Catering Technology, Food Service and Hospitality Management

Description

Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site. Catering managers run the day-to-day operations and services in restaurants, hotels, resorts, etc. Leading a team of chefs and catering assistants, they are tasked with optimising the quality of the food, service and performance of their outlets. The most important part of the job is achieving good quality at low cost and maintaining high standards of hygiene and customer satisfaction.
There are different segments of the catering industry. The commercial segment, traditionally considered the profit generating operation, includes the independent caterer, the restaurant caterer, and the home-based caterer. The non-commercial segment, or the ‘not-for-profit’ operations, consists activities like school, college and university catering, health care facilities, etc. The military segment encompasses all catering activities involved in association with the armed forces and/or diplomatic events.
The food service industry generally encompasses those places, institutions, and companies responsible for any meal eaten away from home. The companies that supply food service operators are called food service distributors. Food service hard goods like ovens and refrigerators are often sold by large buying groups. Some companies manufacture products in both consumer and food service versions. Food service sales to restaurants and institutions are estimated to be approximately $400 Billion, about equal with consumer sales of foods through grocery outlets.
The aim of this book is to provide the reader with an understanding of the dynamics of catering, hospitality and tourism. A wide array of issues associated with workforce planning and employment are also discussed in the text.