7.4: Concept Development
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Concept Development
It is normal for a person to consider a new restaurant or, in fact, to open a new restaurant without knowing what type of food facility will have the best chance of succeeding. The “concept” of a foodservice operation is the overall plan for how it will meet the needs and expectations of its intended market.
A foodservice operation’s can express a concept in many ways, including:
- Menu
- Décor
- Form of service
- Pricing
- Location
Therefore, “concept development” means developing a plan for the success of the operation in its market in advance of actually designing – let alone building – the facility.
- It proceeds the actual design of a facility because the design team must know what the menu, demand, hours of operation, and mode of service will be.
Single-Unit Restaurant Concept Development
The individual restaurant owner will most frequently uses a food facilities design consultant for concept design. Typically, a restaurant owner organizes a small group of business people to aid in the process.
- They begin to develop the concept
- Success or failure depends on the strength of the concept
- Success depends on how well the plans are followed
Not all of these factors are equally important within a given concept.
- Price is critical for quick service, family and casual restaurants – their customers are value conscious.
- In fine dining restaurants – prices is not so important.
- Location – is crucial for quick service restaurants because their clients depend on convenient access. Fine dining and theme restaurants it is less so.
Multiunit casual dinner houses and theme restaurants (Chili’s, Olive Garden, and TGI Friday’s are exemplars) follow a similar pattern in concept development. Their emphasis is on identifying the key characteristics of their target markets and then locating restaurants where a high concentration of individuals’ who have those characteristics live or work.
Key characteristics would include:
- Income
- Age
- Education
- Home ownership
Multiunit restaurants have a competitive advantage over single-unit restaurants because they have the opportunity to learn from experience with multiple examples of the same concept for analysis and comparison. When a chain restaurant firm has 500 virtually identical restaurants, it can analyze the factors that differentiate its high performing restaurants from its low performing restaurants, and make changes as necessary before opening additional units.
Multi-theme Restaurant Concept Development
A particular form of multiunit restaurant for which concept development is critical to success is the restaurant organization that opens and operates restaurants whose concepts are not identical but different. They need:
- Excellent marketing
- Well-planned menus
- Good design
- Sophisticated management
Hotel Food and Beverage Concept Development
The modern idea of food and beverage service departments in hotels is that it is an important profit center, which can attract guests and locals alike. Hotel managers have known for many years that hotel restaurants must have certain desirable features if they are to be successful. These include:
- Availability of parking
- Unique theme or décor (differing from the hotel itself)
- Strong promotion to the community
- A menu and a method of service that are distinctive
Institutional (Non-commercial) Foodservice Concept development
Often clarity of thought regarding the “operational concept” does not develop fully and this is a serious mistake. The institution must accurately interpret its market and must “sell” its products, even when the food is indirectly paid for by the customer. Institutions have moved from dining hall to “food court” designs. For example, institutional foodservice operators generally have exclusive rights to food sales at universities – but people can leave campus to eat. Thus, many made the change to a “food court” design to move away from the ‘cafeteria’ feel of the dining facility and to fend off replacement by individual food operations sources.
The Elements of Concept Development
The successful foodservice operation combines these elements of concept development: menu market, menu, money, management, and method of execution.
Market
A study of basic market questions that every operator needs to clearly answer:
- To whom will we market the food operation?
- Is the market large enough to generate sales and produce a profit?
- How will the market be identified>
- What level of competition exists in the market?
- What method will we use to communicate to this market?
- Will the potential customer want or need the food product?
- Will a quality assurance plan be developed that will encourage the customer to return because of superior service and/ or product quality?
- Will internal marketing successfully sell the customer additional services or products after he or she arrives at the food facility?
A classic mistake made by both large corporations and individual restaurant operators is to conduct the market analysis and then fail to act based on the information obtained.
Menu
The menu has a tremendous influence on the design and success of a food operation. From a design and layout perspective, these are just as some of the factors determined by the menu:
- Amount of space required – A complex menu requires more space to prepare than a limited or simple menu because separate workstations and additional equipment are necessary.
- Service area size and design – the greater the number of menu items, the more area required for service. (each entrée a point of service and each beverage a dispenser)
- Dishwashing area, size, and machine capacity – complex menus require multiple plates, dishes, and utensils, so the dishwashing area and machine capacity will need to be greater than in the case of simple menus.
- Types of cooking equipment – Complex menus require multiple types of equipment, especially in the final preparation area, where it may be necessary to steam, fry, bake, and sauté.
- Equipment capacity – limited menus may require relatively few pieces of equipment but with large capacities. Complex menus may require many different types of equipment with relatively small capacities.
- Size of dry and refrigerated storage areas – remember that the times and number of purveyor deliveries can help you determine the amount of space necessary for storage.
- Number of employees – the menu complexity and size, as well as type of service, are prime determinants in people requirements.
- Amount of investment required – the target market, type of concept, location costs, are all factors that drive capital requirements to fund the operation.
Money
Successful capitalization of a food facility includes:
- Planning costs
- Building construction or renovation
- Equipment (fixed)
- China, glassware, utensils
- Furniture and fixtures
- Décor
- Start-up and operating costs
- Two stages – preliminary identify financial support after concept development, and securing investors or lenders.
Management
The quality of the management of the operation will be the most important element in achieving success. Typical questions must be address by the owners:
- Who will operate the facility
- What kind of food experience and educational background must this person have?
- Who will assist this person in covering the long ours that are usually required to operate the facility?
- What level of pay will this person receive?
- Will this person receive rewards in some way for excellent sales and profit results?
- How will the owners set operational policies and communicate these to the management staff?
The answers to these questions will determine the organizational structure and the kind of management team that will be appropriate to operate the food facility. Investors or institutional administrations prefer traditional management principles of good communication, strong controls, and sound personnel relations. The in-depth discussion of ‘ownership structures’ follow in the next chapter.