INSTITUTIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL CATERING
I.
TYPES
·
Profit oriented - commercial canteens,
restaurants, café, etc. within the premises catering to all the people
(students, staff, visitors, etc.)
·
Running on break even - industrial
canteens, college canteens catering to staff requirements only.
·
Subsidized - serving meals as a part
of employee/ student welfare schemes.
·
Mostly Institutional and industrial
catering are non-profit oriented.
II.
MENU CONSIDERATIONS
·
Cyclic menu for regular meals and
limited choice in canteens.
·
Nutritional requirements are kept in
mind while planning menu.
·
Reasonable prices consistent with
service offered.
·
Menus are relatively simple, which can
be prepared by limited kitchen staff in limited time.
·
Special menus are prepared for special
occasion like on festivals, functions and parties.
III.
PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED
·
Menu fatigue
·
Blending nutritional aspect with taste
is little difficult. E.g. porridge is a healthy food but most of the people do
not like it.
·
Portion control
·
People eat in varied proportions, for
example men eat more than women, people doing physical labour eat more than
those doing office work.
·
Staff serving food finds it difficult
to meet the expectations of consumers. E.g.-everyone cannot be given a leg
piece of chicken etc.
·
Also a large number people are to be
fed in a limited time.
·
Arranging adequate facilities and
managing them is a challenge, like space of dinning hall, seating arrangements,
food and water service, etc.
·
Chef has work within tight budgets and
yet has to meet the high expectations of consumers.
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VOLUME
FEEDING IN INDIA
The
difference between small and mass food production is very difficult to define.
Most food standards, principles and large number of techniques are the same.
Some define quantity food production ( for volume feeding ) as the production
of 25 or more portions. A report compiled by the National Restaurants
Association, lists food service units under two major groupings
- Commercial or those
establishments which are open to the public, are operated for profit and
which may operate facilities and / or supply mela service on a regular
basis for others.
- Non-commercial (as
employee feeding in schools, industrial and non-commercial organisations),
education, government of institutional organisations which run their own
food service operations. Food services in schools and universities,
hospitals and other transportation armed services, industrial plants and
correctional units are in the second group and may not show a profit or
even balance out financially at the break even point.
SALIENT FEATURES
- To serve hygienically
prepared wholesome food.
- Food is primarily as a
service to complement their other activities and contribute to the
fulfillment of the objectives of the institute.
- Cyclic menus
- Not profit oriented
- Educational experience
for those who are involved as they happen to experience different regional
cuisine through the cyclic menus. As a result, the food habits become more
flexible.
Quantity
control quantity control and portion control are very important. A good quality
standard, should cover essential characteristics that indicate quality in a
product. Quality control programmes make it possible to serve as a consistent
standard. Employee evaluation, taste panel, scoring customer reaction and other
menus can be used to evaluate quality.
Good
purchase specifications and finding the right product to suit the production
need can do much to raise and maintain the quality standards. Proper
forecasting of quantities needed in production and controlling portion size are
two essentials of good quality controls. Portion size varies according to food,
type of meal and patron, cost of the food, appearance. Adults, teenagers and
small children consume different quantities and portion sizes vary from them.
Men eat more than women, an individual doing hard work eats more than other
doing sedentary tasks.
Giving
liberal quantities of less costly foods and smaller ones of the more expensive
foods can be practised. The portion appearance is affected by the portion size
and shape of the dish, decoration and width of the rim, dish colour and food
arrangement.
OFF
PREMISES CATERING :- Off premises catering has
always been a specialised business. It is the service of meals in offices,
clubs, canteens and also in individual homes. In this reference, premises means
the area where food is planned and prepared. Its growth has been tremendous and
there is a vast improvement of the equipment used. It covers everything from
take home meals to the most elaborate meals at weddings.
QUALITY OF A GOOD PARTY CATERER :- The success of
any catering service depends upon the person behind the venture. He must have
good contact with the people who will be most likely to make use of his services.
He must be able to perform these services satisfactorily and must employ
suitable, efficient and capable staff. Most important he must be able to serve
tasty, eye appealing food deliver it to its destination on time at right
temperature.
COMPLEXITIES OF PARTY CATERING :- Party catering
like other skilled technical jobs is highly specialised job. While profit is an
interesting part of the catering industry, the multitude of activities throwing
a challenge to the caterer, is the difficult side of the coin. If careful
consideration is given to certain small details and the people concerned take
active participation. It will increase turnover, improve profits and generally
enhance the reputation of the caterer. There are no get standard procedures and
formula for a successful caterer. Procedures and techniques vary from job to
job to place and according to the requirement of the occasion. The facilities
available and the cost factor also plays an important role.
PLANNING OF THE MENU :- The arrangement of a suitable
menu, perfect from all points of view necessary for any successful party
catering. The caterer must be an individualist full of novel ideas and must be
able to pressure them profitable for the company and attractively for the
client. The dishes chosen should be fhuirless in quality rasry in and
attractive in appearance. Equally important is the cost of the dishes.
Nothing could be more disappointing and irritating
to the guest as being served a dish smaller in portion size than he was tole at
the time of booking the party. This could be avoided if the price of an item is
given along with its portion size. Every party, whether for 20 or for 2000 must
be a speciality and different from anything that has gone before. Clients
seldom come to the caterer and ask him to arrange a party like the one they
have had before, usually suggestions are wanted to make the party different,
something that is unique and will be talked about. The following points will
help in thoughtful planning of the menu.
- Planning well in
advance will ensure minimum amount of repetition of the dishes.
- Planning a menu for a
definite cycle of time have been found to be different.
- Variation must be
produced by serving different vegetables and meats having a colour
contrast.
- Seasonal availability
is very important as parties are booked in advance.
- Nutritional balance
must be ensured.
- It must fir within the
budget of the customer and to his satisfaction.
- Equipment and personal
must be adequate for the party.
- The menu must adhere
to the established standards of service and must ensure quality and
variety of the food.
- It helps to procure
stores in advance.
- The occasion for which
the catering is done is an important factor and so the pattern of food
will change accordingly.
To be successful, the menu must reflect the eating
habits and expectations of the restaurant market. The tastes of customers are
complex and varied and change from day to day and time to time.
EQUIPMENT : - These
may include an assortment of good china, for special occasions such as weddings
and anniversaries, good hollow ware and flatware, attractive glass and
silverware, serving dishes of all kinds and sizes, good quality linen and all
kinds and types of buffet service equipment. These are the items that the guest
see and by which they judge and catering establishment. For storage and
transportation of these equipment, it is important to have special boxes where
the equipment will fit. There are many kinds and types of kitchen equipment,
such as insulated carriers for soup, coffee and other beverages. There are
containers to carry ice cubes, portable hot cases to keep food warm and also
portable griddles. Caterers could also hire out tables, chairs and other
accessories on a contract basis.
CHECKLIST :- Various
checklist help the caterers in smooth and systematic functioning of the
parties. Server should be informed before service on the size of the portion by
weight, Volume or count. The dish in which they are served, the serving tool
etc.
The use of standard recipe offers a sound basis for
controlled portioning and the achievement of a uniform product.
In almost all organisations where they have to
cater to a large group of people, the kitchen as well as the service areas will
be well equipped. The personnel handling the food will also be educated in the
field of food production, nutrition, hygiene and service.
MENU PLANNING IN VOLUME CATERING
In volume catering units, the main factors
influencing the planning of menus are as follows :
1. Cost :-
This is one of the main considerations in menu planning. The cost of the menu
should be within the budgeted allowance of any unit to be economically viable,
whether it is run on a profit or non profit basis.
2. Ease of preparation :- Since mass catering units provide for large
numbers, case of preparation of any dish must be considered. Elaborate
preparation is time consuming and may result in delays in service of prepared
foods leading to bad customer relations and appearance of inefficiency.
3. Incorporation of leftovers :- Menus for mass catering should be planned in such
a way that any leftovers from one meal can be incorporated in the next meal so
as to avoid abnormal wastage, reduce food cost.
4. Cyclic menus :- Menus should be planned in sets for a fortnight or
for a month. This is then repeated all over again for ease in operations. Menus
can be changed after such periods and seasonal foods can be incorporated. This
will help provide variety economically.
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