College of Hospitality and Tourism Management

C-HPC3LEC: Fundamentals in Food Service Operations

Handout in Fundamentals in Foodservice Operations

Introduction to Meal Management

Lesson 1: Meal Management

• Food and beverage service is the climax of the relationship between a

customer and a caterer during a meal experience.
• In the presentation of food and beverages to the customer, the food and
beverage staff, in fact represent the whole organization. They deliver to the customer the
product which was:
1) Planned by the management
2) Cost by finance
3) Assured by marketing and
4) Produced by the kitchen

Factors to Consider in Conceptualizing Restaurant

1. The site
2. The size of the food and beverage operation.
3. The Menu
4. Pricing Policies determine the average spend and affect the sales volume.
5. Service, in conjunction with the type of restaurant, menus, customers and seating
arrangement.
6. Opening hours, days according to marketing strategies and customer requirements.
7. Décor and music, for pleasant environment which contributes to customer satisfaction.
8. Standards and Quality
9. Advertising and Merchandising, to appeal the market segments.
10. Meal Functions

Importance of Dining

 Customers are the life and blood of the food and beverage business. To
ensure continuous patronage, their satisfaction must be sustained. They
always deserve preferential, prompt and consistent attention.

Goals of Meal Management

1. Good nutrition
2. Planned spending
3. Satisfying meals
4. Controlled use of time and energy.

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 College of Hospitality and Tourism Management
C-HPC3LEC: Fundamentals in Food Service Operations

Lesson 2: Meal Planning and Management

Meal Planning – is the process whereby resources, both material and

human, are used to obtain goals that have to do with feeding the
individual and evaluating the meal service. It involves planning,
organizing, controlling and evaluating the meal service.

Management Functions
1. Planning
 This means organizational objectives by deciding who is to do what, where, when and how.
Planning is pre-thinking to implement the organizational policies and to achieve objectives.
2. Organizing
 Communicating
 Delegating
 Directing
 Motivating
 Coordinating
3. Controlling
 Reporting
 Evaluating
 Controlling
 Analyzing
 Reviewing

Lesson 3: Menu Planning

The Menu
 The word menu comes from the French word which means “a
detailed list”. It is an important working document which influences the
very facet of the foodservice operation. As the focal point of both the
front and heart of the house, the purchasing of food, its storage, and its acceptability by
patrons are all dictated by the menu.

Factors to Consider in Menu Planning

1. The needs and requirements of the target market or intended clientele.
a. Physiological and nutritional needs
b. Psychological needs
c. Social needs
d. Paying capacity of the clientele
e. Likes and dislikes of clientele
2. Available manpower resources
• The skills and abilities as well as the number of personnel available and the time and
energy required to execute the menu must be considered. Labor intensive recipes
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 College of Hospitality and Tourism Management
C-HPC3LEC: Fundamentals in Food Service Operations

therefore must not be planned on the same menu. The menu should not overload an
employee or one section of production while leaving another employee or section with
little or no work to do.

3.Time Constraints
• There is a definite length of time for food preparation and a fixed time for service. The
menu therefore must be such that it can be prepared within the allotted time under
existing conditions.

4. Materials available
• The availability and seasonability of raw materials must be considered. The utilization
of ingredients that are difficult to procure and are not readily available has implications
on cost and quality which makes their inclusion in the menu impractical.

5. Limitations of Physical facilities

• The physical facilities of the operation must be capable of producing the right quality
and quantity of items, and must allow proper service of prepared foods.

6. Machine, equipment and utensils available

• Equipment availability and capacity must be known before a good menu can be
planned.

7. Budgetary Requirements
• Menu costs must be within the prescribed budget. Reliable information on costs must
be available at this stage in time to do something about them. Pre costing of menus is
one way to ensure this

8. Type of service
• The final destination of the food on the table, and how it will be served must be an
important consideration. Menus for buffet service, waiter service, or self service must
be adapted to the specific characteristics and requirements of these types of service.

9. Aesthetic appeal, characteristics and combinations

 The form, shape, color, temperature, texture flavor and over all appeal of food must be
considered.
 Form should be definite and varied. Too many cubed items on the plate should be
avoided.
 Consider also the shape and size of the food item on the plate.
 The color of vegetables and fruits must be contrasted with that of meat items to give
much appeal.
 Food flavors must likewise be properly combined.

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 College of Hospitality and Tourism Management
C-HPC3LEC: Fundamentals in Food Service Operations

Maximizing Food Utilization in Menu Planning

 Food thrown away is money thrown away. Total utilization of foods must be planned into
day to day menus.

To do this, the following techniques are recommended:

1. Use all edible trim. Plan on recipes that can utilize these trimmings. For example:
 Use meat scraps for soups, croquettes or guisado mixture.
 Use of bones for stocks and soups.
 Use of vegetable trimmings for soups and stocks.
 Use of day old breads for stuffings, breadings, croutons, extenders.

2. Plan production to avoid leftover. Good leftover utilization must not be an excuse for poor
forecasting. But since production excesses are not entirely avoidable, and these excesses
contribute to high food cost, the following are recommended:
a. Avoid leftovers by applying good forecasting and batch cooking techniques whenever
possible.
b. The number of menu items sold per day must be examined carefully. More menu items to
choose from means more forecasting to do, and more choices for the customer, therefore
greater chances of having leftovers. Limited menus which are carefully planned, following
data on popularity, decrease the likelihood of leftovers.

 3. Plan in advance on how to use leftovers. Since leftovers are inevitable, our main
objective is to reduce this to avoid excessively high food cost.

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References

Ditan, J. L. (2017). Fundamentals in Food and Beverage Operation (1st ed.). National Bookstore.

Drummond, K. E., Cooley, M., & Cooley, T. J. (2021). Foodservice operations and management:
Concepts and applications. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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