FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT

THE SYSTEMS APPROACH

The systems approach is based on the idea that complex organizations are made up of interdependent parts (subsystems) to interact to achieve common goals.

STATUS OF FOODSERVICE TODAY

• Foodservice in the US today is complex and the fast-changing industry.
• A conservative estimate is that 47 percent of meals consumed are planned, prepared, and served outside the home in one of the estimated 945,000 establishments that exist in the US.

FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH

• The changing status of women
• The large number of single-person households
• Population growth in the US seems to be slowing
• An increase in the Asian and Hispanic population
• The shift from manufacturing to technology and service industries
• The awakened interest in the health and well being of people and concern about improving the nutritional status of individual.
• The shortage of qualified foodservice personnel 

CLASSIFICATION OF FOODSERVICES

• Commercial (restaurant, supermarket, convenience stores, delis, snack bars, and other retail food establishment                      
• Noncommercial (sometimes called institutional or on-site) business, educational, governmental, correctional, or other organizations that operate their own foodservice

• Military\

BASICS OF SYSTEMS THEORY

• Organizations are "collections of parts" united by prescribed interactions and are designed for accomplishing specified objectives and goals.
• Organizations are highly complex entities in which attention must be paid to myriad inputs, processes, outputs, feedback loops, and the general environment under which the organization functions.
• Organizations operate within a society and, as such, are independent, not self-contained.

TYPES OF FOOD SERVICE SYSTEMS

• Conventional (raw foods are purchased, prepared on-site, and served soon after preparation).                                                                       Advantages: quality control, menu flexibility, less freezer storage.               Disadvantages: stressful workday, difficulty in scheduling workers.           Rationale: skilled labor, foods may be produced with limited amounts of processing.
• Ready-prepared system (cook/chill or cook/freeze systems where food prepare on-site, then chilled or frozen, and stored for reheating at a later time.                                                                                                         Advantages: reduces of peaks and valleys of workloads, reduction in labor cost, and improved quality and quantity control.                                           Disadvantages: need a large cold storage need freezer units, need for costly rethermalization equipment in some cases.                                                                                                                 Rationale: reduced labor expenses, decreased need for skilled labor, volume food procurement may decrease food cost.
• Commissary (a central production kitchen or food factory with centralized food purchasing and delivery to off-site facilities for final preparation.                                                                             Advantages: large volume food purchasing reduces costs, effective and consistent quality control. Disadvantages: many critical point contamination, specialized equipment and trucks are needed, high cost.                                                                                                                                         Rationale: accommodates remote service area
• Assembly/serve ( also known as kitchenless kitchen fully prepared foods are purchased, stored, assembled, heated, and served.                                                                                                          Advantages: labor savings, lower procurement costs, and minimal equipment and space requirement.                                                                                                                                      Disadvantages: limited availability of desired menu items, high lost, additional freezer space requirements, and concern over recycling or disposing of packaging materials.                                Rationale: assuming lack of labor and an available supply of highly processed foods, this system can be succesful.