The Holiday Season Is Here

The holiday season is here which is one of the busiest times of the year for restaurants and food service establishments. Many of us like to open those holiday cook books to prepare are own holiday treats for family and  friends.  However many companies will be planning holiday parties for their staff and many other private holiday parties will be planned as well.
      This is one of the busiest times of  the year.  Not only are food service establishments preparing for holiday parties they also have to contend with the day to day business as well.  More people are out and about this time of the year shopping as well as dining.
      This is a good time of the year to be working in the food service industry.  There are plenty of extra hours prepping and planning for the holiday events. There is also a lot of money to be made by restaurants and food service establishments.
       These events can be small office parties to large and extravagant events where it seems like money is no object.  Some companies will bring in interior decorators, live bands, snow machines, and spare no expense on food.  Events can take anywhere from a month to a week to plan.
       This can also be the funnest time of the year.  We get to step away from the day to day food production and create the food for these events.  It may be creating the delectable holiday desserts or putting together a beautiful holiday show piece or creating the mouth watering foods to impress our guests.  This is a time when we get to test or sharpen our skills.  

Food Cost

Food cost is is the percentage of total restaurant sales spent on food. It is calculated by using  this formula.  Beginning Inventory  +  Purchases - Ending Inventory  divided by Food Sales.
         Food cost control is a constant on going battle in every food service establishment.  Many things come into play when talking about food cost.  The biggest ones are waste and theft.  Employees will rob you blind if you don't stay focused.  The server that gives out extras in hopes to get a bigger tip, the dishwasher that takes out the trash with a hidden case of food only to be retrieved later or a cook who carries a backpack everyday.  These are just a few.  The other big one is waste caused by over ordering, not rotating properly, over portioning, improper food handling or prepping. 
        Another big factor in food cost is knowing the cost of the food how to cost out a plate  and where to get it at the best price.  Last but not least you have to count accurate inventories. 
         Food cost is one of the toughest costs to control in the food service industry.  Your team will need constant coaching and mentoring so that everyone can do their part to keep the food cost inline.  Also reward your team when they do well to get repeat behavior.  Post the monthly food cost so everyone can see it and let your team know what the goals are. In the end Food cost will most likely always be a challenge with the ever changing economy and the many variables that affect it.
         

Recommended Culinary Books

Here are a few books I used along the way and in my career. These books will give you insight into the culinary life from Kitchen Confidential to the history of our cuisine and the rest will teach the techniques of professional cooking and baking.

Restaurant Industry Economy and Down Sizing

The economy is still trying to recover. Family restaurants, carry outs, and fast food are all doing well because people still have to eat.  Some food service companies are downsizing and changing their operations.  Contract food service operations downsize their operations to meet the clients needs in this economy by cutting service,  changing menus to lower or raise prices and downsizing staff.  Restaurants downsize and change their menus to get rid of high food cost items.  They also change operations to to reduce labor intensive things so that they need less staff to run their operations.
       Higher end restaurants and food service operations may have to downsize to or restructure.  Most people can't afford to eat fine dining in this economy but people still have special occasions to celebrate or occasionally want to treat themselves to a nice meal.  This keeps the higher end food service operations in business.
        The cost of everything is on the rise.  The rising cost of gas costs consumers more to get to and from work. It costs more to ship a truck load of food to a restaurant thus the rising cost of food.  That cost is then transferred to the consumer.  Another factor is natural disaster which destroys crops thus driving up costs which is then passed along to the consumer so that these restaurants and food service companies can turn a profit.
        The economy greatly impacts everything not just food service and as with everything you have to change with the times.  Those restaurant and food service operations that can't make the changes will most likely go out of business or struggle to stay in business.