Page 36 - GBC ENGLISH spring 2024

PRODUCTS: EVALUATE AND INNOVATE
If you are ultimately responsible for your F&B business, are you in charge of the menu? A 2022 survey of 2,000 restaurants by the Canadian Restaurant Association showed that almost 80% of restaurant owners did not do, or participate in, a full menu sales analysis process. This deep dive includes identifying sales data and key indicators such as popular and underperforming items, times of the day when certain items are most desired, and even, which staff sell more per hour.
You do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure all this information out. With this new-fangled thing called Artificial Intelligence (AI), you can literally take a picture of your menu and create a real time cost report! Crazy stuff! AI can assist
you with menu creation, inventory processing, dynamic menu pricing andevenwritingpromotionalblogs about each menu item that you can then post on Tik Tok! Not there yet? That’s OK, you can also do things the ‘old-fashioned way’ by taking advantage of your supplier partne- rships. Every main food supplier in Canada will have a team of experts that can help you create better menus, more efficient processes, better ordering systems and even, cheaper item replacements. All of which can create a more stable and supportive environment for your F&B team.
PROFIT: YOU CAN’T MANAGE WHAT YOU CAN’T MEASURE! Sometimes we have difficulty seeing the trees because of the forest. Or is it the other way around? Either way, if you want to sleep well knowing that your food and beverage business is on track, you need to identify those Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are critical to your operation.
The number one indicator of your future success is foot traffic in your restaurants. Is it increasing? What percentage of your golfers also come in to eat afterward, or utilize your concession stand as opposed to hiding beer in their bag, or book their daughter’s wedding with you? Increasing (or decreasing) foot traffic tells us all that we need to be concerned about.
The number two indicator is how much revenue you can generate per customer. Imagine if we sold every golfer just one chocolate bar. Every golfer! If you did 30,000 rounds of golf and made $2 profit per bar, well guess what, that just bought you a new car!
Other critical KPIs include cost of sales and cost of labour. If you are asking Chef why food cost is
40% instead of 32%, can they show you for example, how they are tracking staff meals properly? Wastage? To manage labour, if you have a patio, then your managers might take advantage of ‘on-call’ scheduling that allows you to legally cancel an employee’s shift without paying them a minimum. Two hours here and two hours there can really add up.
In your weekly meetings with your restaurant leadership team, most of the conversations need to be around the future and not simply reviewing the past. What are the forecasted sales for events this month? What is the weather forecast? Have we reached out to every group of 8 players or more and asked them if we can make them a reservation in the restaurant for after their round? Who is doing this and how can we ensure that they make this part of their daily routine?
SUMMARY
These are just some ideas that you can take back to your club or team and incorporate into your own operations. Successfully navigating the world of F&B operations in a golf club requires a nuanced understanding of the industry’s complexities. By defining your club’s identity, fostering a moti- vated and skilled team, optimizing menu offerings, tracking key performance indicators, and diversifying revenue streams, you can elevate your golf club’s F&B experience to new heights. Good luck and enjoy the ride!
Golf Business Canada
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