1.

History of the Food and Beverage

Service
The forerunner of the modern restaurant that provides hot food and
drinks developed in Rome. The early inns provided bread and wine to
travelers. In 1200, Public cookshops were opened in London which
offered pre-cooked takeout food. In the 16th century, British inns and
taverns began to serve one meal a day at a fixed time, price, and
common table. The restaurant was first used in the late 18th century
for a Paris dining room serving light dishes. On the other hand,
Hamburger was first served in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Roy
Allen and Frank Wright founded the first root beer stand. Moreover, in
the 1960s, fast- food establishments emerged.
2. Types of Restaurant
(1) Family or Commercial Restaurants. Offer a wide menu of “meat and
potato” selections with a price range that appeals to an average family
income. The operating hours are usually from early evening to midnight.
(2) Coffee Shops. It is usually located in an office building or shopping mall.
Its peak periods are during lunch and coffee breaks, and the operating hours
are from early morning to early evening.
(3) Cafeterias. These are usually located in shopping centers and office
buildings. Self-service is typical, with limited menus of soups, entrees,
desserts, and beverages. Its operating hours will depend on the location as
school, office building, airport, or highway.
(4) Gourmet Restaurants. They usually cater to those who want a higher
standard and are willing to pay the price. The menu and wines are carefully
planned, and the staff is highly trained. The main emphasis of gourmet
restaurants is in the evening period.
(5) Ethnic Restaurants. They feature the food in a specific region or country.
Must serve authentic cuisine of the region or country they are featuring to be
successful. The prices range from budget to high.
(6) Fast-Food Restaurants. Franchising is common in this kind of
restaurant. Franchise fast food operation requires well-trained staff. Thus, the
franchisor sets standards of service and food quality. These restaurants are
pioneers in establishing more efficient food-operating systems.
7) Deli Shops. Provide delicatessen food service, combining traditional
delicatessen cold meats and cheese with take-out sandwiches, salads,
and similar items. Deli Shops have low labor costs because only one or
two owners and employees are involved.
(8) Buffet Restaurants. It is established on a completely self-service
basis. Usually, “eat all you can” hot and cold food for one-price. Cater to
families thus, offering a reasonable price.
(9) Transportation Restaurants. Found along auto and bus
transportation routes and in a bus, rail, and air transportation buildings.
It usually caters to groups, particularly bus tour groups.
3. Franchaising
Franchised restaurants are a major component of the foodservice
industry, particularly in the fast-food service sector. It provides the
following benefits to the franchisees:
• Provide operational training, layout and design assistance, location
assistance, managerial expertise, and group purchasing power;
• For identification of a well-known brand, supporting good advertising
and promotion. A regional franchise allows a franchisee to develop
multiple outlets within a specific geographical area.
4. Restaurant Profitability
• 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 sale for that same period and then multiplying it by 100.
• Gross Profit is the selling price of an item less its food cost.
• Labor Costs are considered by expressing them as a percentage of sales on a daily,
weekly, or monthly basis and comparing the actual with the standard desired.
• Average Guest Check or average guest spending is calculated by dividing the
total revenue received for a particular period (a day, a week, a month, or a year) by
the total number of guests served during that period.
• Break-even Point is that point in which a business will make neither a profit
nor a loss. To determine it, divide the fixed cost by the contribution margin.
Fixed costs are those costs that remain the same regardless of the volume of
business. While contribution margin is average check less variable costs.
• The Menu is the basic planning document for a successful restaurant. The
menu must portray the style and theme of the restaurant. The more extensive
the menu is, the more varied the needed equipment will be. It also identifies
the restaurant's labor cost, the number of staff required and the cost of staff
for food preparation and service, and the cost for uniforms, purchases, storage
and space, and actual food costs.
5. Airline Catering
Airline companies spend billions of dollars every year on food
purchases. The average cost per airline passenger is between $1 and
$7, depending on the length of the journey. The amount is less for
shorter trips since passengers may be offered only a non-alcoholic
beverage and a light snack. For longer trips in which two or three meals
may be offered, including free alcoholic beverages, the amount is
higher. Around 3 to 4% of an airline’s total costs are spent on food.
6. Food Quality
The main problem of airline companies is to cook the meal on the
ground and serve it several hours later in an extraordinary dry cabin
atmosphere, seven miles high, to different groups of people with their
own food preferences, and whose main motivation is to travel rather
than to eat. At present, particularly on long flights, passengers expect
hot meals.
7. Logistics
To produce hot meals, the airline companies have to prepare
specifications for recipes. Food preparation requires a forecast using the
actual passenger reservations, an allowance for standbys, last-minute
reservations to have the correct raw material, equipment, and food
production staff. Preliminary meal counts are prepared from 24 to 72
hours ahead. 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.
8. Airplane Galleys
The first airplane galley was designed in 1936 by thoughts for its DC-3.
Meals prepared on the ground were kept hot or cold in insulated
containers on the aircraft. After World War II, larger airplanes'
introduction enabled them to have ovens and refrigerators onboard in
their galleys. The removable ovens are filled with hot food in the
ground flight kitchen, moved to the aircraft, and plugged into electrical
outlets.
9. Flight Kitchens
The first airline flight kitchen was opened in the late 1930s near
Washington D.C. Hoover Field airport by Marriott. At present, Marriott
in-Flite Services has approximately 100 flight kitchens around the
world, which cater to 150 different airlines and serve 100 million meals
a year. Most airline companies turn over their catering services to
outside caterers because airline kitchens are not large and efficient.
10. Difference Between Airline Catering
and Restaurant Catering
Airline Catering Restaurant Catering

• Logistics are very

complex • Cooks can make last-
• Exert great efforts to minute adjustments
serve good meals to the • Able to serve hot foods
passengers
11. Restaurant Promotion
The following media are used for menu advertisement:
• Newspapers
• Yellow pages
• Local radio stations
• Television stations
Popular restaurants and national restaurant chains advertise in airline in-
flight magazines, consumer travel magazines, and travel trade
publications. Many restaurants try to foster good relations with nearby
frontline hotel employees because hotel guests often ask them to
recommend good nearby restaurants.