Foodservice Operations Research Articles

The Puzzle of Wine Price in Restaurants

There is large variation amongst food service operators in pricing wine, and many questions remain about how wine is priced and what objectives are used to determine wine price in restaurants. In this essay-style article, we examine the practices that the industry have adopted when pricing wine in restaurants. Beyond the basic rule of thumb – applying proportionally smaller mark-up to higher-priced wines –, pricing can be driven by the market, customer or competition. The restaurant’s characteristics as well as institutional and environmental factors can influence the price of wine at restaurants.

Dietitians as change agents for promoting healthy and sustainable food systems

Dietitians as change agents for promoting healthy and sustainable food systems

Cafe Politics: How Food Service Operators Influence University Students' Satisfaction and Dining Frequency

Cafe Politics: How Food Service Operators Influence University Students' Satisfaction and Dining Frequency

DETERMINING COST CONTROL TECHNIQUE AND OVERCOMING CHALLENGES IN DAILY OPERATIONS: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FOODSERVICE MANAGERS

As more new players enter the market, the Malaysian food and beverage industry is anticipated to have a bright future. Hence, it is becoming increasingly important to comprehend how food and beverage establishments make profits through cost control measures, an important aspect that is frequently overlooked academically. Limited studies have been conducted towards understanding cost control matters, especially in the Malaysian setting. This paper highlights the critical cost control techniques and ways to overcome issues in food service operations. An exploratory approach via qualitative study is deemed feasible to investigate cost control measures being practiced in their daily operations. Cost control techniques applied in the Malaysian food and beverage industry needs to be determined. Further, how managers overcome challenges in manning their food and beverage outlets needs exploration. Therefore, in answering the questions, semi-structured interview protocols were conducted on 25 foodservice outlet managers around the northern part of Malaysia. The findings suggested that most of the managers interviewed understand cost control techniques needed to operate outlets based on their routine experience of running their operations. In terms of overcoming the challenges, these managers depicted several solutions which reflected the survival of their business. Thus, some recommendations can be suggested to improve their daily operations to cultivate the correct application of cost control measures in food and beverage outlet operations.

Food Service Operators Licensure Status: Implication for Food Safety in Ghana

The regulation (governance) of the business of food service operators (FSOs) by the state is important to consumer food safety. However, not very much is understood of the level of acceptance of this task among FSOs. The aim of this study was to examine FSOs licensure status and its impact on consumer food safety. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design with a convenient sampling technique was used to select 285 FSOs from the 16 communities in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed a high awareness of license acquisition, low level of acquired license, lack of knowledge on when to acquire license and from the appropriate agencies among FSOs. Further, FSOs awareness influenced their license acquisition. Number of years in business also influenced FSOs awareness of license acquisition but not their attitude towards license acquisition. Hence, a potential adverse implication for safe food delivery. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications for all stakeholders in the food service industry. Food safety regulators, academia and media houses should intensify their education of FSOs and the general public on the need for licensing and purchasing food from only licensed operators.

The experience of Vermont local food businesses during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic tested the resilience of food system actors at all levels and across all geog­ra­phies. This study focuses on the experience of Vermont local food businesses by combining two surveys conducted in the first half of 2021: one of foodservice operations that procure food locally and one of Vermont farms that sell directly to con­sumers. We analyzed descriptive statistics, open responses, and conducted Kruskal-Wallis rank sum tests to assess which factors were related to busi­nesses’ financial statuses before and since the pan­demic. Pre-pandemic financial status was related with business type, whether the business went on to receive emergency funds, and financial status since the pandemic. The only significant factor for financial status since the pandemic was prepan­demic financial status. We close with recommen­dations for policy and future research.

Comparative assessment of physical development indicators of pupils in general education schools with different types of food service operation

Objective. To carry out a comparative assessment of physical development indexes of pupils of general education schools with hot meals and a buffet type of catering.Materials and methods. There were examined 432 schoolchildren from 7 to 15 years old, divided into two groups: group 1 – pupils of general education schools in which there were canteens based on food raw materials and semifinished products; group 2 – pupils of general education schools with a buffet with implementation of ready meals, confectionery, drinks, etc. To study the main indexes of physical development somatometric research methods were used. Differences at p≤0,05 were considered statistically significant.Results. The absence of hot meal service contributes to an increase in the number of children with body length below average in 2.3-15.7 times (among girls aged 11-15 – p<0.001); with excess body weight – 1.2-5 times (among boys aged 7-10 – p<0.01), with reduced body weight – 1.4-1.7 times; with increased and excessive nutrition – 1.3-11.6 times (among boys - p<0.05-0.001, and among girls – p<0.05). Consequently, the absence of hot meal service in general education schools affects the indicators of the physical development of children: deviations from the mean values in body length being more frequently observed in girls, and in body weight in boys.Conclusion. The absence of hot meal service in education institutions negatively affects the physical development of students. For the harmonious development of children, the formation of hygienic skills of healthy eating and a conscious attitude to the choice of a proper diet, it is necessary to organize hot school meals and strengthen sanitary and educational work.

Effects of campus dining sustainable practices on consumers' perception and behavioral intention in the United States.

Sustainability has become one of the top priorities in the foodservice industry. With an increase in consumer interest in sustainability and educational opportunities in higher education, it is important to know what sustainable practices are implemented in campus dining and how sustainable practices affect consumers' responses. This study aims to identify the key sustainable practices in the campus dining context, and investigate the relationship by applying the stimulus-organism-response framework to determine whether the key sustainable practices influence consumers' perception and behavioral intentions. The self-administered online survey was distributed to college students in 8 dining halls at a large southeastern university in the United States from September 20-October 10, 2019. A total of 382 valid questionnaires were collected, and factor analysis and multiple regressions were utilized to test the research model. This study identified 4 dimensions of campus sustainability with a total of sustainable practices: sustainable food, waste management, energy/water conservation, and recycling/reuse. Three dimensions of sustainable campus practices (i.e., sustainable food, waste management, recycling/reuse) played a significant role in consumers forming a perceived value while energy/water conservation did not significantly influence the consumers' perceived value toward the campus dining. Waste management was identified as the most important practice to enhance consumers' perceived value (β = 0.330). Using sustainable food and recycling/reuse were ranked second and third, respectively (β = 0.262, β = 0.154). The findings confirmed the significant positive relationship between perceived value and revisit intentions. The findings support the inclusion of dining sustainability as a critical component in explaining college students' perceived value and revisit intention toward campus dining. Furthermore, this study provides practical implications for university administrators and foodservice operators to consider the key sustainable practices to meet the consumers' value and revisit intentions.

KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES OF FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT AMONG FOODSERVICE OPERATORS IN PETALING JAYA UTARA (PJU) 9 AND 10, SELANGOR

Malaysia generated about 17,000 tonnes of food waste daily in 2021 and 24% of this waste was still edible. Wasting food is not only just an economic or humanitarian concern but it also affects the environment and can increase carbon footprint and biodiversity losses. Although many food waste campaigns have been launched in Malaysia recently, there is still a gap of adequate knowledge and practices as well as the right attitude in local communities especially among foodservice workers, towards food waste prevention. Therefore, the level of knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) on food waste among foodservice operators were assessed in this study to identify the factors that contribute to food waste generation among foodservice operators so that effective corrective methods could be developed to address this problem. A self-administered questionnaire surveying 136 respondents of foodservice operators in PJU 9 and 10, Petaling Jaya, Selangor using convenience sampling were conducted. The results showed that the respondents had a good level of knowledge (86%) while attitudes were at a moderate level (76.5%) and practices of food handling were identified to be at a low level (48.5%). The evaluation of the relationship between the three elements of KAP on the generation of food waste revealed that there was a weak positive relationship between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.26, p < 0.05) as well as between knowledge and practices (r = 0.21, p < 0.05). However, a weak negative relationship (r = - 0.22, p = 0.01) was noted in the relationship between attitude and food handling practices. These results indicate that high knowledge of food waste generation as a factor may not help change the attitude patterns and practices of foodservice operators in food waste mitigation. In this regard, positive and negative reinforcements may be one of the best approaches for sustainable food waste management among foodservice operators, for example, offering incentives to those who produce less food waste and levying a penalty to those who produce more may act as a deterrent.

Street Food Culinary and Dining Experience on Tourist Gratification in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Objective: Culinary as well as dining experience and tourist gratification are debatably the two basic subject areas that organizational researchers and tourism industry looks into in order to appreciate tourist decision towards revisit intention. This study focused on tourists’ gratification with their street food culinary as well as dining experience in Malaysia. Using a relationship process, this study also explores satisfied tourists’ willingness and for each of the two key attributes of experiences: culinary experience and dining experience. Understanding this important relationship is vital for foodservice operators in reaching the desired level of tourist gratification. 
 Methodology: Regression analysis indicated that culinary experience is more important than dining experience which significantly determined tourists’ overall gratification. 
 Findings: Overall, the finding of the hypotheses in this research showed that culinary experience does have the highest standardized beta coefficient value (β=.292, p<.05) and had been determined as the most positive effect to tourists’ gratification as compared to dining experience (β=.158, p<.05). Meanwhile, dining experience has the most positive effect to revisit intention with highest standardized beta coefficient value (ß=.628, p<.05) and culinary experience have a slightly lower standardized beta coefficient value (ß=.181, p<.05) Based on the results, all hypotheses were accepted and supported by the findings.
 Implications: This research therefore adds a new dimension to tourist gratification and revisit intention, especially in the area of tourism industry.

Perceptions of the Impact of COVID-19 Countermeasures on Safe Foodservice Provision at International Sporting Competitions: A Qualitative Study

Over the past 2 years, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a pronounced impact on the foodservice sector, including compliance to new food provision guidelines. International sporting events’ over-crowded communal eating areas are considered to be high-risk areas for contracting infectious disease. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions, level of preparedness and perceived challenges of key stakeholders when providing food at major athletic competition events during a global pandemic. A qualitative methodology was employed using semi-structure interviews and data was analyzed using interpretive phenomenology. Inductive thematic analysis identified six major themes of COVID-19′s impact on foodservice systems. Adapting foodservice models to pandemic planning is pre-determined and dictated by settings and environments. There were common heightened concerns over sustainability practices, increase in waste management, costs and negative impact on social dining experience, which were all perceived to be impacted by the changes relevant to COVID-19. There was a renewed attention to improving food safety and quality control measures. The outcomes of this study suggest that International organizing committees of major competitions must now be tasked with updated guidelines, including supporting adequate budgets and communication, if stakeholders are to adapt their operations to control the spread of viruses, such as COVID-19, within all foodservice operations at major competitions. Attention should be directed to determine whether food provision changes continue to be recommended and how this will impact foodservice delivery, sustainability and the social dining experience at future sporting events.

An interactive service recovery framework combining demand and supply approaches

The ability of a business to engage in service recovery should not be restricted by the type of business model or its pre-dominant service delivery methods. Using a mixed method approach, this research presents a unique addition to business logic literature in a foodservice operation. Qualitative interviews demonstrate how customers perceive the business logic of foodservice when assessing the linkages between various service recovery touchpoints. Results of a quantitative experiment demonstrate that service providers’ facilitation can yield a considerable range of emotional and physical inputs depending on the corresponding business logic. Additionally, the voluntary customer role in facilitation supports the ability of the foodservice operation to deliver satisfactory service recovery. The boundary conditions of customer-brand identification and complaining effort also contribute as major sources of innovative service recovery. Supporting the research framework, implications were identified for foodservice operators in co-creating value with their customers during service recovery.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Meal Gathering in China.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government adopted a series of preventative measures to control the spread of the virus. This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated prevention methods on meal sharing in China. Meal gathering during multiple periods before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 is captured through two waves of online survey across China between March and June 2020, collecting a total of 1847 observations. We employ the difference-in-difference (DID) method to identify the causal effects of COVID-19 severity on meal sharing. The results show that relative to the same period in 2019, the frequency of meal gathering decreased sharply after the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in 2020 in both epicenters and non-epicenters. Furthermore, the impact of COVID-19 differed across different types of meal sharing. Our findings have implications for consumers, food service operators, as well as policymakers to understand the social and community impact of the pandemic and to adjust their coping strategies.

The Mediating Role of Employee Factor in the Relationship between Sensory Marketing and Economic Performance of Ghana’s Foodservice Sector

In today’s business environment, establishing a positive business climate is becoming increasingly important for organisational performance. A positive employee factor creates a social atmosphere, which encourages high employee involvement and an employee-centered culture. In response, employees feel comfortable and contribute positively to financial performance of the business. Given the intensity of competition in the service industry, firms must understand how the employee factor affect their performance. This study examined the way the employee factor mediates the relationship between sensory marketing and organisational performance in the Foodservice Sector of Ghana. The study used quantitative research method for data collection through survey questionnaires. The questionnaires were developed and distributed directly in physical form at the restaurants through stratified sampling method. The study used a total of 38 management staff and 331 customers as respondents for the data collection. The research data was analysed through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Analysis of Moment of Structures (AMOS), with the support of the maximum likelihood estimator to achieve the covariance of the constructs. The mediating variable was measure by the binary outcome variable with Andrew Hayes Process Model. The results indicate that sensory marketing has a significant positive relationship on economic performance. In addition, no mediating effect was found in the relationship between sensory marketing and economic performance. Cross-sectional data, a restricted target sample senior staff of restaurants, and a restricted target area (i.e. Greater Accra Region) were limitations of this study. In addition, the dimensions of economic performance were identified as market share, profitability and sales growth. Finally, the hypothesised relationship was explored only for the foodservice sector. Therefore, the results of this study will assist foodservice operators to develop and implement market-orientated strategies to help achieve sales growth, enhance profit, and market share among themselves. It is hoped this study will be a useful reference point for future academic researchers who will undertake similar study in relation to the discussed variables.

Food safety regulation: Perspectives of food service operators in the cape coast metropolis

Global reports since the 2000s suggest that food safety is an important public health concern that attracts the attention of governments, food producers and consumers. Governments all over the world try to prioritise the safety of their food because it is a major driver of food security. Nonetheless, foodborne illnesses continue to occur daily basis. Ghana has a legal framework, institutions and agencies at different levels of government for food safety management. Yet, Cape Coast in the Central Region grapples with foodborne related diseases, thus identified by UNICEF as a hotspot for foodborne related outbreaks. This study set out to explore the views and familiarity of food service operators on the regulation of their operations. Three hundred food service operators from the 16 communities were selected using purposive sampling method for the study. The findings showed that food service operators had functional knowledge of the rules and regulations, just about enough to guide their daily operations. Regulators were generally perceived to be friendly and accommodating but inadequate and irregular in their supervisory roles. It was recommended that regulators should have regular encounter with food service operators to enhance compliance and achieve the food safety goal.

Comparison of Food Service Provision by Food Service Operational Types for Residential Facilities

Objectives: The purpose of this study aimed to compare the status of food service provision by residential facilities’s food service operational type. Methods: Data were collected by fax or web-based surveying nutritionists or facility managers working in 731 residential facilities in Korea. Residential facilities were extracted through a proportionate stratified sampling method based on region, establishment entity, types of food service, and facility size. Data analysis was performed using SAS program. Results: Among long term care facilities, self-operational food service types were 74.6% and outsourced service types 25.6%. It was found that outsourced service types were mostly chosen by private and independent establishments facilities. In addition, it was found that there were differences in food service personnel (full-time cooks, part-time cooks, and food service quality management managers), physical environments (senior living dining and cooking place), meal-related expenses, and providing food and nutrients(planing menu, compliance of menu plan, diabetic diet provision, served within 2 hours, identifying resident opinions) for each food service operation method. Finally, It was found that there were no differences in nutritional management (evaluation of nutritional status, nutrition intervention, food and nutrition service, nutrition education, nutrition counseling, multidisciplinary nutrition management by food service operational type. Conclusions: It is suggested that regulatory reforms are needed to establish a continuous monitoring and evaluation system for the quality of food service and nutrition management services for each food service type. In addition, it is suggested that a study to analyze whether there are differences in meal satisfaction, nutritional status, functional status and health status of subjects food service operational type.

Barriers and Challenges of an Outsource Hospital Foodservice Operation: A Narrative Thematic Analysis

Introduction: Hospital foodservice is one of the key performance metrics that should be constantly monitored to maintain and improve the quality of hospital services. However, hospital foodservice must overcome obstacles and constraints that can impact the quality of services supplied. This study explored the barriers and challenges foodservice employees encountered during food production and serving meals to patients. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted with thirteen foodservice employees (N = 13) at a government hospital in Selangor, Malaysia, that outsourced its foodservice operations. The interviewees were chosen based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using narrative, and thematic analysis. Results: The narrative findings reported foodservice employees were able to define their job in the foodservice department and describe their responsibilities in delivering sufficient quality of service to patients. The findings showed foodservice staff confronts barriers and challenges related to the type of foodservice operation, budget allocation, menu served, employee issues, meal preparation, and equipment. Employees also proposed that the government should regularly revise the foodservice contract specifications, budget allocation, and upgrade the equipment used during meal preparation and delivery to patients for future improvement. Conclusion: Future studies should be conducted in different hospital settings, including government, semi-government and private hospitals or foodservice operation systems such as in-house and outsourced operations or centralized and decentralized plating systems to explore other barriers and challenges that may affect the overall foodservice performance. Therefore, intervention studies can be proposed to improve their operation in the future.

Assessment of Technological Capabilities of the Informal Foodservice Operators in Oyo State

Aim and Objective: Evaluate the technological capability of the informal foodservice operators in the study area with the view of ensuring wholesome food are served using the right technological capabilities.
 The informal foodservice operators (IFOs) carry a larger part of food service providers that have contact with people on daily basis. The model of Garvin, 1981 was adapted for the study and mixed study approach. A structured questionnaire that includes both close and open-ended questions was used to elicit information from the participants of the study. The data collected was analysed and it showed that the technological capacity of the informal foodservice operators in studied areas in Oyo State was fairly high. The informal foodservice operators have low investment capacity, production capacity and high marketing capacity. The ability to use technological capacity to their advantage was lacking due to lack of funds and training. Their high marketing and innovation capacity showed that if there are funds and training, they will improve their investment and production capacity. Government should formulate policy that will encourage growth of the informal foodservice operators to ensure that wholesome food is served within the system.

The Environmental Responsibilities of Food Service Establishments in Nabua, Philippines

Food service industry needs to observe and adopt existing and new environmental practices that are beneficial for the environment preservation and the conservation of natural resources on which they hugely depend to operate. With this, the purpose of this thesis is to assess the responsiveness of food service establishments specifically the local eateries or cafeterias in Nabua, Camarines Sur towards their environmental responsibilities. The study covers the demographic profile of the respondents and the business profile, the rate of environmental practices being observed by the establishments along: energy efficiency and conservation, water efficiency and conservation, recycling and composting, pollution prevention, and food packaging. These were the problems being encountered in observing these practices and the recommendations which are formulated based from the findings. At this moment in time, the food service industry has tended to be slower to adopt environmental practices than other segments of the hospitality industry, however are currently following suit and are adopting practices that are beneficial for the environment and reduce the negative impacts. To collect data and information, descriptive method was used and survey and informal interview were conducted. The respondents are the business owners and employees of eighteen selected food service establishments. The result showed that these establishments are highly observing environmental practices on the areas of pollution prevention, recycling and composting in observance with the existing ordinances. However, some of the practices in energy efficiency and conservation, water efficiency and conservation, and food packaging still has to be recognized and improved. Also, it was revealed that financial capacity is a big factor in observing such environmental practices. Nevertheless, with more information education campaign programs and activities implemented by the municipality and other concerned government agencies, food service operators will further deepen their understanding and intensify commitment to environmental initiatives within business.

'It's a constant changing environment, and we're just playing catch up': Hospital food services, food waste, and COVID-19.

AimsHospital food service operations have been affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic, particularly resulting in increased waste. The aim of this research was to explore the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on hospital food services, particularly on food waste and the completion of food waste audits.MethodsA qualitative interview research design was used. Semi‐structured interviews were completed and recorded via Zoom, focusing on the barriers and enablers towards the completion of hospital food waste audits. Twenty‐one participants were interviewed from 12 hospitals. No questions were related to the COVID‐19 pandemic and its impact on hospital food services, however this issue frequently emerged during interviews. Data were coded following inductive thematic analysis.ResultsFive themes were generated from the interviews related to COVID‐19 and hospital food services; impacts on practice, labour, change, technology and post‐pandemic expectations. Participants reported COVID‐19 negatively affected food service operations. Changes included increased food waste, contact restrictions, and labour shortages. Nonetheless, hospitals embraced the challenge and created new positions, trialled different food waste data collection methods, and utilised technology to support food service operations around COVID‐19 restrictions.ConclusionsDespite the impact COVID‐19 had on hospital food services, including their ability to audit food waste and increased food waste generation, the response from food services has demonstrated their adaptability to change. Sustainable healthcare, including the aggregate measuring and reduction of food waste in hospital food services, is an essential transition post‐pandemic, and may be facilitated through the operational changes forced by COVID‐19.