A study of large scale food services best practices in Thailand: A case study of HORECAs

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the management system of large scale food service sectors in Thailand. We studied the demand characteristics and the management practices of hotels, chain restaurants and airline caterer, and identified the best practices of each type of food service providers. Initially, the in-depth interviews with the selected chain hotels, chain restaurants and airline caterer were conducted. Next, the Integration Definition for Function Modeling (Idef0) was used to analyze the business processes which identified the input, output, control and mechanism of main activities including plan, source, make and deliver. The results showed that the demand for chain hotels and caterer were fluctuated and seasonal, but could be predicted due to the advanced orders from customers. However, it occasionally incurred an urgent order from the customer which was unpredictable. On the other hand, the demand for restaurants was highly unpredictable, fluctuated and seasonal. Therefore, the restaurants forecasted the demand based on historical data and national holidays. The best practices of the large-sized HORECA were categorized into four main activities. First, plan, they conducted a sourcing plan by bidding the suppliers annually or biweekly based on current situation. Second, source, they implemented the cold chain for raw material delivery and used a sampling plan for raw materials and food inspection. Third, make, they prepared foods under certified food standard system such as GMP, HACCP, QHS and Halal. Finally, deliver, they implemented just in time, cold chain system and global positioning system to have fast, tractable and high quality delivery. In summary, the large-sized HORECAs were the leaders of the food service sectors due to economy of scale and best practices implementation. Knowledge from these practices should be shared among other HORECAs. As a result, other organizations can improve their practices to reduce cost and increase customer satisfaction.