FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE METHODS

Food Service Methods

In order to move the food produced in a kitchen to the customer some form of food service is required.This may vary from full silver service in a luxury restaurant or hotel,where the food is brought to the customers table,to a self-service cafeteria where the customer collects his own food from a service counter.

Traditionally, fully waiter service was the predominant method of food service.Today,however ,a great degree of informality when eating  away from home,,and the need of increasing productivity due to rising costs,has led to other food service methods and styles being developed,these include the traditional cafeteria and its many derivatives,counter service,take-away foods,vending,and the numerous tray service systems,used particularly in the welfare sector.

The mode food service employed by an establishment will depend on a number of interrelated factors,the type of establishment -whether it is an industrial cafeteria providing low-priced meals or high class restaurant offering more complex dishes and more expensive food,the type of associated food production method,for example whether using traditional or conventional production,or comparatively more  recent method such as cook-freeze or cook-chill,the type of customer to be catered for and the type of menu to be offer,the availability of staff and their skills,the space available,and finally the cost and profit targets of the establishment as determined by financially considerations.