Tips on how to setup buffet table to lower your labour and food costs.
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS INGREDIENT CARD
Ingredient:
Setup a Profitable Buffet Table
Question:
How to setup a profitable Buffet Table?
Answer:
In considering profit on a buffet, the menu planner has a much more difficult task at hand than merely marking up an item for the menu.
In a normal menu markup, the portion is predetermined. If all goes well, the exact cost, as well as the exact profit, is known.
With buffets, the portions are left up to the customer. How many of which items will they select? The only answer to this dilemma is that it must be dealt with in generalities. In other words, the food cost and subsequent profit must be looked at in total rather than for each specific item.
Buffet planning to control costs:
Once the selling price is established, items can be selected in a cost range to adhere to that price.
Example:
A buffet in a low price range would have a chicken casserole, while a moderate range would call for baked chicken and a higher-priced buffet would probably opt for chicken kiev (not because of food cost but rather the labor cost).
Control costs are plate size:
Given an empty space on a plate, a customer will fill it.
- A large plate will rapidly become filled on a buffet line because the customer is hungry when going through the selection process.
- This large plate may be filled to a point where the customer will not be able to consume it all. Thus wasted cost occurs.
- Conversely, with a smaller plate, while the customer is finishing his/her first plate and returning for seconds, the digestion process is taking place.
- The customer becomes filled, thus selecting a lesser amount on the return trip.
Arrangement of items on the table:
Another factor to consider in controlling cost is the arrangement of particular items on the table.
- Buffets should be merchandised to profit. That is, the lower-cost items should be placed first and succeeding items placed in direct proportion to their cost.
- This should be done for each food category.
- Colour and texture distribution also need to be taken into account when arranging the table but not to the exclusion of cost.
- Some clever manipulation and well-conceived planning need to be taken into account to properly achieve this goal.
Buffet service requires the least amount of labor, both kitchen and service. A busy catering operation can increase its flexibility by applying this style of service to one large function while simultaneously serving another party.
Method
Labour and food costs are lower = more profit.
How to Setup a Profitable Buffet eGuide
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