4 Basic Aspects of a F&B Business

As coffee culture thrives in the current society, increasing numbers of new restaurants & cafes are springing up around the countries. However, the F&B businesses are lacking quality standards to be sustainable & many shops were seen closing down only after short period of operations. As a food lover & frequent cafe visitors myself, I am detailing based on my personal opinions on what I suggest as the basic aspects of a F&B business, in hopes that it will help F&B owners, be it small or big chains, to review the roots of the businesses & improve the quality of the retail scene. 

Food (Product)

The number one aspect of any F&B business has to be the food that it is serving to its customers. That is the essence of the business – FOOD. Customers comes to the restaurant to satisfy their hunger & palette hence it is the most crucial aspect to take note when you are running the business.

First of all, KNOW what you are selling. If it’s a café, make good coffees. If it’s Western food, make good Western food. Figure out what is your main selling dishes & make it known to the customers. It is best to focus on few, do not attempt to promote each of everything (eg we specialize in pasta, grills, rice, noodles, cakes, western, oriental). Malaysia has very diverse palette & many F&B owners has the misconception of “I have everything for everyone” but this does not work effectively. Customers need to know what to expect, what to crave for when they walk into your restaurant. Have you ever flip a menu that has never-ending pages that you are so confused & not sure what to order? (Unless you are pursuing the EVERYTHING concept such as Wong Kok, which you need a different strategy to pull it off successfully)

Once you decided what is it that you are selling, make it GOOD & CONSISTENT. Delicious taste is what keeping the customers to return to your restaurant. If the food that are served are unappetizing, no one would ever come back after the first try. Basics. Because this is a F&B business. Next, consistency. Customers expect the same taste or better when they go back to the same restaurant. Make sure to have quality control over the food. Also, have you ever been to a restaurant & they serve you smaller portion of food when it is in the set menu while the ala carte menu has bigger portion & better presentation? I have also been to a place where they served an “instant ice lemon tea” for set menu & “real ice lemon tea” (proper tea + freshly squeezed lemon) when you order in ala carte. Many café owners exploit this aspect of business in order to “save money” which in fact making a very bad image for your business.

Services (People)

F&B is a service industry, providing good services is a must. If you had tried finding some part time job when you were young, you probably became a waiter/waitress before. Many people think that the job is merely just carrying the food/beverages from the kitchen to the customers. Yes, it is, part of it.

True services are about treating the customers with sincerity, and of course if possible, making good relationships & connection. The power of smile makes a lot of differences. I am not saying that you need to be super friendly & talking about every single stories in your life with your customers, but treating every customer the same, attending to their small requests with a genuine attitude. Portray that you care, that you are ready to attend to their needs at any point of time & not serving food for the sake of serving food. Customers do not expect much; they only need enough to enjoy their meal in peace. Customers are happy to eat & you should be happy to serve the food to them as well. As long as they feel good, they will come back.

Being the front-liner, knowledge of the menu (product) is key. One needs to know in & out of the menu to be able to provide good services. Because each customer may have different requests, from as simple as no ice, no sugar to ingredients changes to the menu. And you need to know your menu good enough to be able to answer these questions. Are your drinks already mixed with sugar that you can’t accept the request of ‘no sugar’? Can a dish be made vegetarian? Is there any alcohol being used? These are questions that often asked. Believe that you may felt frustrated that a junior waiter keeps going back & forth to confirm whether your special requests can be done. And if the waiter makes mistakes, it leads to wrong food served, bad services, dissatisfaction & you may lose the customers forever.

There are still many aspects of good services but these are some examples. The hiring & training processes should be given more special attentions. But of course, there are a lot of inconsiderate & rude customers but it is inevitable being in the retail & services industry. This is not implying that customers are always rights but an owner need to know the ways to handle & provide proper solution. As a customer ourselves, I suggest taking a step back to consider the waiter perspective & giving reasonable request will work. If you are unhappy, give constructive feedback to the owner (not waiter) and if the answer is not satisfactory, walk off & never come back again.

Ambience (Place)

I am a big fan of ambience. Everyone feels good when you go to a restaurant with colorful walls, eye appealing restaurant with a view, or if it makes a good Instagram-able spots. That however, depends highly on your restaurant concepts & locations. Beautiful designs, well thought interior design is a plus.

In this article, we will only touch on the basic. Cleanliness is the fundamental of all F&B services, period. There are a lot of minimalist concept that are popping out in the market, partly because it saves cost, it is nice, & most importantly in my opinion, it appears clean & tidy. All customers like to be in a cozy & comfortable place. As long as your restaurant is clean, it had done its job as a good first impression. Not only the exterior, cleanliness also to be taken note in the way food is being handled. Simple matters such as how do you hold the plates, how do you wipe the table, where do you store the cutlery. All of them matters. Do not neglect the impact of a small dirty corner. Customers see all of these & remember all of these. Consider this when you are doing an opening round check, the floor tiles, the tables & chairs, the kitchen, ensures everything is clean & presentable. Kitchen may not be visible to the customers but it is as important as the restaurant interior.

Clean kitchen -> clean food -> no issue -> good business. Learn the lesson of Komugi Midvalley Rat Incident.

Price Point (Value)

Lastly on this note will be price. I shall not discuss in details as pricing is subjective & there are many different pricing strategies, theories & some with psychology references. One humble opinion, F&B owners should make sure that the price matches the values that are providing to the customers. Values can come from any of the aspects that are discussed above. It varies according to the concept of your restaurants but essentially it serves no purpose to have the mindset of “earning a few more bucks” on a single dish when your restaurant does not portray the same level of taste, services & environment because customers will only think it is expensive. Just ask yourself, will I pay for this?

Conclusion

Ultimately, it is a full package that we are providing to the customers. Some restaurants have really good ambience while some are really strong in their food quality. Depending on your business concepts & selling point, it is important to cover the basics & ensures the consistency in each of these areas.