Existing Business recorded for forecasting

Identify and monitor repeat customers and chart customer visits to identify patterns. It can be a very useful data in long run since some seasonal cycles or patterns can be discovered. And, managers can forecast the future trend and set up an appropriate method to maximize the profit.

Food Cost Control Process

1. Menu Planning & Standard Recipes
Restaurants’ recipes are kinds of standard costs for each ingredient. Recipes provide a theoretical cost to compare to actual so that managers can control the cost of purchasing food. It is the fundamental element for measuring the cost of each menu item and the overall food cost.

             Resource: restonoodlefactory.com

2. Purchasing Systems
Cooperate with suppliers is important method to control the cost. Higher purchasing quantity will decrease the average cost since the fixed cost can be shared. However, it is needed to be aware of the demand. If the purchase quantity is much higher than the demand, it becomes waste and the cost is conversely higher.  

3. Receiving Process
It’s critical for a manager or senior level staff member to check the deliver for accuracy. If there are any wrong deliver, a quick refund or exchange can be done in order to reduce the time cost and waste of unneeded ingredients. So, it is important that each case must be counted and spot checked for proper weight and quality.

4. Inventory Cycles
An inventory count weekly or monthly is needed to determine actual food used during the timeframe. The inventory should be recorded in order to make a historical data. It can be a reference for managers to check he seasonal trend and control the inventory more properly.



  Resource: chefs-resources.com

5. Accounting & Reports
A financial and account department is vitally important to deal with the above points. An accounting process will generate the reports needed to determine if expenses are in line, and if they are not where to look to fix the problem.

one topic about the restaurant business you’re interested and discover more details about it

Theme restaurant is one of the popular restaurant in Hong Kong nowadays. The concept of it influences the decoration, food, staff’s uniform and the overall feeling. The theme restaurant can be cartoon, famous individuals and medieval time period etc.  

Charlie Brown Cafe, Snoopy is one if the themed restaurant in Hong Kong. 

A snoopy french toast and coffee

All decor is about snoopy and give a warm feeling to customers

Restaurant Operations

Stocking the Front of the House

The front of the house is the only area that customers see and it should reflect the theme or concept of your restaurant. It should be designed efficiently, balancing ambience with seating capacity. Certain pieces of front of the house equipment are also important in running an efficient restaurant. A well stocked wait station will have everything that servers and hosts need to provide excellent service, while the seating you choose, with help maximize the layout of the dining room, along with the dining room, rest rooms and waiting areas are other areas to think about when planning a restaurant dining room. There are also technical issues to consider when planning your restaurant, such as installing a POS (point of sale) system to track sales.

Front of the House Customer Service
Without great customer service, a restaurant doesn’t have a hope of succeeding. Train your front of the house staff to excel at customer service. When the inevitable complaint happens, be sure that your staff knows how to handle it. Also knowing how to handle problems that arise, such as a customer who’s had too much to drink, will keep everyone safe and happy. Actions speak louder than words, and that is certainly true of customer appreciation. There are countless ways you can show your customers how much you appreciate their business. And it doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money (or any money in some cases). For example, personal attention, especially by the owner or manager can go a long way in making customers feel special.

Front of the House Promotions
There are many types of promotions and marketing you can do to bring in customers and keep your front of the house busy all year long. Restaurant promotions, whether daily, weekly, or monthly are great ways to show customer appreciation and bring in some extra business at the same time. Promotions can range for a nightly happy hour to an annual customer appreciation day, with drink and dinner specials. Check out these popular restaurant promotions.
From buying the right equipment, to hiring the right people, a well-organized front of the house will help lay the foundation of a successful restaurant.

source: http://restaurants.about.com/od/backofthehouse/u/frontofhosue.htm

The updated trends about restaurant operations

Social Media for Restaurants 
Social-media based marketing for restaurants continues to grow and evolve. More and more people turn to the internet for information about where to eat. Google your restaurant.  Social marketing sites like Facebook or OpenRice allow restaurant to promote specials and events and reach local audience all for free!


Public Health Concerns
Nutrition is becoming a larger focus for restaurants, thus, restaurant is being pressured to create healthier meals with smaller portions. In response to public demand, many restaurants now offer smaller portion sizes and healthier food options on their regular menu. Children’s menus too, are getting a healthy make-over.

Technology Development

Many of the newest tech advances are centered on mobility. Handheld devices , smartphone applications and mobile payment options are all beginning to impact restaurants – not only in the way customers are served, but also in how important store data is accessed and analyzed.

Offering Discounts and Coupons

Regarding there are many restaurant in Hong Kong, customer always compare and choose the relative low price restaurant with roughly service and food quality. Many restaurants offer value specials such as coupon and fixed price of menu to maintaining and building business .

Source: http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/kla/pshe/nss-curriculum/tourism-and-hospitality-studies/Hospitality_English_21_June.pdf

More real life examples of each classification of restaurants & More recent local trends and practices about restaurant business

More real life examples of each classification of restaurants

Theme Restaurant: The Airplane Restaurant

Celebrity Restaurants: Baby café (Angelababy)

Steak House: Steak Expert

Casual Resturant: Outback Steak House

Family Restaurant: Dr. Panini

Ethnic Restaurant: Genki SuShi

Hamburger: Mos Burger

Pizza: PHD

Chicken: Hardee’s

Sandwich: Subway

Bakery Café: Saffron Bakery Café

Hong Kong Style: Tsui Wah

More recent local trends and practices about restaurant business

Tracing food origin for ‘responsible dining’
Hong Kong, due to its small size, is inherently incapable of growing enough food to feed all of its residents.
China, the supplier of most of Hong Kong’s food, is certainly not a poster child for food safety, and disruptions to other sources, such as those in the wake of the recent earthquake in Japan, make clear how convoluted the food chain actually is.



Rise of the Western District
As commercial rents in Central continue to increase, restaurateurs have looked west for relief. As a result, there has been a notable spillover effect in the neighborhoods of Sheung Wan, Sai Ying Pun, Shek Tong Tsui, and Kennedy Town.
Due to the high levels of rent in SoHo and Central, we can foresee a shift of the dining scene to the Sheung Wan and Kennedy Town neighborhoods,







Source: http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/eat/top-hong-kong-restaurant-trends-600866

Responsibilities of F&B operations

  F&B is a fundamental part of hotel. On the below, we will explain what their responsibilities they have.

1.      Comply with law

There are varieties of laws to protect customers’ right. The department must be aware of the health and safety regulations, ensuring that all of it has a clear origin so that can provide confident to customers.

Also, the department needs to follow alcohol and drink laws if alcohols are offered to customers.

Follow the laws is the basic ingredients to operate a hotel.

2.      Ensure food is safe

The department is in charge of everyday operations of food aspect. Employees must pay attention to safety of food. They need to have a well control on inventory to make sure the food won’t be expired or deteriorate.

3.      Food preparation

Since there is a heavy demand to food and beverage every day, a well preparation must be have in order to run the restaurant smoothly. The department needs to have a plan for doing the prep work. The food manager must ensure that all employees follow the method and recipes for different dishes which served in restaurant.

Not only the chef, steward also need to set the tableware before customer get in to the restaurant so that the process can be more effective.

4.      Cleaning

Cleanness is a vitally important part that customers concern. A good environment can attract more customers and let them feel relax. So, a cleaning schedule needs to be created, including the time and the place that employees need to follow up. A clean environment is a physical evidence to call back customers

5.      Training employees

Employees are company’s property. They are the key elements to make customers feel like to have a good service. So, training them to have a positive attitude is important when facing customers.

Moreover, as working in food industry, they need to have a well knowledge about laws and regulations.