Food Service Management: Approaches, Principles, and Practices

This report explores the different food supply chain approaches, principles of effective procurement and sourcing processes, and management practices in the food service industry. It focuses on Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant in Oxfordshire, England, and provides insights into their concept, business model, and success factors.

Food Service Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Concept and Business Model of Restaurant...........................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Examine a range of different food supply chain approaches within the food service
industry, highlighting key stakeholders in the process...........................................................3
P2 Discuss the principles of effective procurement and sourcing processes for a food service
operation.................................................................................................................................5
LO2..................................................................................................................................................6
P3 Assess the application of different analytical tools to support effective management
strategies.................................................................................................................................6
P4 Evaluate different management practices that support successful business operations in
food service organisations......................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Food Service Management refers to the administration of day to day operations of
restaurants as well as other establishment that produce and offer food and beverages. The food
service managers are responsible to direct staff members in order to ensure satisfaction of
customers with the dining experience they get in restaurant and management of business to
generate high profits (Betz, Buchli, Göbel and Müller, 2015). In this report, the chosen
organisation is Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant which is a one of the well-
known hotel-restaurant in Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom. This restaurant was
established in year 1984 and offer French cuisine to its guests. This report covers distinct food
supply chain approaches in food service sector along with key stakeholders in process. Apart
from this, principles of effective sourcing and procurement processes for food service operations
and execution of analytical tools to aid effective administration strategies are included. At last,
distinct management practices that aid successful operations of business in food service firms are
discussed in the project.
Concept and Business Model of Restaurant
Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant has a history of excellence and earned 2
Michelin-stars upon establishment. The restaurant has retained its position since 35 years and is
one of best restaurants in Britain. Now, it has turn out to be a must-visit dining experience for
foodies all across the world. The restaurant aims to develop a centre of excellence by providing
guests with place of joy, celebration and romance for every season. It started with the vision to
create a restaurant in harmony, where people will find excellence in food, services and welcome.
The 12 gardens in restaurant are plenty of colour in summer season, while the honey-hued
mansion is warmed through open fires by winter (Cao and Kim, 2015). The restaurant is a centre
for food lovers and its cuisine is defined as “a twist of imaginative genius”.
LO1
P1 Examine a range of different food supply chain approaches within the food service industry,
highlighting key stakeholders in the process
Food supply chain is defined as a process that defines the way food product supply from farm
ends to the table of guests. These processes involve production, processing, distribution of food,
its consumption and disposal. Food supply chains are termed as the complex networks that

consists small and medium sized businesses including farms, processing companies which
interact with big multinational organisations administering input to supply chain as well as doing
its retail. In the hospitality industry, producing food and offering it to its customers is one of the
core function (Cohen and Ilieva, 2015). As the consumption habits of people are changing very
constantly, proper management of food supply chain crucial in order to attract more customers
and lead business towards success. There are range of food supply chain approaches that can be
utilised by Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant within food service industry. Some
of the approaches are mentioned below:
 Table d' Hote: it referred as the preselected meal which is served to guests at restaurant
at some specific time and cost. It categorised in assorted services including family
service, table service, buffet service etc. Restaurants preferred this approach more more
due to less requirement of big kitchen equipment and kitchen area to cook food.
 Counter/ buffet service: in this, food service is provided to large number of people. In
this food service, different dishes are made that meets the need of large population. A
long table is used to place and serve food to guests. Usually a system of self service is
provided in it where food is placed on a table and people can serve it on their own.
 Table/ plate service: this is the type of service in which food is served to customers as per
their requirements. This is the most personalized style of serving food by restaurants to
its guest. The guest will be seated on their seats and the stewards in restaurant serve food
to them on table (Garrone, Melacini, and Perego, 2014). Plate decoration, attractive
interior, good ambience etc. are some of the things that are taken into consideration by
restaurants and make them suitable for large and small gathering.
 Full silver service: in this service, stewards serve the food to guests by using forks and
spoons. This service is performed by waiters from the left side of diners and there are
some rules associated with the service that needs to follow like host will serve first. In
this, glasses and plates are cleared from right side and food is serve from left side.
In the process of food supply chain within food service industry, there are various main
stakeholders including chefs, food suppliers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, employees,
owner and government. All these stakeholders highly contribute in running the operations of
restaurant effectively and attaining its goals and objectives.

The supply chain of food industry includes farmers, processors, distributers, retailer and
consumer. In it, the restaurant gets raw material from farmers then it will go from producer to
consumer through the processes of production, processing, distribution, retailer and then to the
end consumer for consumption.
Full silver service can be the most appropriate food supply chain approach for the
Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant to use as this help it in serving French dishes in
more appropriate way and providing excellent services to customers (Girotto, Alibardi, and
Cossu, 2015).
P2 Discuss the principles of effective procurement and sourcing processes for a food service
operation
Food procurement is defined as the way restaurants purchased food. It is a new service for
restaurant that help setting cutting cost while increasing the quality of ingredients. The
procurement process can be simplifying by utilising scale and size to negotiate on prices and
helps restaurant in making big savings. There are some principles of effective procurement and
sourcing processes within food service operations. Some of the procurement and sourcing
processes principles that can be consider by Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant are
mentioned below:
 Supplier credibility checks: this principle of procurement and sourcing is linked with the
capacity of suppliers to provide food products to restaurant. It is required to maintain
good relation with suppliers whose credibility is good as this helps restaurant in
procuring and sourcing the materials on time and attaining competitive advantage in
market (Griffith, Jackson and Lues, 2017). This will also help in ensuring that the raw
material provided by supplier is of good quality.
 Value for money: this is one of the principal that request to be considered by restaurant
while procuring and sourcing raw materials. It is necessary for restaurant to ensure that
the food products that it source from suppliers will be of high quality and provides value
for money. This will help restaurant in offering high quality food to customers and
generating higher revenues and profitability. Providing customers with the value for
which they pay will help in attracting them more towards the restaurant.
 Transparency: it is also one of the principle of effective procurement and sourcing
within food industry operations. It is necessary to follow all the procurement and

sourcing policies at the time of procuring materials. It is necessary for Belmond Le
Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant to disclose all the information related to procurement
in an appropriate way and on time (Kussaga, Jacxsens, Tiisekwa, and Luning, 2014).
Transparency in the policies and procedures will help in developing good relations with
the suppliers that make it easy for the restaurant to procure raw materials easily from
suppliers.
LO2
P3 Assess the application of different analytical tools to support effective management strategies
Porter's five force analysis:
Porter's framework includes five forces analysis of which help the manager of Belmond
Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant in analysing the competitive position in market and
formulating appropriate strategy to gain competitive edge over rivals.
Bargaining power of customers: In food service industry of UK, various options are
available to customers which give power to buyers to switch to other restaurant. So, the
bargaining power of customers is high for the Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant.
Bargaining power of suppliers: numerous supplies are available in food service industry
in United Kingdom from which restaurant can procure raw materials to produce food. Thus, the
bargaining power of suppliers is low for Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant as it
has various options available to get raw materials at appropriate prices (Marriott, Schilling, and
Gravani, 2018).
Competitive rivalry: this force is high for the Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons
restaurant as there are many competitors available in the market of United Kingdom which offer
excellent dining experience to guests attractive interior and good ambience.
Threat of new entry: in order to enter into the food service industry, much investment is
required. Moreover, there are numerous big restaurants are operating in the market of UK which
make it difficult for the new entrant to enter into market. So, set of new entrants is less for
Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant.
Threat of substitute products: as many restaurants offer high quality food products to customers,
they can go with any of the substitute product. Show the threat of substitute is moderate for the

Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant as it is well known for its food quality but, there
are chances that customers may switch the brand (Osaili, Al-Nabulsi and Krasneh, 2018).
Porter’s five forces analysis aids manager of restaurant to understand the forces that
affecting profitability in a particular industry or sector, and can assist manager in taking
informed decisions associated with whether to enter a particular industry; whether to maximize
capacity in a particular industry; and formulating competitive strategies. However, the
disadvantage of using this tool is that it is only usable for profit oriented organisation only and is
unsuitable for complex organisations.
SWOT analysis:
The SWOT analysis of Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant is mentioned
below:
Strengths:
 Good brand image of company market is its biggest strength.
 High customer loyalty towards brand.
Weaknesses:
 Complex supply chain management of Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant.
 Ineffective marketing initiatives (Otles, Despoudi, Bucatariu. and Kartal, 2015).
Opportunities:
 Restaurant can expand its business in new markets.
 It can introduce new variety of food which is unique in test.
Threats:
 Intense competition in market create threat for Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons
restaurant.
 Slightly high prices of food from other restaurants.
SWOT analysis helps organisation in providing information that supports in synchronising
capabilities and resources of restaurant with competitive environment in which it operates.
However, the disadvantage is that it develops one dimensional model that categorises each issue
attribute as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats thus, creates ambiguity.

P4 Evaluate different management practices that support successful business operations in food
service organisations
There are various management practices that helps Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons
restaurant in conducting its business operations successfully. Some of the management practices
are mentioned below:
Maintaining appropriate talent within firm: This is one among the management practice
that highly support in running the food service operations of business successfully (Osaili, Al-
Nabulsi and Krasneh, 2018). Skilled and talented employees lead an organisation towards high
growth and success. So, maintaining appropriate talent can help manager of Belmond Le Manoir
aux Quat'Saisons restaurant to run its business operations smoothly and successfully. This will
also help in serving food to guests appropriately and delivering services to them as per their
expectations. Maintaining appropriate talent within firm will provide it competitive advantage in
market. However, hiring highly skilled and talented workforce will cost more to the restaurant.
Develop incentives and reward system: Employees are the crucial part of an organisation
who highly contributes in its growth and success. In order to motivate and retain them for long
term, it is very necessary to provide them with rewards and incentives (Sani and Siow, 2014).
Developing effective incentives and reward system will support Belmond Le Manoir aux
Quat'Saisons restaurant in running its business operations successfully. This management
practice proves to be very effective for restaurant to improve morale of employees and
accomplish business goals. Provide employees with adequate incentives and rewards will help in
motivating them and developing a sense of satisfaction among them. However, sometimes it may
create negative environment at workplace they tends to narrow focus of an individual, which is
fine if there is a flawless path to a solution, however makes them less productive when a task
needed a level of creativity.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that proper management of
food services is very necessary as this helps in ensuring satisfaction of customers and providing
them with unique experiences. There are various food supply chain approaches, utilization of
which helps restaurant in serving food to guests in proper way. There are some principles of
effective procurement and sourcing processes that needs to be taken into consideration by
manager of restaurant while procuring raw materials. Porter’s five force analysis and SWOT

analysis are the analytical tools that supports restaurant in framing effective management
strategies that leads it towards growth and success.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Cao, Y. and Kim, K., 2015. How do customers perceive service quality in differently structured
fast food restaurants?. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 24(1), pp.99-
117.
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Garrone, P., Melacini, M. and Perego, A., 2014. Opening the black box of food waste
reduction. Food policy, 46, pp.129-139.
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valorization, and sustainability in the food industry. In Food waste recovery (pp. 3-23).
Academic Press.
Sani, N.A. and Siow, O.N., 2014. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers on food
safety in food service operations at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Food
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