Food and Beverage
HISTORY
of the food service industry
Egypt and Rome
• Originally for celebrations,
rituals
• Egyptians would meet in public
places to share food
• Pompeii has the ruins of bars,
snack bars and fast food
restaurants
• Romans had big banquets with
entertainment and portable
food services for their troops
French
• Fancy French dining began in 1789
• Royals were being killed, and chefs became
unemployed
• Chefs opened small, fine dining restaurants that
were for the upper class
United States
• Delmonico’s was the first restaurant that opened in the USA New York City in 1827
Antoine’s opened in New Orleans in 1840
– Fine dining
– Survived Hurricane Katrina
Fast Food
• The use of cars brought about fast food
restaurants such as A&W, KFC, and McDonald’s
• A&W created the “drive-up” restaurant
Changes in Business
• 1970s many
restaurants had been
closed for breakfast,
but with busier
lifestyles people
wanted breakfast
Marketing
• Fast food began associating their products with
television shows and movies – so toys became an
incentive to come to their stores
1990s
• Family-style restaurants
became popular, as they
focused on providing families
with quick service, good food,
and decent prices
TRENDS
Trends… Casual Dining
• Fine dining is being replaced, as people are more price
conscious
• Interiors tend to be neutral, with plants and wood instead
of fancy silverware and chandeliers
Trends… Takeout
• Takeaway represents around 50% of revenue
• Grocery stores have started to offer ready to eat
meals
Trends… Dining Out with Children
• Restaurants cater to children by providing a children’s
menu, children eat free day, crayons and a placemat to
color on, a play area …
Trends… Nutrition
• Health has become a concern:
reduce saturated fat and
cholesterol
• Introduced carb-free, fat-free,
and low-fat to grocery stores
and restaurant menus
• Restaurants have switched to
vegetable oil or vegetable
shortening
• Diet trends
• Healthier menu options
Trends …Allergy Awareness
Restaurant staff must be able
to identify ingredients
Trends… Legal Issues
• Laws regarding alcohol and
smoking have changed
restaurant revenue and owner
liability
• Before drinking and driving
legislation changed, 50%+ of
restaurant revenue could come
from beverage sales; it is now
less than 25%
• Upselling is done to replace
drink revenue
• Example: soup, salad, or
dessert with coffee or tea
Commercial Food Service
Limited-Service Restaurants
Fast-food
Take-out
Food Court
Commercial Food Service
Drinking Establishments
Pubs, Taverns, Bars
Non-commercial Food Service
Social & Contract Caterers
Airlines, railways, special events
Non-commercial Food Service
Institutional Food Services
Hospitals, nursing homes, schools, prisons…
Non-commercial Food Service
Other food services
Stadiums, movie theatres, vending machines
Definitions
• Commercial food services: primary business is
the service of food and drink
• Non-commercial food services: primary
business is something other than the food and
beverage sector
Part III: Restaurant Ownership
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Three ways:
Independent - majority
Single corporate structure
Franchise agreement
Independents
• Independent restauranteurs
• Have flexibility to change menus, redecorate, or make
other changes when they want
• Can be risky as it requires lots of time, energy, and
money
• 80% of independent restaurants will be bankrupt, so
franchises are becoming more popular
MacGregor’s Tea Room,
Pictou
Open for breakfast and lunch
Multi-Unit Corporate Restaurants
• One corporate headquarters will run multiple restaurants
• Headquarters will provide leadership, control, and
planning for the restaurant
• Managers are trained by the corporation
– Must meet profit quota
– Must follow policies
– But “operate independently”
• Examples: Boston Pizza International (Vancouver) and
Lone Star (Ottawa)
Multi-Unit Corporate Restaurants
• Companies may own and operate
restaurants that are very similar, or very
different
• Example: SIR Corp., from Burlington, ON
– Jack Astor’s Bar and Grill
– Armadillo Texas Grill
– Brasserie Frisco
– Alice Fazooli’s
Multi-Unit Corporate Restaurants
• Larger corporations will also try to buy
other successful chains
• Example: Cara Operations has purchased
Kelsey’s Corporation (Oakville)
Franchises
• Own your restaurant, but get more training and
experience
• Examples McDonald’s, Swiss Chalet, Boston Pizza, Tim
Horton’s
• Banks are more willing to lend money to brand name
restaurants
• Help in finding a location, layout is predetermined,
training for all staff
Franchises
• Purchasing is less expensive because you are
purchasing as part of a group
• Disadvantages:
– costs a lot to purchase and your yearly percentage is
high
– Cannot change to meet needs of a community or
follow trends
• But attracts tourists because they know what
they are going to see and get when they go to
these restaurants
Franchises
• Franchises can fall under a corporate
chain
• Examples:
• Cara Operations owns Swiss Chalet,
Kelsey’s Neighbourhood Bar &Grill,
Montana’s Cookhouse, and the Canadian
franchise rights to Outback Steakhouse
Part IV: Major Divisions of the Food
Service Industry
• Commercial Food Service
A. Full-service restaurants: sit down and are
served
B. Limited service restaurants (ie. Cafeteria,
fast food)
C. Drinking establishments
• Non-Commercial Food Service
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
Haute Cuisine
– Elegant and expensive
– Fancy décor, well trained staff, service should
be above expectations, striking table settings
– Has silverware, crystal goblets, fine linen, and
flower arrangements
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
• Wait staff have various
positions:
• Commis (junior waiter)
• Chef de rang (chief
server)
• Maitre d’ (head waiter)
• Sommelier (wine
steward)
• Commis (left)
• Sommelier (below)
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
• Food is fresh, prepared daily, and will have items
prepared specifically for that restaurant
• May have a different menu every day
• Food may be prepared next to your table, and may be
flambeed by the chef de rang
• There will be a wine cellar
• Was very popular in late 1800s for the wealthy
• The quality of silverware and crystal may have changed
to maintain costs, but the service, wine, and food have
not changed
• Example: George V Hotel in Paris
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
• George V Hotel by Four Seasons
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
Fine Dining:
• Do not have the same levels of wait staff, nor the
expensive table settings
• Staff are still highly skilled
• Flambee not common (due to costs)
• Food is prepared fresh, and presentation is important
(mixture of colors, etc)
• Still may have wine cellars
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
Dining
• Covers the rest – from diners to cafes
• Casual atmosphere, menu, price
• Bistros (café, trattoria):
– casual dining with unique food (such as
homemade desserts, stone-baked pizza)
– Décor is simple
– Restaurant tends to be small
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
• Dining
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Family-style restaurant
Suburbs, or near tourist attractions
Fast service and comfort foods
Provide high chairs and boosters
Children’s menus and children-friendly décor
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
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• Dining
Specialty Restaurant
Serves one kind of food
Swiss chalet and St. Hubert = chicken
Red Lobster = seafood
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
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• Dining
Ethnic Restaurants
Specialize in national dishes
French, British, and American has always been
available, but now you can pretty much get any
type
Three reasons for this category’s success
– Canadians are travelling, or watching tv
– Canadians themselves are more diverse
– Grocery stores are providing more products
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
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• Dining
Theme restaurants
theme parks = theme restaurants
Entertainment can be before, during, and/or
after the meal
Theme can be part of food choices, and at times
theme is more important than the food
Do not have to be big, but very expensive to
create, so they tend to be big to make up the
cost
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
• Theme restaurants are usually in a big city, so
can cater to locals, tourists, conventions
• Example: Medieval Times (Toronto)
• http://www.medievaltimes.com/
• Originated in Orlando, Florida.
• Own the largest breeding farm in the world.
• Breed Andalusian stallions and train for their
shows
• Can serve 2500 customers at a time
Commercial Food Service – Full
Service Restaurants
• Dining
• Buffet House
• 1980s saw this become popular (not a new idea
though)
• Variety of food, lots of it, hot or cold
• Serve yourself
• All-you-can-eat
• Serving staff will remove your empty dishes and
serve your drinks
Commercial Food Service –
Limited Service Restaurants
• Fast food
• Customer orders, receives food, finds napkins, straws,
condiments, place to sit, and should clean up after
themselves
• Less staff = less expensive meal
• Drive-thru makes it even cheaper since you feed more
people and don’t have to worry about where they will sit
• Examples: Taco Bell, KFC, Tim Horton’s, DQ, Extreme
Pita
• Found along highways, by resorts, attractions
• Will find many fast food restaurants in the same area
Commercial Food Service –
Limited Service Restaurants
• Some fast food restaurants are independently owned,
and will serve regional food
• In Quebec, can find poutine
• In Ottawa, can find Beavertails (fried pastry that you add
toppings to); became so popular that now are at Walt
Disney World
Commercial Food Service –
Limited Service Restaurants
• Coffee Houses
• Serve international coffees, lattes,
cappuccinos, and specialty teas
• Examples: Tim Hortons, Second Cup,
Starbucks
• Can sell bagels, muffins, cookies, and
other treats to go with the coffee
Commercial Food Service –
Limited Service Restaurants
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Cafeterias
Choose your food, but portions are preset
May be served by someone
Staff will clean tables
May have real tableware
Commercial Food Service –
Drinking Establishments
• Pubs and taverns try to remind you of a
pub in England or Ireland, in terms of food,
beer and atmosphere
• Example: D’Arcy McGee’s
Non-commercial Food Service
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Primary business is not serving food
Caterers supply food to airlines and trains
Also found in museums, sports arenas
By hiring a professional food service, a
business can focus on their primary
business
• Cara Operations is Canada’s largest
contract food service company
Non-commercial Food Service
• Train, bus, and airport terminals also have
restaurants and bars located within them
to serve their customers
• Compass Group is the world’s largest food
service contractor
– Handles food service for large events, such
as 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
– Served more than 3.5 million people at this
one event
Non-commercial Food Service
• Institutional food services are not directly linked to
tourism
• Hospitals, schools, and offices will hire people who have
done culinary training (therefore linked to tourism)
• Retail food services are in department stores. May have
cafeteria style or elegant, depending on the store
Non-commercial Food Service
• Festivals, stadiums, and seasonal events also in
this category
• Dollar Dog Hockey Night at Scotiabank Place in
Ottawa, where they served 15 000 hot dogs in 3
hours
• Also has fine dining, casual dining, and Penalty
Box ($45 to watch game and have all you can
eat sandwiches)
Non-commercial Food Service
• Contract food service
• Not as popular in Canada as US
• But found on campuses, and school
cafeterias – ARAMARK, Cara, Sodexho
• Retirement homes may also offer this
(more upscale ones)
Part IV: Marketing
• Remember, 80% of independently owned
restaurants go bankrupt in first five years
• Success limited to
– Good service
– Food products – purchasing, prep, storage
– Cost control
– Sales and promotion
Part IV: Marketing
• Menu is a marketing tool
• Food descriptions must be well
written – so that they will order
something, and next time may
order something different
• Pricing should reflect the
establishment
• Menus can vary in color,
materials, shape
• Displaying menus for people
passing by helps
Part IV: Marketing
• Couponing – example 2 for 1
• Number of additional
customers must be weighed
against loss in sales revenue
(research shows that people
who use coupons often do not
return)
• “Early Bird Specials” gets
people in the door during a
slow time
• Frequent diner cards to
reward guests for loyalty
Part IV: Marketing
• The least expensive and most effective
method: word of mouth
• May partner with the community by
sponsoring sports teams
• Make sure they are listed in “where to eat”
lists at tourism bureaus
• may set up a food booth at a festival or
special event
A Taste of Nova Scotia
A Taste of Nova Scotia
• Seafood
• Fiddleheads
• Apples
• Wine