Chapter 11 – Managing Food and Beverage Production

Outline:

• Planning and Analyzing Production
• Production Schedules
• Batch Cooking
• Ingredient Assembly
• Managing carryovers
• Reducing Actual Food & Beverage Cost (dollars)
• Portion Control (overserving)
• Overcooking (shrinkage)
• Waste
• Yield
• Shelf-life
• Incorrect Production Quantity

Learning Objectives:

• Describe management tools to use in planning and analyzing production
• Explain how production decisions—including planning, forecasting and production, and quality demand—affect cost objectives of an operation
• Describe how and why to use a food production record
• Explain the importance of carefully managing carryover
• Recognize the overlap of managing production with forecasting, procurement and inventory functions
• Explain key factors of control in the food production process, such as portion control, overcooking, and waste.

Key Terms

• Production schedule
• Forecasting
• Activity analysis
• Batch cooking
• Carryover
• Portion control
• Overcooking
• Waste

Planning and Analyzing Production

Production planning basically means taking the resources of your foodservice operation and turning out products and services. There are many decisions to be made and this requires a manager who can handle planning, organizing, and controlling the various aspects of production. Balancing quantity, quality, and cost objectives usually involves several layers of management and must also include consideration of the customer’s needs and wants.

While most foodservice professionals recognize the importance of controlling the use of ingredients, the key area of pre-production is sometimes overlooked. Pre-production or production planning includes all food handling activities completed prior to production or heating, such as thawing, pre-processing, and preliminary assembly, sometimes called “pre-prep.” Controlling the amount of ingredients processed and using correct food handling techniques during this step can be critical. For example, if you thaw too many fish fillets and don’t cook them that day, they will have substandard quality when finally cooked. When fresh vegetables are not handled carefully during pre-processing, they may spoil more quickly and suffer larger nutrient losses. If fresh vegetables and fruits are not carefully prepped the expected yield may also be lower, which can lead to a shortage of product and increased costs. Excessive waste can occur from poor handling and overproduction, and that raises food costs.

An earlier chapter in this book discussed the importance of forecasting and described forecasting tools. The more choices offered on a menu, the more difficult it is to forecast, but sales history records and management experience, along with a computerized forecasting system set up for the specific foodservice operation can make this critical task more manageable.

The production schedule is a major tool for the foodservice manager in controlling quantity food production and labor. The type of information that needs to be included in a production schedule will depend on the operation, but it is basically a list of menu items with the foodservice staff and equipment assigned to each item, along with the time of day assigned for producing the menu item. Table 11.1 is a simplified example of a production schedule. Meeting with production employees to review the production schedule, which may often be done for a week at a time, offers employees a chance to have input into the schedule. Employees may have suggestions to improve productivity and further control costs.

Table 11.1 Production Schedules

Meal	9am-9:30	9:30-10am	10am-10:30	10:30- 11am	11am-11:30	11:30-noon	Noon-12:30	12:30-1:00pm	1pm-1:30
Chicken Soup (30 svg)	–	Sal/Grill (chicken)	Sal/Steam-jacketed kettle	Sal/on service line	Sal/Serve Soup & Pizza	–	–	–	Sal/Clean soup
Mushroom Pizza(24 svg)	Sal/St. 1 prep mush.	–	–	Sal/Oven Bake pizza	–	–	–	–	Sal/ clean pizza
Baked Salmon(72 svg)	–	Ken/St. 2 Pre-prep	–	Ken/ Convect Oven	Ken/ Batch cook	–	–	–	Ken/ Clean BOH
Barley Pilaf (72 svg)	Sue/ St. 3 Prep	–	Sue/Steamer	Pilaf on service line	–	–	–	–	–
Grilled Vegetables(72 svg)	–	Sue/St. 3 Prep Veg	–	Sue/ Grill Veg	Sue/Serve Homestyle	–	–	–	Sue/ Clean Servery
Italian Grinder(24 svg)	Bob/ slicer	Cold hold Ingred.	Bob/St. 4 Prep veg for sandwich	Bob/Set up deli station	Bob/Serve Deli/Grill	–	–	–	Bob/ Clean Deli/Grill
Quesadilla(36 svg)	Joo/ St. 5 Prep	–	–	Joo/Set up Action St	Joo/Serve Action Station	–	–	–	Joo/ Clean Action St.
Spanish Rice(36 svg)	–	Bob/ Steamer	Rice to thermodyne	–	–	–	–	–	–
Chopped Salad(see SOPs)	Jan/ St 6 Prep	–	–	Jan/Set up Salad Station	Jan/Serve Chopped Salad	–		–	Jan/ Clean Salad

Table 11.1 Production Schedules.  The table shows the prep time and cook time for different meals.

If total control of a production system could be obtained by using only standardized recipes, a manager’s job would be fairly easy. Unfortunately, we must also decide how to schedule equipment and employees so all of the necessary daily tasks are accomplished. Employees and equipment are important resources that need to be managed. For example, given a menu that includes baked potatoes, the manager must assign at least one employee to complete each step of the preparation of the potatoes. Someone must wash the potatoes, place them in the oven, check for doneness, remove them from the oven, and place them in a warmer or transport them to the serving line. The manager may assign one or more employees to complete these tasks. If the manager assigns both head cooks on duty to complete these activities, (s)he is using a limited resource both in skill and number when (s)he could have assigned a foodservice worker who is less skilled and generally more available. The example in Table 11.1 illustrates resource allocation: the assignment of limited resources to the activities necessary to achieve operational goals. This assignment of resources may be accomplished randomly—as in the example—or purposefully, which usually results in better use of resources. The final result of resource allocation is a production schedule that can be highly useful for managers. In a foodservice system, resource allocation can be accomplished by completing the following steps:

1. Use well-written, standardized recipes.
2. Review job descriptions for all positions.
3. List production tasks to be completed; identify type of resource required.
4. Determine the time necessary to complete each task.
5. Assign tasks to personnel and equipment using a production schedule.

1. Use well-written, standardized recipes. As you learned in an earlier chapter, standardized recipes with carefully written instructions/procedures help identify the tasks to be completed and the length of time necessary to complete the task. For example, if you are making an apple cake, unpared apples will require more time to prepare than canned sliced apples. If a recipe states, “cream sugar and butter for five minutes,” you know exactly how long the employee and mixer are required. When the recipe states, “cream sugar and butter until fluffy,” the exact length of time required to complete the task is unknown and you will have to time the creaming process to determine the time required for that activity. Identification of the specific piece of equipment to be assigned also helps. If the recipe lists, “potatoes, sliced,” but doesn’t say the vegetable chopper is to be used, the employee may decide to perform the slicing by hand. This change in task time will cause an alteration in the planned production schedule. More detail on recipe standardization and adjustment processes is covered in a previous chapter in this book.
2. Review job descriptions for all positions. Job descriptions list the types of tasks that can be assigned to a particular job position. In some operations, cooks are the only employees who may combine ingredients in the preparation of entrees. Foodservice workers may gather ingredients and complete mise en place but are not allowed to use main production equipment.
3. List production tasks to be completed and identify the type of resource required. Production tasks can be listed for each meal using the information acquired in steps 1 and 2. The standardized recipes will supply information on the tasks required. The type of activity, like gathering ingredients or portioning, will indicate the type of employee to be assigned. The type of equipment required will be indicated on the recipe.
4. Determine the time necessary to complete each task. The duration of some tasks, such as baking, roasting, or mixing time, may be given in the recipe. However, the length of time required for pre-preparation activities—scraping carrots, shaping meatloaves, and portioning pies—is not usually stated on recipes. These times can be determined either by completing a time study or activity analysis. In a time study, a foodservice manager watches the activity on several (2 to 3) occasions and obtains an average time for the activity.

In an executive approach to activity analysis, a committee of two or three employees, such as cooks and supervisors or managers, determines the time required for specific activities based on their experience. Standard times can be set for routine activities, like transporting the finished product to the service area, cleaning steam kettles, and obtaining ingredients from the specific storage areas. A later chapter in this book will discuss labor productivity, which is another consideration for analyzing the effective use of labor hours in producing meals and serving guests.

An example of using the executive approach to activity analysis in the production area of foodservice is to apply it to a standardized recipe. By adding space for times in the procedure area of the recipe, you will create a very helpful tool, useful when planning production schedules or making a purchasing decision of whether to make or buy a specific product or menu item. This information will also be valuable when it comes to other labor issues such as staffing and productivity cover in a later chapter in this book. Table 11.2 is an example of an activity analysis for a recipe, which could be used for planning a production schedule.

Recipe with an activity analysis

Table 11.2 An Activity Analysis Example for a Recipe

Portions:	50
Yield:	25 lbs.
Portion size:	8 oz.
Prep time:	50 min.
Baking time:	35 min.

Table 11.2 An Activity Analysis Example for a Recipe. The table shows an example of an activity analysis for a recipe that shows general cooking information about the dish including, portions produced, yield amount, portion size, prep time, and bake time.

Table 11.3 Utensils and Tools Needed For Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Mise en Place: 8 qt saucepan, 1 qt. saucepan, 2” perforated hotel pan, 2-4” full hotel pans, 2-4” half pans, 2-6” 1/6 pans, 2 qt. plastic container, Measuring utensils: T., liquid gallon, scale, table knife, long-handled wire whisk, long-handled rubber spatula

Table 11.5 Recipe Instructions. The table displays the steps to make baked macaroni and cheese. The steps coincide with the ingredients, and ingredient amount featured before in the table to the left. The first three steps are intended for the elbow macaroni ingredient. The fourth step refers to the margarine, flour, salt, and milk. The fifth and sixth step instructions refer to the american and cheddar cheese ingredients, the paprika, Worcestershire sauce, and the mustard. Finally, the last three steps refer to the melted margarine and panko bread crumb ingredients.

 

5. Assign tasks to personnel and equipment using a production schedule. Now you have the information necessary to complete an accurate daily production schedule. To begin, set desired completion times or the times the food items must be sent to the serving or expediting line or distributed to other areas. These become the most important times in the day. We know food quality deteriorates as food is held; therefore, we begin with the latest time we need to complete the activities in order to ensure the highest possible food quality. We then work backward from this deadline. For the macaroni and cheese example in Table 11.5, if serving time starts at 11 am, the first pan should be on the line by 10:50 am for the quality assurance check, so the recipe would need to be started by 9:25 am. You will have to make decisions as to which product has priority if two items require the same resource. For example, if a chicken and rice casserole and roast beef both should be cooked in the convection oven and there is not enough shelf space, which one should be cooked first?

Table 11.1 is an example of the completed production schedule that will be beneficial for employees and management. As you can see, the production schedule is based on serving time for lunch in a cafeteria, and production times are scheduled backward from these times. Note that a schedule with 15-minute time slots might be preferred to the example that has 30-minute time slots. As you assign the times for production, you can decide who will be assigned to prepare the food and what equipment will be used. In addition, you can also identify equipment conflicts, employee overloading, or excessive employee free time.

Advantages of a Production Schedule

A well-planned production schedule helps a manager avoid crisis management. If problems can be anticipated, alternative methods can be implemented. For example, using the production schedule shown, if the manager surveys the production area at 9:30 am and finds that the vegetables for 11:00 am service have been cooked already, (s)he knows that they will not be a quality product. The manager can also check to make sure that all production is running on time and intervene with additional help or troubleshooting if a menu item is running behind. The production schedule will also identify those time periods when employees are not required to be working. This may occur either because there is nothing for the employees to do or because they are waiting for a piece of equipment. The schedule can show times when pre-preparation can be completed for the next day and how well equipment and employees are utilized. An entire week’s production schedule will answer the questions: Do some menus require more oven space than is available, and on other days the menus require no ovens? How often is the mixer utilized? Is the tilt kettle overbooked, and so on?

Batch Cooking

Some menu items are “cooked to order” meaning everything is pre-prepped and ready to cook, but not actually cooked until the items are ordered by a customer. However, operations that must cook large quantities of food to be served in short serving periods, such as K-12, college, healthcare and business dining should implement batch cooking procedures. This practice entails pre-prepping smaller batches of a recipe and cooking as needed. Many of the details depend on the menu item, but an example would be cutting all the vegetables and preparing the stir fry sauce for 100 servings of stir fry, then cooking just 12-15 servings of the stir fry at a time during the service period. If it takes 10 minutes to cook each batch and get it to the serving line, then the manager determines when the next batch needs to be prepared based on how quickly the stir fry is being served to customers. This provides the freshest possible product to customers and also prevents waste from overproducing a menu item that is difficult to use as a leftover in case forecasting isn’t quite on target. Batch cooking can help to improve food quality, meet customer demand, and can result in value-added productivity for many foodservice operations.

Ingredient Assembly

Many large foodservice operations use centralized ingredient assembly, such as an ingredient room, to better control ingredient access and particularly to control food and labor costs. When an ingredient room is used, the issuing system is simplified as all ingredients go from the storeroom directly to the ingredient room based on the recipes to be prepped for a given period of time. A modification of this concept can even be used in small operations where one person is responsible for setting up the ingredients (mise en place), perhaps on carts, for each of the other employees. This can be utilized in a variety of ways and may be a significant time-saver if properly organized in many types of foodservice operations.

Managing Carryover

Carryover is another word for leftovers or overproduction, though unintentional. Effective foodservice operations want to minimize overproduction and carryovers as much as possible, but since forecasting is not perfect, and underproduction can also be costly, especially in terms of customer satisfaction, carryovers are a fact of life for the foodservice manager. If a menu has been planned with careful consideration for cross-utilization, this can help minimize the waste (and cost) of carryovers. Some carryovers, as long as they are handled with strict food safety protocols, can be reheated and served at another meal. Batch cooking can also help with carryover management. If full menu items or even parts of recipes are pre-prepped, but not cooked, they are typically much easier to re-use at a later time. Additional ways to use leftovers may be staff meals or donating to a soup kitchen. However, the best managers know the key to managing carryovers is to work toward making sure all food products purchased are sold and generate revenue for the operation.

Reducing Food and Beverage Costs with Effective Management

A number of effective management practices to reduce and control food and beverage production costs have already been introduced in this and previous chapters, but a review seems appropriate here.

Portion Control

Standardized recipes and/or standard serving procedures list planned portion sizes. It’s important for servers to follow these recipes and procedures and use proper portion control tools when serving customers. This standardization helps meet customer expectations with every purchase. Portion control also assures that the recipe will yield the planned portions and that the portion cost established for the recipe stays in the expected range. Since the price of a menu item is based, at least in part, on the cost of that item, it’s critical to serve the proper portion to maintain the item portion cost and food cost percentage. For example, if the macaroni and cheese recipe is supposed to serve 50 people an 8 oz. portion with a $4.00 food cost, but a 10 oz. portion is served instead, the recipe will now only serve 40 people and the cost per portion will increase to $5.00. That’s a $1.00 (25%) increase in food cost on each menu item. This also means instead of bringing in revenue from 50 customers, there is only revenue from 40. Poor portion control can impact both sides of the profit equation by decreasing revenue AND increasing costs per portion!

Overcooking

Again, it’s important to follow standardized recipes and minimum internal cooking temperatures for meats (CCPs) and other products. If food products are overcooked they shrink and the yield of a recipe is reduced. This results in fewer servings available for sale and a higher food cost per serving, similar to over-portioning. For example, if a pork roast was supposed to yield 20- 6 oz servings (120 oz. total yield), but overcooking causes shrinkage of 12 to18 oz., the total servings now available for sale decreases to 18 or 17 servings and increases the portion cost for each 6 oz. serving. Of course if a product is overcooked to the point of being burned or otherwise inedible, then it’s waste and a total loss and no revenue is generated for the product.

Waste

There are numerous ways waste can occur in a foodservice operation. Food, labor, and other resources can be wasted, but for now, we will concentrate just on food.

We learned earlier about the yield of many food products, such as various cuts of meat (the butcher’s yield test), fish, poultry, and fresh fruits and vegetables. The effective foodservice manager monitors yields and investigates variances when the edible portion is not within the expected range. For example, if the beef roast is supposed to yield an 80% edible portion and the cook trims and/or cuts incorrectly so that the edible portion yield is only 75%, that 5% loss is waste and does not generate revenue for the operation. This becomes a training issue for the foodservice manager. Another possibility is that the beef roast has more fat and sinew that had to be trimmed away to provide a great quality product for the customer and consequently had a lower yield. This is a procurement issue and may require a revision of product specifications, better-receiving practices, or a new supplier.

Another factor to consider under this topic is the shelf life of products, both prior to production and after production. The first intervention to prevent an issue with product spoilage and waste is to implement FIFO, first in, first out for all food inventory as was discussed in an earlier chapter. If a product does approach its “use by” date and the excess raw product has been purchased and cannot be used while fresh, there are situations where the product may be able to be cooked or processed and frozen for later use.

Incorrect Production Quantity

Earlier in this chapter overproduction and underproduction were discussed as they relate to the importance of accurate forecasting and production records. Overproduction leads to carryovers, which were discussed previously. Obviously the shelf life of any already cooked product must be considered for both food safety and quality reasons. Remember the practice of “batch cooking” to prevent overproduction of cooked products that may be more difficult to sell and end up as waste. The previous examples in this section are why managing production and carryovers is a critical responsibility of the foodservice manager and the “daily special” menu becomes a significant tool for reducing waste and generating revenue.

Underproduction can be just as big of an issue as overproduction as it can negatively affect customer service and satisfaction. If a menu item has to be 86’d (removed) from the daily offerings in the operation, customers can become disappointed, frustrated and perhaps unwilling to return. Service recovery, in this case, can cost the operation with both increased costs and decreased revenue.

A secondary topic that must be raised in this chapter is the issue of employees being allowed to take home leftover food. Though it may seem like a good idea to allow employees to make use of leftover food instead of throwing it out and wasting the food, the problem often becomes one of the planned overproduction. If employees get used to the “reward” of leftover food, they tend to make sure there are regular leftovers by intentionally preparing and cooking more product that will be needed. This is yet another example of both an increased cost and loss of sales for the foodservice operation.

It all comes down to mistakes

If we take a look at all of the above ways to save food and beverage costs it becomes clear that many of the problems come down to mistakes by employees. This means one of the best ways to reduce costs and prevent mistakes is employee training along with vigilant and consistent management by the foodservice manager.

Review Questions

• What are some of the tools or systems an effective foodservice manager should use to better control food and beverage production?
• How does forecasting affect production costs?
• How can a foodservice operation lose money during “pre-production.”
• What are some of the negative effects of overproduction and underproduction?
• Why is effectively managing carryover important to controlling costs?
• How can completing an activity analysis of a recipe assist a foodservice manager in controlling costs?
• What are some of the key production factors that allow a foodservice manager to control food and beverage costs?

Review Exercises