‘Dublin is not Ireland’ - thank God!

Something has been happening in Dublin over the last few years. And it’s not nice. Dublin’s service industry has become gruff in nature and most importantly, that’s being voiced abroad. Our capital city would want to take the squashed laurels from under its posterior for it has been resting on them for too long in the area of customer-friendly service.
Rural pundits have often claimed quite rightly that ‘Dublin is not Ireland’ and  I’ve the chance to take this to heart as I absconded from the office to take a week’s holiday on the waters of the Shannon.
And the contrast between my experiences of late in Dublin and those outside the capital could not be more stark.  It’s something that the service industries in Dublin both retail and restaurant are going to have to look into.
One horror story in particular is brought to my attention by the organisers of an international conference in Dublin this summer.

 

10 Kitchen Secrets your Chef is Hiding from You

THE kitchen is unchartered territory for many bar and restaurant owners who are afraid to question the chef on matters that they are not too familiar with. Well. It’s time to get familiar, because your kitchen could be hemorrhaging money and if its your business, you’ll want to know how and why. Read three reasons here:

When stock is ordered, it is normally stored by a cook or cleaner with no interest in the First In First Out system of storage and so piles everything on top of older stock, increasing spoilage and expensive unnecessary wastage.

The Chef keeps no record of what he has produced each day so has no way of referencing how much preparation he needs to do each day resulting in over production and thrown out food. A record of Production should be implemented that cross references number of orders with items produced with any other details relevant such as local special event that brought in business etc.

The Chef has no “Kitchen Bible” in place that should contain all his recipes, guidelines for production, induction for new cooks etc, meaning that when the Chef is off duty, all recipes are prepared byu the cooks the way they want to prepare them resulting in inconsistencies and potential unhappy customers.

Members of Barkeeper, click here to read the other seven secrets:
http://www.barkeeper.ie/3page.asp?menu=117&page=700&Subpage=593

 

The biggest menu mistakes most restaurants make and what to do about them

Every restaurant has a menu but not every restaurant uses the restaurant as the real selling tool that it is.

A restaurant menu should not be an afterthought or something that should be put together over a coffee the week before opening. It takes time, decision and analysis to make the most of your menu but the results of such effort can be hugely rewarding.

The biggest make made by restaurants? Poor layout and design.

A good menu design can improve sales an average of 2 to 10 percent, according to restaurant consultants interviewed by Restaurants US. That means that for a restaurant turning over 1,000,000 a year, the opportunity to earn an extra 20,000-100,000 a year is either being won or lost based on the menu alone. Worth paying attention to? We think so.

So let’s look at some of the biggest design and layout mistakes:

1. Not keeping the colours in theme with your restaurant. An Italian Restaurant might make use of red, white and green on their menu, but this might not suit a French fine dining restaurant. Don’t overdo it on colours and fonts so that your customers are distracted, however make sure your menu is appealing enough to be read thoroughly.
2. Placing the highest profit margin items in the wrong places. There are different “sweet spots” on a menu where a customer’s eyes are naturally drawn depending on the layout of the menu. On a twofold menu, this spot is on the right hand page a few lines from the top. On a trifold menu, it is in the centre page, a few lines from the top. Putting low margin items here directly affects your margins. The top grossing restaurants know this and carefully plan what items they allow into these prime spots.
3. Not grouping products together. The best menus have distinct sections that help guide a customer from course to course, making it easier for them to choose more and spend more. Clearly identify what the appetizers are, the main courses are and the desserts.
4. Not offering something more than the competitor but charging more. What is your restaurant’s unique selling proposition? Are the chips handcut, are the vegetables grown onsite? Whatever it is, you need to sing about it to justify your prices if they are higher than your competitors. Customers are clever and know the market prices of most items so sell to your strengths.

 

Could your staff be turning away customers?

What would you do if you knew that after spending thousands on marketing, promotions, advertising and enticements to get customers in to your bar or restaurant, you find out that your own staff are preventing them from spending any money?

A recent visit to a carvery style restaurant highlighted this fact to me.

The roast of the day was Roast Pork which I ordered. Next came the decision of choosing what vegetables/potatoes I wanted, but a quick glance didnt whet my apettite for any of the potatoes on offer so I asked for a portion of the rice which was an accompaniment to the stir-fry on the menu.

Instead of happily dishing up a portion of rice, I was told that I wasn’t “allowed” to have rice with pork. Why not? because (according to the oblivious server) the rice is only for the stir fry. No offer of serving it as a side order or any accomodating of my request, simply a no. Surely a carvery style operation allows the customers choose (within reason) their accompaniments?

Not that I was the only one…the next customer who simply asked for a plate of potatoes and french fries was told they would have to pay for two meals. Honestly, if this is how paid staff are representing your restaurant, its time to reconsider your calling as a hospitality business owner.

Standard operating procedures are one thing, but when it gets to the stage of scaring away customers, then its time to rethink them.

Ensure your staff are offering hospitality and not just civility. There’s a big difference. Induction training and on-the-job evaluation will ensure you dont have a repeat of my unfortunate experiences in your business.

 

Cut your Energy Costs by 10%

The need to monitor and reduce our energy consumption is more prevalent than ever in Irish businesses. The rising costs of fuel, the impacts of climate change and the opening of the electricity and gas markets mean that to be a smart business, the business needs to be energy smart.

Successful businesses look at ways to cut costs, particularly operating costs. A simple, effective but often overlooked way to do this is to reduce your energy consumption. Control the amount of energy you use and your business can significantly reduce its operating costs.

You should already be ensuring that you are buying energy efficient equipment for your business and in this article Barkeeper.ie brings you the top tips that are guaranteed to cut your energy use by ten percent.

In the Kitchen:

·         Maintain refrigerators temperature at 3.2°C (37°F)

·         Ensure that the freezer is set between -18° and -15°C (0° and 5°F)

·         Regularly defrost freezers to stop build up which reduces efficiency

·         Make sure refrigerator doors are kept closed when not being used

·         Only use the dishwasher when it is full

·         Always use a plug in the sink when hand-washing dishes

·         Cover pots and pans to retain heat and decrease cooking times

·         Keep extractor fan filters clean to maximise ventilation efficiency

·         Turn off all equipment including lights when not in use

·         Only pre-heat appliances a maximum 15 minutes before use

·         Set water temperatures and ensure these are maintained

In the Bar:

·         Keep windows closed to keep heat in and open to let cool air in

·         Where possible use natural light instead of artificial

·         Maintain refrigerator temperatures at 3.2°C (37°F)

·         Make sure air conditioning is switched off when the bar is closed

·         Ensure that the keg room door is kept closed at all times

·         Turn off all equipment including lights when not in use

Guest Services:

·         Insulate your building

·         Install motion sensors for you

·         If you have a swimming pool use a pool cover

·         Insulate your boiler

·         Unplug all appliances in guest bedrooms after cleaning

 

Do yourself a favour. Get rid of dishonest employees

You know the scenario. The cash hasn’t been balancing at the end of the night and you have your suspicions as to who is responsible but you haven’t caught anyone in the act and don’t want to risk accusing the wrong employees. Some nights you have too much cash, and some nights too little.

If cash is going missing, then its going missing from one place and one place only - the cash register. The process should be simple, a customer orders a meal or a drink, its entered into the cash register, the customer profers payment and the transaction is closed and change given. However, clever and dishonest employees can work the system so that they dont enter the full value of the meal or hit a button relating to a lower priced item and pocket the difference.

With most till scams that I have come across, the defrauded cash normally stays in the drawer until the bartender has an opportune moment to remove it. This will normally be when there are no customers or staff around. To get around this, vary the times at which you remove the cash drawer and do a register reading. If nobody knows when management are going to remove the drawer, they run the risk of being caught in the act.

With this procedure, it is essential that only one staff member is allowed access to one cash register during their shift. Otherwise, blame is easily put on other employees who used it. Also ensure that the employee counted their cash in the drawer when they came on duty so that they cannot use the excuse of the opening float being incorrect.

Maintain this procedure, even after the offending employees have been caught and fired so that future employees will see the controls that are in place before they attempt something similar.

Business is hard enough without having to worry about dishonest emplyees, so let them go as soon as they are caught stealing.

 

InBev values A-B at €30bn

If InBev’s €30 billion ($46bn) merger approach to Anheuser-Busch is successful,  it would create a global number one in beer supply with Budweiser as the flagship brand backed up by such notable brand giants as Stella Artois and Beck’s.
All this would grab a quarter of the world  beer market through sales of some 500 brands. InBev, currently the world’s biggest brewer, has formally proposed the merger with A-B.
However it’s no secret that the Stars & Stripes are being brought out to fend off this unwelcome attention with many American blue collar workers expressing negative feelings at the thought of an all-American brewer being swallowed up by a multinational from Europe.
But InBev is not going to just go away. To this many-times-itself-consolidated company, the savings are attractive and Mergers & Acquisitions are about the only ways forward.
InBev’s Chief Executive Carlos Brito has stated, “We have the highest respect for Anheuser-Busch, its employees and its leadership who have built the leading brewer in the US and grown the iconic Budweiser brand”.
He added, “We view this combination as a natural next step for both companies who already enjoy successful partnerships in the US, Canada and South Korea”.
While A-B’s board of directors are to evaluate this  “unsolicited proposal” from Inbev, it’s frothy potential for making a fortune in Eastern Europe and Asia (in contrast to the flat markets nearer home in Central and Western Europe and the US) will have to be weighed in.
Apart from that, higher raw materials costs will need to be offset by consolidations just like this one, producing just such economies of scale in supplying these emerging markets.
And the rationalisation which would inevitably follow this deal could produce savings estimated at over €50 million which would go a considerable way towards meeting the increased cost of raw materials - this year.

 

Pubs testing customers DNA to find the King

Customers at two Irish pubs have been taking DNA tests to see if they are related to an ancient Irish king.

The two pubs are McSorleys in New York and Sean’s Bar in Athlone, County Westmeath, one of the oldest pubs in Ireland. They offered the test - designed to find descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages, a fifth-century warlord - to customers on Father’s Day.

The drinkers could take the DNA test by providing a simple swab from the cheek and the samples have been sent to Oxford for analysis. The results will be available in July and if the customer is found to be a descendant, they can claim free beer and a meal at the pub.

Full story here

 

The great wine rip off

Was this survey in the Sunday Business Post this week news or just rehashing what we already know has taken place in our industry for years?

“With restaurants routinely charging 200 per cent mark-ups on wine, The Sunday Business Post survey reveals the biggest offenders and examines where the money goes”

I must admit though that the Eur 300 mark up on a bottle of champagne borders on the insane.

 

5 ways to increase food sales

I came across this good article in this month’s Nightclub Magazine about increasing food sales. You’ll find the article online here