Difficulties and Obstacles of Food Service and Relate Fields By Jacob Shaw Introduction:

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I, like many other Americans eat out at restaurants very frequently. We go out with friends, we celebrate with relatives, and we take for granted the work that is put into running a food service business. We have high expectations of the restaurants we visit and refuse to take anything lower than par. We fail to realize the complexity of restaurants and Food Service businesses in general and we ignore the hardships and hurdles thrown at these businesses on the daily basis. With a better understanding of the difficulties in the food business we are more likely to understand when something goes wrong. Many dont realize that customers are often rude to workers of restaurants. We all visit restaurants because we are hungry. Science shows that people are angrier when they are hungry. Restaurants are a vital part of our lives and serve many of us our every meal. With a better understanding of the difficulties that go into restaurant based businesses we can have a greater and more profound respect for the food we eat and the work that goes into it. Due to the daily difficulties that restaurants face on a daily basis I chose to use this paper to shed light on these difficulties. Research: Restaurants Success What do you look for in a restaurant? What makes you want to visit again? These are questions that every successful restaurant asks. These questions separate the restaurants that succeed from the restaurants that fail. When it comes to running a restaurant it is important that the owner and or manger understands what is necessary in order to make the restaurant succeed and profit at its maximum potential. Author Monica Parpal of How Not to Fail at Running a Restaurant, offers insight into practices that will help increase the longevity of a restaurant through strategic practices. Monica Parpal

Difficulties and Obstacles of Food Service and Relate Fields By Jacob Shaw

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encourages managers to work harder than anyone else. Working harder than everyone else means arriving at the restaurant early, stepping up and helping with other individuals jobs, and pitching in when the workload is increased or someone calls out. If someone calls out for personal reasons, call several employees to cover the shift of the missing individual. Being a successful manager and running a successful restaurant relies on dedication and the willingness to step beyond ones normal everyday tasks. Running a restaurant is a difficult task and can become very stressful. Unlike employees on the clock, managers do not make extra money for working overtime. If you are a manager of a restaurant or food based business you should expect to work overtime all the time. If the manager is unwilling to work overtime, they are clearly in the wrong business and should probably look into a major career change. A key factor in determining a restaurant success is the managers ability to understand the businesses financials. Understand what money is being put into the business and what money will be required to break even. Breaking even should not be the goal of a restaurant; there is no profit in getting the money you spent back. Every business is a risk but restaurants are unique because the risk is so high. Monica Parpal explains that restaurants are at risk for failing for various reasons including: hazards, employee training, and major liabilities. Owners need to understand exactly what they need to do in order to make their business succeed. If being successful means paying for ads in the newspaper, the owner should not hesitate. If the owner has an opportunity to invest money that will give his business a competitive advantage over other businesses he or she would be a fool to ignore it. The previous sentence was a powerful statement that Monica Parpal makes when discussing restaurant success.

Difficulties and Obstacles of Food Service and Relate Fields By Jacob Shaw Research: Success Tips for Restaurants

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The goal of a restaurant is to make great food, make lots of people happy, and make profit. Jeff Haden explains that a restaurants success is bound by the businesses ability to meet consumer satisfaction. Jeff Haden gives information for achieving the desired results. In order to make great food, a restaurant needs to have a great chef. In order for a restaurant to gain customers the restaurant needs to be in a great location. Location and convenience ultimately play as much importance as the quality and taste of the food. Having a great restaurant location and a great chef doesnt guarantee a restaurants success but it is a great place to start out. Like every other business in the world, customer service plays a significant role in customer loyalty and retention rate. If an employee complains about the taste of your tea, dont blow them off. Chances are pretty high that if one employee is dissatisfied there are several that are dissatisfied. If you are unwilling to meet your customers expectations you are at risk for people not returning. Roy Bergold explains in Roys Tips for Creating Repeat Business, that a successful restaurant is a business that strives for customer loyalty. He goes on to explain that its important to listen to your customers and to adapt to their needs and concerns. Adapting to meet the demands of the customer is a great way to drive an increase in profit and expand the restaurants overall reach. Gaining customer loyalty should not be a hassle for the customer. The most successful loyalty programs offer incentive for the consumer to return. Offer a free sub for every five they purchase and you would be surprised how many people return over and over just to get that free sub.

Difficulties and Obstacles of Food Service and Relate Fields By Jacob Shaw Research: Legal Side of Restaurants

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With any great business you risk losing everything in order to gain the world and restaurants are no exception. Restaurants are dangerous and if not taken care of, pose major health concerns to the public. Bacteria grow on food and flourishes on kitchen equipment. Proper cleaning techniques and strategies must be used in order to maintain a safe environment. Angela Haupt describes the role of bacteria in the kitchen. She explains that food left out for more than two hours at room temperature is twice more likely to contain higher amounts of bacteria than the same food item that was kept in a refrigerator set no higher than forty degrees. Caron Beesley author of the article Opening and Running a Restaurant a Legal and Regulatory Checklist, gives insight as to the exact required and regulatory steps to opening a business. She explains that restaurants must follow zoning laws. This basically means that a restaurant cant just open up anywhere. It has to be in a location t hat is permitted by the local government. Restaurants are required to obtain licenses and permits stating validity of the business. Food Service businesses are also required to follow food safety codes and undergo unannounced inspections. Each of these requirements must be met in order to open a restaurant. A business that plants to sell liquor is required to have a liquor license and carry various insurance policies to prevent accidents from occurring. Insurance is used to protect the consumer and the business itself from whatever legal hurdle may be thrown at them. School cafeterias and food service locations are no exception to laws and regulations either. They receive a rating based on cleanliness just like every other

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restaurant in the United States. In most cases cafeterias undergo further investigation to ensure that students and kids are protected from harmful food service practices. Research: School Cafeterias When I look back on my days in elementary school I remember the thrill of standing in the cafeteria line waiting on my slice of square pepperoni pizza. Cafeterias were different back at that time and I enjoyed the food. Over the years I stopped enjoying cafeteria food and became disgusted by what I saw around me. Once I hit middle school I made up the decision not to eat in cafeterias again because of the lack of cleanliness. I was concerned for my health and I decided that I would rather bring my lunch to school than get sick from dirty food that the lunch ladys were serving. Restaurant businesses started becoming more regulated with the growing concern for food borne illness. This problem is not common today but exists in schools, which in my opinion is unacceptable. Certain investigations have unveiled a slew of reports that harmful practices still occur even though it is not as common as it once was. Several schools that I have personally investigated have failed health codes, Kerry Tomlinson rights. Kerry Tomlinsons investigation showed that every school did not have the same problems if they had any problems at all but a select few had concerning results. Some schools failed in putting away food in a proper way putting students and faculty health at risk. Others failed to clean up after spilled food. Rosedale Elementary School had mold and mildew that was located in the school ice machine. This concerns parents because some children are more susceptible to dangerous exposures like mold. Kerry Tomlinson highlights the fact that mold takes a while to grow so it shows a level of neglecting by the school staff. I have personally seen

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mold in ice machines at my old high school. Before marching band practice everyday we would fill up the water coolers with ice and on the lid of the ice machine was black mold. At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte there are several cafeterias. Two of the cafeterias are traditional and are run by the company Chartwell. Various other food businesses are scattered across campus and include: chic-fil-a, Wendys, Mama Leonas, Brueggers Bagels, Subway, Bistro 49, and several others. Research: Common Problems with Restaurants As Alex Roe points out, some of the major concerns in restaurants is the overall cost for opening and running the business. Chefs require a much higher salary than normal staff. Restaurants also need the regular staff that includes: waiters, waitresses, hosts, bartenders, and much more. Observation: Fretwell Caf In my personal experience at Fretwell Caf I noticed a variety of ideas and concepts that appear to speak for this business success. Employees are respectful to the consumer regardless of how the consumer treats the employee. This aspect is important in maintaining good relationships with customers. Cleanliness in my opinion is by far king when it comes to the important concepts of a restaurant. Clean tables encourage people to sit down. I hate dirty tables and in most cases I refuse to sit anywhere that does not appear clean. If I am unwilling to sit because of a cleanliness concern, I have highly unlikely to buy and or eat at this location. Cleanliness also stretches beyond the table and into the kitchen. Fretwell Caf has very clean countertops, which is important to the sanitary part of this business. If the countertops are dirty, contamination is possible and

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could threaten the health of its consumers. The health of the consumers is important because it could play a major role in any legal action taken against the business. Fretwell Caf is unique because of its location. It is located at the bottom of the Fretwell building on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and is housed in the bottom of one of the major college buildings. Its location is unique because it allows easy access to a caf without traveling far at all. Its location is beneficial to the business because it is the closest restaurant and caf for at least a quarter mile for most residence and scholars on the east side of campus. Observation: Comparison to Crown Commons Crown Commons is another popular location on the Campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It is the most popular place for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you compare Crown Commons to Fretwell Caf you notice a variety of differences as well as similarities. Food prepared at Crown is created on a mass scale. They create enough food to feed a lot of people and do not focus on the individual. Crown also has a larger variety of foods to choose from. Fretwell and Crown differ primarily on the target audience. While crown commons attracts the hungry individual and lunch, Fretwell pulls in the scholar that is having trouble staying awake. They pull in customers that want coffee or want a more personalized bite to eat. A student that wants to study for a test next class is far more likely to eat at Fretwell than Crown Commons. The atmosphere is important to the type of individual that each appeals too and ultimately helps in catering to that specific group. The two businesses are very similar as they both provided good customer service. Both maintain clean environments and strive to create quality food. Fretwell and Crown

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also appeal to the same audience but they target different groups. I personally enjoy Fretwell more than Crown but I eat at crown out of convenience. Conclusion: This paper includes a number of sources that bring attention to the inherent difficulties of running a food based business. Food Service runs into a variety of problems and hurdles to jump through. We often take for granted to work put into preparing our food and we overlook the hardships that we deem so simple. Restaurants like Fretwell Caf face an uphill battle on a daily battle to survive. I, for one take these businesses for granted on the daily bases and until now had no idea of the difficulties and challenges faced by these businesses. In this paper I expose the difficulties that restaurants face on a repetitious cycle. With the information I learned I plan on bring more understanding when I go to food service businesses. Its important that I be more understanding of small mistakes at restaurants while keeping in mind that I have high expectations of the restaurants I eat at. Health is a big concern of many and there should not be any exception or cut corner when it comes to customer health. On the same note we should not flip on if we are given the wrong plate or coffee. With a better understanding of food services and a higher expectation of health we can reduce the stress and improve the overall experience we have at these businesses.