LESSON 2

THE MEAL / DRINK EXPERIENCE

CONTENTS
2.0 Aims & Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Meal Experience
2.3 Food and Drink
2.4 Variety in Menu Choice
2.5 Level of Service
2.6 Price and Value for Money
2.7 Interior Design
2.8 Atmosphere and Mood
2.9 Expectation and Identification
2.10 Location and Accessibility
2.11 Food and Beverage Service Employees
2.12 Let Us Sum Up
2.13 Lesson End Activity
2.14 Key Words
2.15 Suggested Questions
2.16 References

2.0 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to

demonstrate appropriate skills, and show an understanding of the
following:
 Meal / Drink experience, food and drink, variety in
menu choice
 Interior Design, atmosphere and mood.
 Food and Beverage Employees.

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The menu is the centrepiece of any eating establishement.

It is not just a list of food items for sale, but the reason why that
establishment exisits. Menu planning, therefore, may be considered
to be one of the most critical activities of food service operations. It
defines the décor, service style, costume and required cooking skills.
The process of planning a menu must be thoroughly understood.

2.2 MEAL / DRINK EXPERIENCE

The meal experience may be defined as a series of events

both tangible and intangible that a customer experiences when
eating out. It is difficult to define exactly where a meal / drink
experience actually starts, and indeed ends, although it is usually
Food and Beverage assumed that the main part of the experience begins when a
Management customer enters a restaurant and ends when he leaves the
restaurant.

The series of events and experiences customers undergo

when eating out may be divided into those tangible aspects of the
product, that is the food and drink, and those intangible aspects such
as service, atmosphere, mood, etc. In order to for the product to be
offered by the restaurant to be acceptable to the customer, it is
necessary for the tangible and intangible components of the
restaurant to combine together and to be seen by the customer as
one total product, and not a number of disjoined parts. It is therefore
the duty of the restaurant owners or managers to construct this
complete product and to present it to the customer.

The different components of the the meal / drink experience

that may be identified and which are considered by a catering facility
is explained in detail in following sections.

2.3 FOOD AND DRINK

The type of food and drink that people choose to consume

away from home depends on a number of factors which are of
particular concern to customers. They include,
(1) The choice of food and drink available, whether the menu is
limited or extensive, whether the operation revolves around one
particular product, for example, coffee shops and wine bars.
(2) The quality of the product offered, for example, fresh or
convenience foods, chateau bottled or a blended non chateau
bottled wine.
(3) The quantity of the product offered, that is, the portion sizes. For
example, does the restaurant offer children’s meals or smaller
portions for children?
(4) The consistent standard of the product: customers returning to
the restaurant and repeating their of an item would expect the
product to be the same as they had eaten or drunk before.
(5) The range of tastes, textures, aromas and colours offered by a
food dish, or the taste, colour and aroma offered by a drink.
(6) That the food and drink are served at the correct temperatures,
for example, that the iced coffee is sufficiently chilled, or that hot
food is hot when it reaches the customer.
(7) That the presentation of the food and drink enhances the product
offered. This is particularly important at all levels of catering, from
cafeteria to haute cuisine service, where the visual presentation
of the meal is very much part of the total experience.
(8) That the price and perceived value for money are both in line
with customer’s pre meal experience anticipations.
(9) That the quality of the total meal experience matches or even
enhances the expectations of the guests.
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2.4 VARIETY IN MENU CHOICE The Meal / Drink
Experience
The type of menu offered by an establishment and the variety
of menu choice should also enhance the total meal experience. At
the lower level of the market the choice of menu items in a
restaurant is usually fairly limited for a number of reasons.

First, price of the food. If a customer is paying Rs. 270/- for a

three course meal the range of menu items that can be made
available within the cost limits of such an operation is obviously more
limited than in operations where the customer’s average spending
power is higher.

Second, the amount of time taken to consume meals at this

level of the market may vary between half an hour to one hour, but
will rarely exceed this. Proportionately, little of this time is spent
studying the menu choice.

Third, it may be suggested that customers frequenting this

lower level of the market may be uncomfortable, if presented with a
very large menu selection and may therefore prefer a more limited,
but still varied menu choice.

The menu choice offered by a restaurant is therefore

dependent on a number of interrelated factors, the price the
customer is willing to pay, the amount of time available for the meal
experience, the level of the market in which the restaurant is situated
and, consequently the types of customer likely to frequent that type
of operation. Further considerations affecting the choice of menu
from the caterer’s point of view would be the production and service
facilities available, the skills of the staff, the availability of
commodities and the potential of the menu.

2.5 LEVEL OF SERVICE

The higher the cost of the meal to the customer, the more
service the customer expects to receive. In a food court where
customers are spending approximately $3 - $5 for a two course
meal, the degree of service received is comparatively little, customer
collect and purchase their own food from particular food units, carry
it to a table, and may clear their dishes from the table at the end of
their meal. As the cost of the meal to customers increases so will
the amount of service they receive.

The actual service of the food and beverages to the customer

may be described as the direct service. It is necessary for a
restaurant to identify the level of service it is going to offer in its
catering establishment and to extend this standard of service
throughout all aspects of the operation. Thus if a restaurant has a
very formal type of food and beverage service, usually associated
with high class operations, the other aspects of the restaurant
service should be equally formal – the speed, efficiency and dress of
staff, the degree of personalization and courtesy the customers 17
receives, and so on. It is important, therefore, for a restaurant
Food and Beverage operation to consider not only the service of the food and beverage
Management for which the staffs are usually adequately trained, but also to
remember the indirect service aspect of the operation, which are all
part of the customer’s meal experience.

2.6 PRICE AND VALUE FOR MONEY

The concept of value for money will vary from one sector of
the market to another and, indeed, from one customer to another. In
the majority of the cases, however, customers will frequent a
restaurant not only because of its food and service, but also because
they feel the price they are paying represents value for money. At
the popular end of the market, inclusive price meals are often
offered. In some establishments include a service charge in the price
of their meals, others show it separately, while some operations do
not include a service charge but leave it to the customer’s discretion.
Prices charged within the UK are inclusive of government taxes,
while in some other countries the total amount of tax is shown
separately.

2.7 INTERIOR DESIGN

The overall interior designs of a restaurant are one of the first

physical aspects of a catering operation that a customer will come
into contact with. This first impression of the restaurant is very
important. Potential customers passing by may like the look of the
establishment and decide to come and eat there, customers who
have actually planned to eat in the restaurant and like what they see
when they enter, will feel pleased with their choice of restaurant.

The interior design of a restaurant is composed of many

different aspects, the size and shape of the room, the furniture and
fittings, the colour scheme, lighting, air conditioning, etc. The colour
scheme of the restaurant should blend and be enhanced by lighting
arrangements, tables and chairs ergonomically and aesthetically
designed so that they not only satisfy their functional purpose, but
also look attractive.

In a luxury restaurant, however, seat turnover is not so critical

and, in fact, customers may be encouraged to stay in the restaurant
to increase their average spend. In these types of establishment the
interior design of the restaurant is made to be very comfortable, the
lighting in the restaurant is quite subdued, the colour scheme has
warmth and depth, there may be several particular points of interest
in the restaurant such as pictures, murals and large floral displays to
hold the customer’s interest.

The interior design of a catering facility needs to be carefully

considered at the initial planning stage and if necessary professional
advice sought in order to avoid costly corrective measures later. The
life cycle of the operation also needs to be taken into account as this
will significantly affect the financial investment in this aspect of the
catering operation.
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2.8 ATMOSPHERE AND MOOD The Meal / Drink
Experience
The atmosphere or mood of a restaurant is a difficult aspect of
an operation to define, but is often described as an intangible feel
inside a restaurant. Not all restaurants have an obvious type of
atmosphere; others try to deliberately create one.

The atmosphere of a restaurant is affected by many different

aspects of the operation. They include the décor and interior design
of the restaurant, the table and seating arrangements, the service
accompaniments, the dress and attitude of the staff, the tempo of
service, the age, dress and sex of other customer, the sound levels
in the restaurant, whether music is played, the temperature of the
restaurant, bars and cloakrooms, and the overall cleanliness of the
environment and the professionalism of the staff. Again the harmony
between the product itself, the service and the overall environment is
with the others, disharmony may result in the customer’s image of
the restaurant, and the customer will invariably leave feeling
unsettled and remembering that one small aspect. In a high class
restaurant, for example, it is expected that linen napkin would be
provided, if paper ones have been provided customers may feel
cheated when they consider the price they are paying for the meal.

2.9 EXPECTATION AND IDENTIFICATION

A single customer or group of customers arriving at a

restaurant for a meal bring with them a series of expectations
regarding that restaurant, the type of service they will receive, the
price they will pay, the expected atmosphere and mood of the
restaurant, etc. The customer expectation may be varied and
numerous, ranging from the restaurant which the customer frequents
because they want to be seen there and participate in its social
atmosphere, to the small quiet restaurant where the customer may
go because of its intimate and personal nature.

Upon arrival at the restaurant, if the product presented to

customers is in harmony with their expectations, it is likely that they
will be pleased with their choice and have a relaxed and enjoyable
meal. If customers sense disharmony, however, between their
expectation of the restaurant and the actual product they find, for
example, it is too intimate for the occasion, they may not enter the
restaurant but choose another. If disharmony is not realized until
customers are seated at the table, it is unlikely that they will leave
but will have a hurried and uncomfortable meal.

There is a need for customers to be able to identify and

associate themselves with a particular restaurant for a particular
meal occasion. They may not always identify with the same
restaurant, as their needs and expectations may vary from one meal
experience to the next.

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Food and Beverage 2.10 LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY
Management
The location of a food service facility may be said to be its
most important feature. Services which are not appropriately located
may not be performed at all. The situation of a catering facility must
be made after careful identification of the location of the marked
segments to which it is catering. For example, a take away fish and
chip shop catering to a market segment identified as being couples
with children of socio economic classification, could not be situated
farther than two or three miles from this market, any distance greater
than this and potential customers would consider choosing a fish and
chip shop closer to their home. The restaurant’s location in relation
to its present markets should not only be considered but also its
location to possible future markets. For example, a city restaurant
may rely heavily on a number of large local companies for the
majority of its lunchtime trade, if several of these companies leave
the area the restaurant’s demand would be significantly affected. A
road side restaurant’s trade would also be affected by the
expansions or relocation of a major nearby road and consequently
an increase or decrease in the volume of traffic and hence
customers.

The accessibility to a catering operation is another important

factor. Customer arriving by car will expect adequate car parking
facilities. If customers have to travel by public transport, the
operation should be well served by buses, trains, or taxis. If high
streets take away facility expects a large percentage of its business
from passing trade there should be a heavy pedestrian flow past its
doors.

2.11 FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE EMPLOYEES

Staff employed by a restaurant operation should complement

the meal experience of the customers, and they are able to do this in
a variety of ways, their social skills, their age and sex, their uniform,
the tempo of their service, and so on. The number of staff serving in
a restaurant is closely related to the prices charged by the
establishment and the level of service that it offers. In self service
operations very few service staff are required. In some
establishments the ratio of staff to customers being as low as one
member of staff to twenty to forty customers.

However, in the luxury haute cuisine restaurants offering full

French service, the ratio may be as high as one member of staff to
eight customers. These latter types of operations are, however,
charging the customers for this extra attentive service and must
therefore be seen to have an adequate number of staff. Not only
does the number of staff in a restaurant contribute to the meal
experience, but also their attitude to customers and the tempo of
their service. In a large employee cafeteria where the ratio of service
staff to customers may be low and speed of service is important, the
staff are required to work at a fast and efficient speed, and where
possible leave the customers to serve themselves.
20
 In a luxury restaurant the tempo of the staff is considerably The Meal / Drink
slower and more relaxed because of the higher ratio of service staff Experience
to customers. It should be noted that the attitude of the staff is
almost totally influenced by the management attitude and the
environmental climate in which the staffs are working. The uniforms
of the service staff should be appropriate for the level of the catering
operation, and again this physical aspect of the restaurant must be
seen to be part of the establishment’s totality. At the end of the meal,
staff can do a lot to reassure customers about their choice of meal
experience. Because the intangible elements of a service are not
visible, they are more difficult to evaluate. Customers, therefore
particularly need reassurance about the product they have
purchased.

The type of meal experience offered by a food service facility

must, therefore, be tailored around the requirements and
expectations of the customer. The production of the right product,
the meal experience begins with the basic marketing questions of
who are our customers and what do they want? By seeking to
answer these questions, caterers are able to determine their position
in the market and to offer the right product at the right price for the
identified market segments. It is also important to remember that a
customer’s meal experience varies according to a number of factors
and that the same customer’s requirements may vary from one meal
experience to another.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. What do you mean by meal experience?

2. The overall interior designs of a restaurant are one of the ……….
of a catering operation that a customer will come into contact
with.
3. The type of meal experience offered by a food service facility
must, therefore, be tailored around the ……….. and ……….. of
the customer.
4. What are the different aspects in which the overall interior design
restaurant is composed?

2.12 LET US SUM UP

The meal experience may be defined as a series of events

both tangible and intangible that a customer experiences when
eating out. The type of food and drink that people choose to
consume away from home depends on a number of factors which
are of particular concern to customers. The type of menu offered by
an establishment and the variety of menu choice should also
enhance the total meal experience.

The interior design of a catering facility needs to be carefully

considered at the initial planning stage and if necessary professional 21
advice sought in order to avoid costly corrective measures later.
Food and Beverage The provision of food and beverage away from home forms a
Management substantial part of the activities of the hotel and catering industry.
Like the industry of which it is a part, food and beverage operations
are characterized by their diversity.

Staff employed by a restaurant operation should complement

the meal experience of the customers, and they are able to do this in
a variety of ways, their social skills, their age and sex, their uniform,
the tempo of their service, and so on.

2.13 LESSON END ACTIVITY

1. Discuss the selection criteria for food service facility location and
accessibility.

2.14 KEY WORDS

Cafeteria It is a type of food service location in which

there is little or no table service.

Harmony Pleasing arrangement of parts / Accordance

Cloakroom A room in which outer garments, hats,

umbrellas etc may be left temporarily

2.15 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS

1. Elaborate on Meal Experience.

2. Give the significant of Interior Design.
3. Write the expectation and identification of customer.
4. How did you select the location and accessibility for food service
facility?
5. Explain the role of Food and beverage service employees in
satisfying the needs of the Guest.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - ANSWER
1. The meal experience may be defined as a series of events both
tangible and intangible that a customer experiences when eating
out.
2. first physical aspects.
3. requirements, expectations.
4. The interior design of a restaurant is composed of many different
aspects, the size and shape of the room, the furniture and
fittings, the colour scheme, lighting, air conditioning, etc.

2.16 REFERENCES

1. Food and Beverage Management (2006), Bernard Davis,

22 Andrews Lockwood, Sally Stone.