Difference Between FOH and BOH Attendants: Food and Beverages Industry Operations Assessment Answer

Food and beverages industry operations

Executive summary

The report overviews the operations of the food and the beverages industry and details and the manufacturing, production and the operations process of the whole industry. The report evaluates the differences in the basic services provided by the stakeholders of this industry and figures out the procedure and the varied ways in and every service takes place to obtain consumer satisfaction. The report symbolizes the difference between the functioning of the FOH and the BOH attendants and illustrates the different kinds of services they offer to equalize business performance. 

Food and beverages industry operations

Serving 

This is one of the most significant of the operations in the food and the beverages industry. Serving is basically done with the help of the FOH attendants (Patiar & A., 2017). The process of serving is based upon taking orders, placing the menu charts, engulfing the customer with complete hospitality as well as communicating with the kitchen staff to induce the consumer’s certain preferences. The system of serving is preferred to be done by FOH attendants who are skilled in hospitality management as serving the guest accurately enhance the restaurant’s preferences or any business entity under the food and the beverages industry. Serving is not only applicable to serving dishes but also is extended in maintaining the plate and the cart services as well as seeking into the favorite choices of the regular consumers. 

Area 1

Service area

The FOH attendant or the front of the house attendant is basically responsible to outcast the guest the flourishment of the restaurant and induce immense hospitality to enhance the food and beverages business entity’s business operations (Goh, 2011). They are the main face of the industry and directly deals with customers and are thus responsible for greeting them, serving, taking orders, bringing dishes and cleaning tables. Their sole operations are to interface with the guests and thus take complete responsibility for consumer satisfaction.

Style of services 

There are largely varied services provided by the FOH attendants such as the plate service, cart service, a la carte and family type services. These services vary depending on the occasion or the theme of the current place as well as on the demand of the consumers.

Equipment

The FOH attendants use certain sorts of odd equipment to provide the best services to the consumers. The attendants in a renowned food and beverages entity use mostly cutleries, food trays and carts, utensils like bowls and saucers as well as flower vases to enhance the aura of the F&B business entity.

Differences 

The major two types of services provided by the FOH attendant is the a la carte and the family type services. The a la carte service is totally depended on serving of individual dishes where a particular menu is set for single customers. In this type of service, a FOH attendant is allotted for an individual customer and if focused on serving the best dishes upon the fixed menu. The family type service is quite contradictory to the latter as it offers a large menu for a whole family and several FOH attendant is allotted to serve the members of one particular family. The family type service is often offered in weddings as well as in other social gatherings. One of the most common types of family type service is the buffet.

Benefits and disadvantages 

A la carte pros 

• One of the biggest advantages of the a la carte service is that it’s quite formal and classy and thus the individual choosing it gets the best dishes on the fixed menu.
• Another advantage of a la carte is that there is no huge gatherings or lines for a customer to wait. An FHO attendant is allotted to focus on that particular customer.

A la carte cons 

• One of the biggest disadvantages of this type of service is that there is no variety of food and the individual has to choose upon a fixed menu offered. 

Buffet pros 

• A big advantage of this type of service is that it offers a lot of variety 
• Another advantage of such type of services is that it is quite casual and thus guests like freely attendant social gatherings or weddings (Pandey & Sanromán, 2016).

Buffet cons 

• A big disadvantage of such services is that the consumers have to wait in a big line if the gatherings are huge. 
• The second disadvantage of this service is that often it leads to unsatisfied consumers as serving the whole family in gatherings leads to unnoticed attention to every particular guest.

Purchasing 

Purchasing is one of the most essential operations within the food and the beverages industry. All the internal stakeholders should be well competent in buying the correct product in an accurate amount within the best price (Patiar A. M., 2017). Purchasing has different sets of procedures but the amount bought is based more on anticipation than on calculations. Purchasing is all based on the supply of the products and thus the purchaser should have a continuous link up with the wholesaler or the supplier. Purchase in the food and beverages industry is depended on two major categories like the perishable and the non-perishable. Perishable items are the fish, vegetables and fruits whereas the non-perishable items are the dry flour and cereals.

Area 2

Service area 

The identified service area is the FOH supervisors and the head waiter. They are the main management who supervises the functioning of all the other FOH staffs and their operations. The responsibilities of these house supervisors include ordering of soft beverages, keeping an account of the cash, ensuring quality service is provided to the guests as well as pricing menu and weekly stock.

Style of services 

The varied style as to how these FOH supervisors and the head waiters handle their operations. The head waiter is responsible for the excellent service of all the other FOH attendants and thus supervises the purchasing operation whereas the FOH supervisors check upon the profits of the business entity by supervising the cash accounts and changing the price of the menu weekly (Chand, Mohinder, Slath, & Anish., 2018).  

Equipment

The equipment used by the FOH supervisors is blackboard to maintain the pricing of the menu and acknowledge the pricing to their consumers. The supervisors also use tea lights and votive which helps them to enhance the ambience of the restaurant to intensify more towards customer satisfaction. The head waiter as like all other waiter uses cutleries as well as high chairs to adjust a whole family and side plates to magnify the plate service.

Differences 

There stand some of the most basic differences between the style of services provided by the FOH supervisor and the head waiter. Firstly the biggest difference stands between keeping an account of the cash and changing the pricing of the menu weekly. The first is done to keep a strong vigilance on the total amount collected by the business entity daily and provide a sharp record of it to the other internal stakeholders whereas the reason behind changing the pricing of the menu is due to accelerating the profit of that entity. As mentioned that the head waiter intensifies the plate service. This also has a big difference between the services of the normal attendant and the head waiter as the plate service is just to enhance the ambience of the food and the table.

Benefits and disadvantages 

 Pricing the menu pros 

• One of the obvious pros of pricing the menu weekly is to maximize on the affordable prices and thus enhancing the profits of the business.
• Another most obvious benefit behind pricing the menu is that changes in the menu could well be welcomed with new prices.

Pricing the menu cons 

• One of the biggest disadvantages behind pricing the menu is that it maximizes the price of certain unnecessary items and thus customers find it non-affordable. 

Plate service pros 

• The only benefit of the plate service as synchronized by the head waiter is that it enhances the aura of the restaurant’s hospitality and decorates the table reserved for the family.

Plate service cons 

• The only disadvantage of plate service is that it often clings the table and results in breaking of dishes.  

Preparing 

This is one of the most significant among the operations that is induced into the food and the beverages industry to outlast the whole of production (Ekaterina, 2017). Preparing is one of the most significant processes of manufacturing and thus is depended on the FOH as well as the BOH staffs. The operation of preparing is based on cooking the food items, sorting out the ingredients and processing the bar. The preparation for the FOH bar includes storing the wines and the alcohol items and preparing them according to the customers. Preparation of alcohol beverages induces cocktails and mixing of other styles of alcohols. The FOH bar preparation requires cutleries, glass utensils as well as necessary items to mix the ingredients.  

Area 3

Service area

The identified service area is the BOH kitchen manager and the kitchen staffs. The service provided by the kitchen manager and the kitchen staffs is solely based on the preparation of the food items in the menu sorted. The kitchen manager functions in training the employees in receiving, purchasing and preparation of the food items. It is also among the job roles of the kitchen manager to check out for the cleanliness and the sanitation of the kitchen.      

Style of services 

The BOH or the back of the house kitchen manager has sorted services which includes keeping a sharp vigilance upon the kitchen activities as well as overlooking upon customer satisfaction by delivering the best of the food items. The kitchen manager also supervises the preparation of the dishes and himself induces into the preparation of special dishes during a special occasion (Manuell, 2017).

Equipment 

The kitchen manager also uses regular equipment like all the other staffs of the kitchen including a blackboard to record the preparation of the dishes and allotting the duties to the other kitchen staffs. The kitchen manager also keeps in handy grills and deep fryers required in the preparation of special dishes.

Differences 

There are some sorts of basic differences between the styles of services provided by the kitchen manager. The basic services provided by the BOH kitchen manager is supervising the kitchen employees and the other staffs and checking the proper functioning of the kitchen equipment. The kitchen manager also seeks into the preparation of the food and participates into the preparation of special dishes. The basic difference between these services in the management of the kitchen supervisor is that the supervision is based upon the vigilance of the kitchen employees and the kitchen staffs and to look prominently upon their services whereas the preparation of the food is based on supervising and cooking of the special dishes.

Benefits and disadvantages.

Management procedure pros 

• The management procedure of the BOH kitchen manager often well synchronizes and helps in well communicating with the kitchen staff.
• The management procedure helps in evaluating the best services from the kitchen staffs.

Management procedure cons 

• The biggest disadvantage of this procedure is that self favors works into this practice and often many well-accomplished loses their job. 

Preparation procedure pros 

• The kitchen manager supervising the preparation process might prove significant to evaluate the best results.

Preparation procedure cons 

• While supervising the BOH kitchen manager might add his own favors which might prove non-significant to the consumers.

Conclusion

 Thus the whole of the report has well symbolized the job roles and the operations induced into the food and the beverages industry. The report has well symbolized each of the operations and how well the selected type of service area works in the process to signify well-symbolizing results. The report has also well outcast the process required by the selected services areas to induce into the operations of the beverage industry and the major differences between the style of services provided by the BOH and the FOH staffs. The use of the equipment mentioned has also well promoted into the report and most prominently the functioning of the different service areas has well been figurative. 

Thus the major portions of the report have presented an overview upon the work and the functioning of the food and the beverages industry and how well the industry functions to keep up to the consumer satisfaction. It shares an overview of the functioning of each and every stakeholder into the process of operations and how each of them is responsible for accelerating profits.