Chapter Seven
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A production plan lists the types and
amounts of finished foods and beverages
needed, when they must be ready, and when
they should be produced
The chef and banquet manager must have
copies of the banquet event orders (BEOs) so
that they can incorporate them into the daily
production and work schedules.
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The chef needs to requisition foods from the
storeroom
If the kitchen staff needs something unusual
that the catering operation does not normally
carry in stock, he or she will need to prepare
a purchase requisition a few days before the
meal function and for the purchasing
department
The purchasing agent will then have enough
time to shop around for the product and get
the best possible value.
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The amount of food that must be
requisitioned and produced depends
primarily on the:
Number of guests expected
Style of service
Expected edible yields.
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You should plan to prepare enough foods to
handle the guaranteed guest count, plus a set
percentage above that amount
Generally speaking, if the guarantee is 100
guests, you should plan for 10 percent more
If the guarantee ranges from 100 to 1,000
guests, you should plan for 5 percent more
If the guarantee exceeds 1,000 guests, you
should plan for 3 percent more.
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With a sit-down, pre-plated meal, it is less
difficult to compute the food-requisition
amounts as you can control portion sizes
If the main course is roast bottom round of
beef, the serving size is 6 cooked ounces,
and the expected edible yield percentage for
the raw roast beef is 75%, you will need to
requisition approx. 55 pounds of raw beef for
a party of 100 guests
Fifty-five pounds will serve 110 guests, 100
plus an extra 10 guests.
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Divide serving size by edible yield percentage.
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Divide 16 ounces by the amount of raw product
needed per serving
◦ This will tell you how much raw product you need per
serving.
◦ 6 ounces/.75 = 8 ounces
◦ This will tell you the number of edible servings you can
get from one raw pound of roast beef.
◦ 16 ounces/8 ounces = 2 servings
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Divide the number of guests by the number of
edible servings per raw pound
◦ This will give you the amount of raw roast beef you must
requisition.
◦ 110 servings/2 = 55 raw pounds
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It is much easier to determine how much
alcoholic beverage you will need than it is to
forecast your food requirements
Unlike food, beverage is a standardized,
manufactured product
You do not have to worry about spoilage and
quality and yield variations
As long as your liquor storeroom is well
stocked, you will never run out of product.
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Usually the banquet and reception bars are
set up with a par stock of beverages, ice,
glassware, garnishes, and other necessary
supplies about a half-hour to an hour before
the catered event is scheduled to begin
The normal par stock used is influenced by
the:
◦ Number of guests expected.
◦ The caterer’s experience with similar events
◦ Amount of storage space available at the bar.
Type of Spirit
# of Liters
Blend
1
Canadian
1
Scotch
2
Bourbon
1
Gin
1
Vodka
3
Rum
2
Brandy/Cognac
1
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Expect liquor consumption to average at least
2 1/2 drinks per guest during a one-hour
reception, particularly if the event attracts a
mixed-company crowd
Average consumption tends to drop at very
large receptions and it usually increases at
male-only events
If you schedule enough help and stock
enough inventory to handle 2 1/2 drinks per
hour, you should be able to accommodate
any type of beverage function adequately.
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Usually you will estimate 2 ½ servings of wine
per guest for the typical dinner banquet
In this example, you will need to order
enough wine to serve 275 glasses
◦ 110 X 2.5
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Since the standard wine glass holds a 5ounce portion (approx. 148 ml), you will need
to order about 55 750-milliliter bottles of
wine.
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Divide the amount of liquor per 750-milliliter
bottle by the serving size
◦ This will tell you how many potential drinks you can
obtain per container
◦ 750 ml/148 ml = 5.07 potential drinks per bottle
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Divide the number of servings needed by the
number of potential drinks per container
◦ This will tell you how many containers you will need
to special order
◦ 275 servings/5.07 = 54.24 750-milliliter bottles,
rounded to 55
◦ 750 ml bottles needed.
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If you take into account over-pouring, waste, and
the fact that usually you cannot get all of the
liquid out of a bottle (some of it will stick to the
sides), you will need to increase your order size
If you assume that you will lose 1 ounce
(approximately 30 ml) per 750-milliliter bottle,
your order size will be about 57 750-milliliter
bottles of wine
The calculations are:
◦ 750 - 720 ml/148 ml = 4.86 potential drinks per bottle
◦ 275 servings/4.86 = 56.58 750-milliliter bottles,
rounded to 57 750-milliliter bottles needed.
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Finish cooking involves cooking to guest order
The chef must wait for the guest to order a rare
steak; he or she does not prep it in advance.
Finish cooking is the most difficult part of the food
production plan
It is also the most labor intensive
You need to schedule a lot of worker hours
Worker hours must be provided by highly skilled food
handlers who can work under the demanding
conditions that accompany most finish-cooking
activities.
A chef working at an egg action station must be
quick, efficient, and accurate as he or she will be
producing two or three guest orders at a time and
will need to remember them as well as those that are
coming in from other guests waiting in line.
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In general, the number of food production
work hours needed for a catered event will
depend on the:
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Number of guests
Amount of time scheduled
Union and company policy
Type of service style
Amount of convenience foods used
Amount of scratch production
Amount of finish cooking needed
(Continued)
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Continued
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Type of menu items offered
Number of last minute requests
Number of special diets
Accuracy of meal time estimates
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Types of service personnel:
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Maitre d’hotel (floor manager)
Captain (room manager)
Food server
Cocktail server
Sommelier
Food runner
Bus person
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Napkin folds
Placing table pads and tablecloths
Table settings
Presetting foods
Greeting/seating guests
Taking food/beverage orders
Serving food and beverage
Opening wine bottles, pouring wine
Hot and cold beverage service
Crumbing and bussing tables
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The number of service personnel needed to
handle a given number of guests, are usually
established by management
These ratios are the heart of the service
staffing guide.
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The number of service personnel needed
depends on many factors, including:
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Number of guests
Length of the event
Style of service
Menu length and complexity
Timing of the event
Room location
Room setup
Probability of overtime
Extraordinary requests
Union and company policies
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The number of servers can vary from one staff
member for every 8 guests to a high of one staff
member for every 40 guests.
Industry experts suggest that the minimum
service ratio for conventional sit-down meal
functions with American-style service with some
foods pre-set, is one server for every 20 guests.
If you are using rounds of 10, you should
schedule one server for every 2 dining tables
If you are using rounds of 8, two servers should
be scheduled to handle 5 dining tables.
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If the conventional sit-down meal function
includes Russian, French or poured-wine
service, you normally will need one server for
every 16 guests
You should schedule one server for every two
rounds of 8, or two servers for every three
rounds of 10
One busser for every six rounds of 10, or
every eight rounds of 8
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The banquet manager usually sets aside one
day each week to prepare the service work
schedules for the following week
Each week, he or she must prepare a fixed
work schedule and a variable work schedule
Fixed employees usually have steady,
predictable work schedules
Variable labor is incremental labor, it
fluctuates with the volume of catering
business.
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The work schedules will be based primarily
on the:
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Types of functions booked that week
Expected lengths of each function
Number of guests anticipated
Styles of service required
Allowable labor costs
Employee availability
Degree of guest satisfaction required
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Allocate a sufficient number of work hours to
cover the pre-opening and tear-down
periods
Stagger your servers so that some arrive and
leave earlier than others
You should aim to have the maximum
number of workers available when the
catered functions are in high gear, and fewer
scheduled at function beginnings and
endings.
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About 15 minutes before you want the meal
service to start, you should begin calling
guests
You can start the music, dim the lights in the
pre-function area, ring chimes, or make
announcements to signal guests that it is
time to enter the dining room for dinner
Servers should be standing ready at their
stations when guests walk into the room, not
against the wall talking with each other.
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For most conventional meal functions, the
salad course will usually take about twenty to
thirty minutes
The main course, about thirty to fifty
minutes, from serving to removing of plates
Dessert can usually be handled in
approximately twenty to thirty minutes
The entire meal will be about 1 1/4 hours for
a typical luncheon and 2 hours for a typical
dinner.
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Food and beverage production and service
must be carried out in a safe and wholesome
manner
Anyone handling foods and beverages must
be trained to practice basic safety and
sanitation procedures to ensure that
employees and guests do not fall victims to
accidents or food-borne illnesses.
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In most locations in the U.S., all food-contact
equipment must display the blue seal of the NSF
(National Sanitation Foundation)
Equipment that does not carry this seal usually
cannot be used in commercial food and beverage
operations.
Underwriter's Laboratory (UL) and the American Gas
Association (AGA) inspect and certify equipment
compliance with generally accepted safety standards
A gas oven displaying the AGA seal is safe to use in
commercial production
Most local building codes usually require all
equipment and permanent installations to meet or
exceed safety standards promulgated by these types
of independent inspectors.