Eating habits/trends in the UK and London and explain the history and development over the past twenty years
The change in the lifestyle of people in the UK and London has caused a change in their eating habits and trends. “The recession has proved to be a considerable force for the UK eating out market: there was a 32% rise in restaurant businesses going to the wall in 2008 whilst consumer research for this report has found that a quarter of consumers state that the recession has had a major impact on their eating out habits, forcing them to reduce both frequency of visit and expenditure.” (Eating out review-UK-July 2009, n.d.).
“Rising disposable incomes in the UK have driven the development of premium convenience foods, particularly fresh, chilled lines, which are rapidly displacing frozen foods, once the staple of the market. Convenience foods in the UK are now valued at more than £7 billion and have recorded growth well above that in food sales.” (Eating habits-sacrificing quality for convenience?-UK, 2006).
Modern lifestyle of the UK and London is increasing the popularity of fast food. The fast food can be easily be made as it requires less time to cook. More people prefer to spend the evenings in pubs and bars. After the world war the standard of living increased and all classes of people preferred eating out. This trend caught the attention of entrepreneurs and new restaurants with better cuisine started emerging. The food in the UK has undergone changes after the 1970’s. After the war the food mainly included plainly cooked meat, vegetables, puddings etc. There was a growth in the consumption of vegetarian and ethnic foods. The eating habits have thus undergone many changes and development over the recent years.
The operational and economic characteristics of food and beverage operations
Food and beverage management is vital for the economic and cultural benefit of food service business. Satisfaction of the clients is accepted as the primary objective of the hotel and beverages management. For the evaluation purpose first we have to go through the type of product that has got the maximum demand from the customers and the type of product used in the industry. There is also a need to identify the causes which affect the ASP (Average spending power) on the products.
To start a new business in the field of food and beverages one must first analyze the viability of the products and identify the preference of customers for specific products. In addition to that greater care is given to the intangible elements also. Because the ASP of the guest mainly depends up on the amount of satisfaction they acquire from the restaurant, delicious recipes of the restaurants also play an important role to make maximum profit. The “nature of the food and beverage product also includes: perishability, not proper for storing, special merchandising, low profit, low risk, high turnover of currency, fluctuation income, dependence on other facilities and so on.” (BTEC HND in hospitality management, n.d., p.3).
For the success of every food and beverage industry the role of customer’s satisfaction is inevitable. Food trends never remain static and may vary with the situations. “Quality provides the opportunity for food and beverage operations to find a winning edge over their competitions, to ensure the long term loyalty of their customers and to improve both short term and long term profitability through cast savings and higher margins.” (Davis, 2008, p.36).
To attain maximum profit through food and beverage operations, give more care to the quality of food, hygienic atmosphere, service efficiency, ambience, safety, various rules and regulations from the part of government etc.
Food and beverage outlet in UK
“The Ritz Club Casino places great emphasis on ensuring that the highest standards of operating procedures are consistently upheld. The Ritz Club Casino’s name and reputation are important factors in maintaining it’s international and loyal following amongst it’s rich and famous members.” (A fine tradition, 2008). The casino’s restaurant is well arranged and decorated with precious materials which add to its ambience. “Enormous care has been devoted to the creation of a unique fusion menu which caters to a wide variety of tastes and allows the diner to rediscover the excitement of diverse ingredients and flavours.” (Sheer indulgence, 2008). They are also providing the food according to the demands of the customers. Almost all the culinary delights of most of the countries around the world are available here so not only the people of this country but also the tourists are flocking this restaurant to have their favourite food. The drinks are given after knowing the customers flavour and choice.
Pelham hotel
The Pelham hotel is a traditional hotel which has modernity in it. It is located at South Kensington which is one among the fashionable areas in London. Some of the shops, restaurants, bars, galleries and cultural centres are present in this place. Pelham has good transport facilities and has the underground station of South Kensington directly opposite to it. A special team is appointed for providing helping services and other facilities for the visit to London. The Pelham provides some special offers to the customers. Special winter delight packages are offered to the people from the first of November to the last of January. The package includes accommodation, house wine, continental breakfast and cheese board. During winter breaks it offers three free nights for two people.
The Bistros of the Pelham hotel is the special place for the guest. The rooms of the Bistro 15 are decorated with flowers and candles, which made the atmosphere romantic and delightful.Because of the calm and romantic atmosphere in Bistro the guests are usually visits here to spend there times with their couples, The food at the bistro very tasty and delicious. They can also have wide collection of wines and champagnes. And they serve all these according to the visitor’s requirement. Bistro can also have various private rooms for performing parties and functions. Various technical facilities like Wi-Fi are also there in Bistro 15.The Bistro is the place where the friends are usually met together and spend their funny moments.
Personal experience at Pelham Hotel
The working atmosphere at Pelham Hotel is calm and it always helped me to achieve relief to mind. During my work I am blessed with some best friends and got good personal relation ship. South Kensington is the proper place which is blessed with the presence of Pelham Hotel. Some of the important places of London like the Victoria &Albert and Hyde Park etc are situated very near to my hotel. So, almost all the foreigners who visit these places is usually visit Pelham hotel too to experience our taste of food and the quality of service. Westfield, the world’s largest shopping centre is situated very near to my hotel. The important speciality of Pelham hotel is that it’s verity of food and the services. The work at the Pelham hotel is not a burden for me. But it always helps me to improve the communication between the people from different part of the world and to develop better personality. The authorities of the Pelham hotel is are always worker friendly. It provides library facilities for F&B and Bistro. During the leisure time, me and friends usually visits the library of the Pelham hotel and spend our time with lot of fun. It also contains the gym facilities to improve our health.During the working hours at the Pelham hotel I have usually visits people from different countries with different cultures, which helped me to understand several cultures around the world. The authorities of our hotel are always ready to meet the requirement of their entire client by delivering appropriate recipes to their customers. Through the excellent performance the Pelham hotel wins several prizes. When I was working there, Pelham hotel got ‘2009 Tablet Hotels Selection’ Award which was unforgettable moment for me. This award is acquired through their quality of services and for their best customer care. Concierge service of the hotel is famous for the customer support and Services. According to me the working hours in Pelham hotel is always a blessing.
Conclusion/Recommendation
Food and beverage operations play an important role in the development of a country. So to get more benefit from this industry a well laid out plan is necessary. First of all it should analyze the degree of the demand of the customer and their taste and interest. Then it should identify the cause of change in demand and provide the food according to the need of the customers.
Reference List
A fine tradition, 2008. The Ritz Club Casino. Web.
BTEC HND in hospitality management: unit 19: food and beverage management. Tianjin Professional College. Web.
Davis, Bernard, 2008. Food and beverage management. 4th ed. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Eating habits-sacrificing quality for convenience?-UK, 2006. Report Linker. Web.
Eating out review-UK-July 2009: winners and losers in the recession, n.d. Mintel Oxygen. Web.
Sheer indulgence, 2008. The Ritz Club Casino. Web.