Food and Beverage (Quickserve) can focus on a number of topics within the industry

• Improving profitability, revenue, profits, efficiency, customers

• Creating a new menu to focus on customers

• How to increase revenue per customer

• Selecting a new location for a restaurant

• Creating an event for a small gathering (cocktail party) or for a larger event

Ala Carte - Items that are sold separately (Dim Sum, Tanioka/s food case). At steak houses or some fine dining experiences, you order entrees and you order sides separately. If you want rice with your steak it will cost you extra.

Amuse Bouche - "To amuse the palette". This refers to a small bite, often one, prepared/created by the chef and given to guests at fine dining establishments. Similar to hors d'oeuvres, but it is often an item not that is not listed on menus or ordered.  

Base Selling Price - When establishing your price, we take into account the standard food costs and the operating costs of the business. Some may even consider the profit they want to make per year. Once we factor in all of the items, that is the lowest we may charge for the item. We may also add to the cost for a couple other reasons: 

• Rarity - if it is hard to find or there are only a few of them, we may charge more because we may never get that item again.

• Expensive - if items are expensive, companies may want to receive a higher profit to cover the costs of the remaining that may go unsold. For instance, if the company buys 1 pound of A5 Wagyu Beef (approx. $115 per pound or $6-8 / ounce), they may charge a guest $30-40 / ounce and require that patrons order 4 oz minimum. 4 oz at $30 / oz = $120 or $480 per pound. Each serving will cover the cost of the entire A5 just in case no one else orders the meat. This helps with avoiding food waste or losing money on unsold items.  

Cost of Goods Sold - Costs of the items sold: cost to make or purchase the product, additional costs to process or store the product until sold.

Cross-Training - Many companies run lean, short staffed, due to the rising costs and the inability to hire additional workers, no one wants to work for the company, or because owners want to keep more profit. To help with this issue, we will often train employees in several areas so they can cross over to do other jobs if needed. As an example, a chef might be hired for grilling meats, but will learn how to do other prep work, stations, or finishing of plates (plating). Some busers (people who clean take dishes from tables and cleans them), will often be trained as waiters or waiters will be trained as bartenders.

Hors d'oeuvres / Appetizers - Small bites or sharable items prior to your meal. Proven to help with customers/patrons spending more per person (Higher Check Averages). Some items, salty or sweet, encourage patrons to order more alcoholic beverages or to have a bigger appetite (carbs, like free bread to the table, have been said to increase the appetite causing people to order more or dessert).   

Labor Costs - Cost of your employees.

Markup Percentage - Often based on the standard food cost (SFC) or the SFC plus the costs of running the business, we want to add a percentage on top of these costs as our profit margin. A common SFC is 30-40% for many businesses, but it varies based on what you are selling; in some cases it can be more than 100%.  If our SFC is $5.00 and we have a markup % of 40%, we would be charging customers a base selling price of $7.00 ($5 x 40% = $2).

Operating Costs - Costs associated with running the business. This includes, but not limited to: rent, utilities, labor, insurance, maintenance of equipment, purchasing of equipment or tools, food costs 

Pop-ups (Business) - The most common pop-ups are at carnivals, fairs, farmers markets, festivals, food truck rallies, or other events where businesses will show up temporarily (not permanently). Offers a great way to: 

• Promote your brick and mortar business

• Test the market to see if your business could become a brick and mortar

• Run a small business without the daily pressure 

Profit - Revenue minus Expenses

Revenue - The total amount of money we make from sales.

Standard Food Cost - The typical cost to make the same meal every time.

Standard Recipes - Allows a company to make a meal the same way every time. By standardizing, always keeping it the same, the costs for the entrée will be the same allowing offering consistency to patrons and the standard food cost. 

Table Turn Rate - Amount of time for a guest to be seated, eat, and leave. Businesses typically have a general understanding of how long the average guest will dine with a restaurant based on the number of people in the party or for special occasions (Valentines, Holidays). This helps with reservations and figuring out how many patrons can be served in a day, night, or within a period of time. This will also help with understanding how much food we have in storage, linens, tables/chairs, and profitability of the business. 

Upselling - Similar with all businesses, this primarily occurs during the decision making phase. When people are making a decision or after they have made a decision we can offer them alternatives for additional charge or some other type of deal. An example of an upsell in F&B would be the following: making it a combo meal, upgrading to curly fries, substituting a side item for something else, offering people a larger size for a few more cents/dollars, adding a wine pairing/sake pairing with the meal, using higher quality ingredients for the same meal.

Pre Fixe Menu / Table d’hote - One price for a set meal. Often these will come with an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. In fine dining establishments, you may see 4-5 different courses (3-5 for lunch, 3-infinite for dinner); the most I have seen was 15 courses which consisted of foods that were only several bites each. This meal cost $400/person and was four hours long. Most Pre Fixe will often be 1-2 hours for dining.