History Of The Food And Beverage Management Marketing Essay

History Of The Food And Beverage Management Marketing Essay In this modern age, people dine out for pure enjoyment, to escape from their daily routine, to experience different styles of cuisine and the service the restaurants offer. When going to a restaurant, customers pay attention to the location it is sited in. When choosing a restaurant, customers pay attention to their surroundings and they consider if it is a good area, if it accessible, if it offers car parking or if it is close to a station and if it is suitable for disabled people. Customer that would dine in a restaurant expects warm ambience, high standard service, good customer care and exceedingly good quality food. From the restaurants point of view there are many more aspects to pay detailed attention to, such as: The type of market it is serving, their customer profile, strengths and weaknesses of the operation, Menu, staffing, resources, merchandising, promotions, issues on the macro environment that would effect the business, attention to their competitors, opportunities to improve the business and the threats that could be harmful to the business and the actions to take against it. This report is on the analysis of Boxwood Cafe in Knightsbridge. The reason that this restaurant has been taken in consideration is because there are many fans of Gordon Ramsay. Gordon Ramsay is known for his high level of attention to detail and his high standards of service, which attracts this report to investigate the management of this restaurant. Having said this, it was a struggle to reach the manager of Boxwood Cafe in such a busy environment. It was only possible to gain information on Boxwood Cafe, electronically, with a questionnaire answered by Angela Downes, the operations manager of Gordon Ramsay Holdings. Most of the questions were answered, however, a certain amount was considered to be strictly confidential as she quoted: We do not divulge this information. The amount of questions answered were six out of eleven, leaving out questions about the customers profile, their SWOT analysis of the Menu, questions on staff problems and staff challenges and what their external threats would be. Would you name any four challenges within the management? Angela Downes quotes: We do not divulge this information, which again this shows the secretive nature of the company. Company Information and Location Company information Opened in 2003: Gordon opened the uniquely styled Boxwood Cafà © at The Berkeley, Head Chef Stuart Gillies creates an inspired seasonal menu with emphasis on British ingredients presented with daily market specials Owned by Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd Executive chef: Stuart Gilles: Stuarts passion and contagious drive was captured by Gordon who immediately offered Stuart the reins to this innovative restaurant concept. Stuart transcended old classic French dishes into modern Italian at The Connaught. His influences at this time also reflected a year spent in Rome at the Lord Byron Hotel and 3 years in Stockholm, Sweden. Manager: Joeness Amara-Bangali: Joeness Amara-Bangali joined Stuart Gillies and the Boxwood team in January 2005 to manage the busy restaurant and Private Dining room. Previous to this, he was Restaurant Manager at Sugar Reef from July 2001 to December 2004. His approach to service has maintained the informal style that Boxwood has perfected, whilst providing guests with a vibrant atmosphere and fun dining experience. Location The Berkeley, Knightsbridge LONDON: 5 star luxury and  contemporary chic hotel in Knightsbridge Hotels and fashion Brands around the area: Mandarine Oriental, Sheraton Park Tower, Carlton Tower, Lowndes Hotel are the 5 star Hotels we can find in Knightsbridge. Sheraton Belgravia, Rembrandt Hotel, Claverely on Beaufort Gardens, Franklin Hotel and Millennium Knightsbridge are the 4 star hotels situated in this area. The hotels situated around the restaurant are http://widget.criteo.com/sendEvwi=7709106pt1=2i1=181858The Lanesborough, Intercontinental London Park Lane, The Halkin , The Berkeley, The Metropolitan, The Athenaeum, The Park Lane Hotel, The Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel and many more that are luxurious and on top of the class. Hyde Park: Hyde Park is literally across the road from the restaurant and is an attraction to every local and tourist. Thanks to the green surrounding it offers and many water facilities, it is an attraction and relaxing park. Department stores: Harrods, Harvey Nichols: Harrods is one of the main tourist attractions in Knightsbridge thanks to the luxurious variety of products it offers and with their seasonal themes and events in the store. It creates an attractive atmosphere to the customer. Harvey Nichols, another department store in Knightsbridge ,offers another type of atmosphere which is considered modern that would target a younger generation. Competiton:100 restaurants in Knightsbridge (approximately): The restaurants sited in Knightsbridge would include big restaurant chains such as Wagamama, Yo-Sushi , Cafà © Rouge and etc. To mention the restaurants within Harrods,such as The Georgian Restaurant, The Terrace Bar, Caffà © Florian , Planet Harrods, Dim Sum, The Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar, The Green Man Pub, Sushi Bar or the Fifth Floor restaurant in Harvey Nichols are more convenient for the customer but would make it harder for Boxwood Cafe to attract the customer. The other direct competition would be the opening of Marcus Wareings restaurant at The Berkeley. As we all know Marcus Wareing was in business with Gordon Ramsay and was a chef patron of Petrus and The Savoy Grill of Gordon Ramsay holdings. After separating and parting from Ramsay holdings Ltd, Wareing opened a restaurant at The Berkeley which hosts Boxwood Cafà © as well. The conclusion is that they know each others operation strategies which may create a direct competition. Customer Profile Demographic Profile Age: 28-50 Gender: Male and Female Occupation: Skilled Workers Salary : £120,000 and over, after tax Lifestyle: Cash rich, Time rich(customers which have the money and time to spend) Geographic Segmentation Local, regional and International customer Psychographic segmentation Smart-Casual social groups: People who would escape from the lag of the highly busy Knightsbridge. Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Strengths Situated in a high class area Owned by a celebrity chefs company: which has its own publicity and would attract customers to have an experience the food that Gordon Ramsay proudly recommends. Accessible Environmentalists Exceedingly good customer care Friendly Staff British Menu Large variety of choice on the Menu Excellence of training staff Weaknesses Price of alcohol very expensive Staff is not aware of the dish served in front of the customer e.g. Blue meat served to customer that requested medium and customer that requested blue was served medium. Too many waiters serving one same table Low advertising Macro-Environment Analyzing the restaurant, we identify the PEST, Political, Economical and Socio-cultural, technological. Politics: (Food Standard Agency, http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry, 2009) Regulation (EC) 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs Regulation (EC) 853/2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin Regulation (EC) 854/2004 laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption The legislation: modernised, consolidated and simplified the previous EU food hygiene legislation applies effective and proportionate controls throughout the food chain, from primary production to sale or supply to the final consumer (from farm to fork) focuses controls on what is necessary for public health protection clarifies that it is the primary responsibility of food business operators to produce food safety Economic: The Credit crunch Gas prices going up Electricity prices Socio-cultural: the evolving of age of the population and the consequences it will have on the market Technological: as technology improves in the industry for equipment used in kitchens, the skills required will decrease, time will be spared, labour costs will be cut down. Opportunities: They can improve their weaknesses as mentioned above Threats: would be the direct competitions that are situated around the area and as mentioned earlier on there are a lot of competing restaurants (approximately 100 according to www.allinlondon.co.uk, 2009) The Menu According to Foskett One approach to sale analysis, which had gained popularity is the technique known as menu engineering. This is a technique of menu analysis that uses two key factors of performance in sales of individual menu items: The popularity and Gross Profit cash contribution of each item. There are four types of categorizations in menu engineering. Items of high popularity and high GP contribution. These are known as stars. Items of high popularity, low GP contribution. These are known as plowhorses. Items of low popularity, high GP contribution. These are known as puzzles on the menu. Items of low popularity, low cash GP contribution. These are known as the worst items on the menu and are known as dogs. Type of Menu Modern British Produce based on seasonality Best selling dish: Grilled Aberdeen Angus rib-eye chop Set lunch  £25 per head A la carte  £50 per head(average) Menu changed frequently Managerial analysis Average spend per head  £50 Average cover daily: 205 Monthly income: around  £310.000 Cover Capacity: 120 Keeping customers loyal Advertisement: Internet Sites. Keeping customers loyal: Voucher cards, phone numbers and e-mails Exceeding customer expectations and Providing high standards of cuisine Recommendations staff should be more attentive to the needs of the customer it is better to keep one waiter serving the table, to reduce the confusion of mixing orders of customers specific requests get rid of the dogs on the menu In order to boost sales, the restaurant must advertise more To keep track of Customers and their details, restaurant could use reward cards.