Coffee Breaks
| |
|
|
A big part of any in-house catering operation is the delivery and set-up of coffee breaks. It can account for a considerable portion of an operation's total sales and an even larger percentage of profit. While the basics of setting up a coffee break seem rather straightforward, setting a break properly---and within time constraints----requires an established methodology. In higher volume operations, where you might be dropping 30 or 40 breaks an hour (many of them with food), you must have a method that keeps the idea of flow in its proper perspective. Let us examine what it takes to win the battle of the break.
1. Establish Standards
Once again, documenting your procedures is an important first step in maintaining consistent quality with your final product. A few simple guidelines can go a long way. You must answer the following questions: Do you set your breaks left to right, right to left, or from the door in? (Or does it depend on how you expect the guests to flow through the room?) Where do you place your coffee cups and condiments? Do you place food items before beverages? Are your cups placed before the ice and the beverages after? With china services, how many tray jacks should be set out, and where should they be placed? And the list goes on.
2. Staging
The key to managing a good coffee break operation is staging. By staging, I mean the process of getting all the supplies you need in the right location, stored with some sense of organization, and then working from your BEO's to stage your services well before they are delivered. Coffee breaks are much like room service; you must leave the set-up area without forgetting any item you might need to properly service the BEO requirements. Forgetting something as simple as a spoon for the whipped cream can cost you a round trip to the cage, which could take another 30 minutes. Even worse than forgetting something on your way to the room is running totally out of supplies in the middle of a relentless rush. How can you prevent such a crises?
Get the remainder of this chapter and the rest of the book at: BookLocker.com
