LESSON 2

THE MEAL / DRINK EXPERIENCE

BY – HEMANT JALUTHRIA HEMANT JALUTHRIA

INTRODUCTION The menu is the centerpiece of any eating establishment. It is not just a list of food items for sale, but the reason behind the establishment existence. . Menu planning, therefore, may be considered to be one of the most critical activities of food service operations. It defines the décor, service style, costume and required cooking skills.

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MEAL / DRINK EXPERIENCE The meal experience may be defined as a series of events both tangible and intangible that a customer experiences when eating out. Tangible- which can be feel by touching, seeing like restaurant tables, chairs etc. Intangible- which can be only sensed/felt like restaurant atmosphere etc.

It is difficult to define exactly where a meal / drink experience actually starts and ends, although it is usually assumed that the main part of the experience begins when a customer enters a restaurant and ends when he leaves the restaurant. The series of events and experiences customers undergo when eating out may be divided into those tangible aspects of the product, that is the food and drink, and those intangible aspects such as service, atmosphere, mood, etc. So , it is necessary for the tangible and intangible components of the restaurant to combine together and to be seen by the customer as one total product HEMANT JALUTHRIA

FOOD AND DRINK The type of food and drink that people choose depends on a number of factors which are of particular concern to customers. They include- The choice of food and drink available, whether the menu is limited or extensive, whether the operation revolves around one particular product, for example, coffee shops and wine bars. The quality of the product offered. The quantity of the product offered, that is, the portion sizes. For example, does the restaurant offer children’s meals or smaller portions for children? The consistency standard of the product: customers returning to the restaurant and repeating their of an item would expect the product to be the same as they had eaten or drunk before. HEMANT JALUTHRIA

The range of tastes, textures, aromas and colours offered by a food dish, or the taste, colour and aroma offered by a drink. That the food and drink are served at the correct temperatures, for example, that the iced coffee is sufficiently chilled, or that hot food is hot when it reaches the customer. That the presentation of the food and drink enhances the product offered. This is particularly important at all levels of catering. That the price and perceived value for money are both in line with customer’s pre meal experience anticipations. That the quality of the total meal experience matches or even enhances the expectations of the guests.

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VARIETY IN MENU CHOICE The type of menu offered by an establishment and the variety of menu choice should also enhance the total meal experience. For A LOWER LEVEL MARKET First, price of the food. If a customer is paying Rs. 270/- for a three course meal the range of menu items that can be made available within the cost limits of such an operation is obviously more limited than in operations where the customer’s average spending power is higher. Second, the amount of time taken to consume meals at this level of the market may vary between half an hour to one hour, but will rarely exceed this. Proportionately, little of this time is spent studying the menu choice. Third, it may be suggested that customers frequenting this lower level of the market may be uncomfortable, if presented with a very large menu selection and may therefore prefer a more limited, but still varied menu choice contd….

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The menu choice offered by a restaurant is therefore dependent on a number of interrelated factors, price the customer is willing to pay the amount of time available for the meal experience , the level of the market in which the restaurant is situated and consequently the types of customer likely to frequent OR regular to that type of operation Further considerations affecting the choice of menu from the caterer’s point of view would be- the production and service facilities available skills of the staff the availability of commodities and the potential of the menu

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LEVEL OF SERVICE The higher the cost of the meal to the customer, the more service the customer expects to receive. the cost of the meal to customers increases so will the amount of service they receive. It is necessary for a restaurant to identify the level of service. if a restaurant has a very formal type of food and beverage service, usually associated with high class operations, the other aspects of the restaurant service should be equally formal – the speed, efficiency and dress of staff, the degree of personalization and courtesy the customers receives, and so on. It is important for a restaurant operation to consider not only the service of the food and beverage for which the staffs are usually adequately trained, but also to remember the indirect service aspect of the operation, which are all part of the customer’s meal experience

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PRICE AND VALUE FOR MONEY The concept of value for money will vary from one sector of the market to another and, indeed, from one customer to another. In the majority of the cases, however, customers will frequent a restaurant not only because of its food and service, but also because they feel the price they are paying represents value for money. At the popular end of the market, inclusive price meals are often offered. In some establishments include a service charge in the price of their meals, others show it separately.

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INTERIOR DESIGN The overall interior designs of a restaurant are one of the first physical aspects of a catering operation that a customer will come into contact with. This first impression of the restaurant is very important. Potential customers passing by may like the look of the establishment and decide to come and eat there, customers who have actually planned to eat in the restaurant and like what they see when they enter, will feel pleased with their choice of restaurant. The interior design of a restaurant is composed of many different aspects- • the size and shape of the room • the furniture and fittings • the colour scheme • lighting • air conditioning, etc. •The interior design of a catering facility needs to be carefully considered at the initial planning stage and if necessary professional advice sought in order to avoid costly corrective measures later. The life cycle of the operation also needs to be taken into account as this will significantly affect the financial investment in this aspect of the catering operation.

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ATMOSPHERE AND MOOD The atmosphere or mood of a restaurant is a difficult aspect of an operation to define, but is often described as an intangible feel inside a restaurant. The atmosphere of a restaurant is affected by many different aspects of the operation. They include- •include the décor and interior design of the restaurant, •the table and seating arrangements, •the service accompaniments, •the dress and attitude of the staff, •the tempo of service, •the age, •dress and sex of other customer, •the sound levels in the restaurant, •the temperature of the restaurant, •bars and cloakrooms and the overall cleanliness of the environment and the professionalism of the staff. contd….

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CONTD……..

for example, In a high class restaurant, it is expected that linen napkin would be provided, if paper ones have been provided customers may feel cheated when they consider the price they are paying for the meal.

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EXPECTATION AND IDENTIFICATION A single customer or group of customers arriving at a restaurant for a meal bring with them a series of expectations regarding that restaurant, the type of service they will receive, the price they will pay, the expected atmosphere and mood of the restaurant, etc. The customer expectation may be varied and numerous, ranging from the restaurant which the customer frequents because they want to be seen there and participate in its social atmosphere, to the small quiet restaurant where the customer may go because of its intimate and personal nature. If customers sense disharmony, however, between their expectation of the restaurant and the actual product they find, for example, it is too intimate for the occasion, they may not enter the restaurant but choose another. If disharmony is not realized until customers are seated at the table, it is unlikely that they will leave but will have a hurried and uncomfortable meal.

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LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY Services which are not appropriately located may not be performed at all. For example, a city restaurant may rely(depend) heavily on a number of large local companies for the majority of its lunchtime trade, if several of these companies leave the area the restaurant’s demand would be significantly affected. A road side restaurant’s trade would also be affected by the expansions or relocation of a major nearby road and consequently an increase or decrease in the volume of traffic and hence customers. The accessibility to a catering operation is another important factor. Customer arriving by car will expect adequate car parking facilities. If customers have to travel by public transport, the operation should be well served by buses, trains, or taxis.

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FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE EMPLOYEES The number of staff serving in a restaurant is closely related to the prices charged by the establishment and the level of service that it offers. In self service operations very few service staff are required. In the luxury restaurants offering full alacarte service, the ratio may be as high as one member of staff to eight customers. In some establishments the ratio of staff to customers being as low as one member of staff to twenty to forty customers. Not only does the number of staff in a restaurant contribute to the meal experience, but also their attitude to customers and the tempo of their service. In a luxury restaurant the tempo of the staff is considerably slower and more relaxed because of the higher ratio of service staff to customers. It should be noted that the attitude of the staff is almost totally influenced by the management attitude and the environmental climate in which the staffs are working. The uniforms of the service staff should be appropriate for the level of the catering operation, and again this physical aspect of the restaurant must be seen to be part of the establishment’s totality.

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Staff employed by a restaurant operation should complement the meal experience of the customers, and they are able to do this in a variety of ways, their social skills, their age and sex, their uniform, the tempo of their service, and so on.

CONCLUSION The type of meal experience offered by a food service facility must, therefore, be tailored around the requirements and expectations of the customer. The production of the right product, the meal experience begins with the basic marketing questions of who are our customers and what do they want? By seeking to answer these questions, caterers are able to determine their position in the market and to offer the right product at the right price for the identified market segments. It is also important to remember that a customer’s meal experience varies according to a number of factors and that the same customer’s requirements may vary from one meal experience to another.

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ASSIGNMENT VISIT TO A NEARBY RESTAURANT AND WRITE DOWN YOUR EXPECTATIONS BEFORE ENTERING AND YOUR EXPERIENCE AFTER YOUR VISIT. YOU CAN TAKE ANY PREVIOUS VISIT FOR THIS PURPOSE.

LAST DATE FOR SUBMISIION – 8th SEPTEMBER,2010

EXPECTATIONS EXPERIENCE

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