INTRODUCTION TO FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANAGEMENT

By reading this page, you will be able to,

1. The explain the importance of food and beverage industry
2. The discuss importance of food and beverage management

The importance of food and beverage industry

One of the most demanding business in the world is food and beverage business. It is non-seasonal, non-diminishing and life-long and more over it is life and health industry that is attributed directly to the survival of the human being. Needless to say that every human needs food in every four hours to maintain his life in a good condition and therefore the industry supports human life. Because of this unique characteristics, it has the potential to increase the economic condition of the nation. Provision of food and beverage away from home forms a substantial part of the ever growing hospitality industry. The importance thing to note is the diversity of the food and beverage industry. It ranges from small independently owned establishment to large multi-national corporations. It also includes home catering, office catering, prisons, institutional catering and the list is unending. Therefore it is difficult to draw a boundary of this ever expanding industry.

In spite of globalization and new trends of eating out, this industry is also deeply rooted in the culture of human life as it forms the part of community life and family bonding. Therefore the importance of slow food taking pace now-a-days. In conclusion, the provision of food and beverage, either as a part of business, or welfare or takeaway foods or buying the food and beverage raw materials, all are a part of big food and beverage industry and it cover the most important aspect of human life, that is eating.

Importance of food and beverage management

Current scenario of selling food and beverage is susceptible to very high competition. Therefore managing a food and beverage service establishments (FSEs) such as restaurants, outdoor catering or even a small coffee shops are becoming a mammoth task. That make the management of the industry is a fascinating task. We have seen many FSEs close down in couple of months and shop lot changes to other businesses. The throbbing question is why do the FSEs close down in spite of ever growing demand and shortage of good restaurants in many areas in a locality? The answer is simple, managing the business requires scientific knowledge of food and beverage management. Earlier days of managing a business with common sense, personal logics and using rational thinking are of bygone days, because modern day food service businesses needs continuous improvements in terms of quality of food and beverage and service on offer. Other requirements are professionalism, which requires suitable and well-trained staff, real time information of the business scenarios and guest data. The most compelling thing is that the management of a business requires the knowledge of human resources, accounting, finance and marketing and more importantly the personal grit to make the business successful. That is why the food and beverage management becomes so important in the present condition of FSE business.

Knowledge of food and beverage management prepare you with;

1. Leadership abilities to plan, organize, lead and control a food and beverage establishment
2. Employability skills to secure a job in an executive level in a food service establishment
3. Menu planning and menu evaluation for creating a successful and popular menu
4. Operational knowledge to purchase, store, prepare and sell quality food with quality service
5. Costs and costing management for an optimum operational efficiency
6. Revenue and financial management in running any restaurant with sustainable profitability
7. Strategic marketing principles to make your restaurant popular
8. Digital skills to gather and analyse the guest data for making informed decisions at the right time
9. Human resources skills to recruit, employ and maintain right people with correct staffing techniques

The skills and knowledge that you learn in food and beverage management can be used in wide variety of industrial sectors and it can also be applied to general management cases in other industries.