The Key Ingredients to Running a Successful Food Business in Hospitality

Food is at the heart of any successful hospitality business. Whether you’re running a Michelin-starred restaurant, a lively bar, or a charming bed and breakfast, providing delicious and consistent food experiences is crucial for attracting and retaining happy customers.

After 25+ years of owning various hospitality businesses, I’ve learned that getting the food offering right is one of the most essential elements for success. Here, I’ll share my top tips and insights into running an exceptional food business in the hospitality sector.

Crafting the Perfect Menu

Your menu is the face of your food business. It needs to align with your brand, appeal to your target customers, and be delivered by your kitchen team.

Determine the Food Style

First, decide the overall style of cuisine you’ll offer. Consider:

• The ambience and concept of your venue
• Local cuisine styles that would appeal to your location and customers
• The capabilities of your kitchen and chef team

Focus on a style you’ll execute consistently well. Don’t stretch your menu across too many diverse cuisines.

Curate a Focused Menu

Keep your menu focused, with around 6-8 starters, mains, and desserts. Too many options lead to poorly executed dishes. It’s better to have a tight menu done exceptionally well.

Include a few signature dishes that become your classics. Alongside these, incorporate some flexibility for daily specials utilising fresh, seasonal produce.

Provide options for common dietary needs—vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free. Don’t just give them salad—craft appealing dishes to meet different requirements.

Work with Culinary Experts

Design recipes and menus with help. Use a chef consultant, work with a culinary school or source recipes from cookbooks related to your cuisine style.

Test extensively and adjust until the recipes are refined. Document the recipes clearly, including ingredients, methods, timing, plating guides, and photos.

Sourcing Quality Ingredients

The quality of your ingredients directly impacts the taste of dishes. Source the freshest produce, humanely raised meats and high-quality pantry items.

Find Reliable Suppliers

Develop relationships with local farms, butchers, fishmongers and speciality food suppliers. Seek out those providing sustainable, fresh, high-quality ingredients.

Aim for direct relationships with speciality growers and producers, or use foodservice distributors that respect your quality standards when possible.

Monitor Costs

Track invoice costs closely to watch food spending and margins. Purchase in bulk where possible, and find secondary uses for ingredients to reduce waste.

Weigh the costs against quality. Splurge on exceptional ingredients for essential signature dishes while optimising other recipes. Customers will appreciate and pay for quality.

Trained & Capable Kitchen Team

Your staff will make or break consistent food execution. Invest in training and transparent processes.

Hire the Right Chef

It is crucial to find a talented chef who shares your food passions. Look for relevant experience, creativity, team leadership, and a commitment to training others. The chef is the heart of your kitchen, and their role is pivotal in the success of your business. Avoid quick hires without vetting skills.

Create Detailed Processes

Document recipes, plating guides and kitchen protocols for consistency. Conduct extensive training on all menu items so the full team can step in when needed.

Empower the chef to make daily specials but ensure the rest of the menu remains unchanged. Consistency is key for return customers.

Foster Teamwork

Create a positive, collaborative kitchen culture focused on quality standards. Reward team players committed to excellence. Let underperformers go quickly—a bad apple can quickly ruin the team dynamic.

Maintaining Quality Standards

With good ingredients and people, ensure quality remains high through vigilance and systems.

Stay Obsessed with Details

Personally taste and visually inspect dishes before they go out, providing feedback to improve continually. Empower your team to care at the same level.

Monitor Temperatures

Invest in suitable probes and thermometers. Continuously check refrigerators, freezers, and cooked and hot-held foods. Temperature logs create accountability.

Schedule Deep Cleaning

Detail clean the full kitchen on a scheduled basis. Ensure equipment is well maintained and replaced when needed. Cleanliness is foundational for food safety and quality.

Dealing with Reviews

Don’t let online reviews overly influence you. Stay confident in delivering your quality vision.

Know Your Customers

Understand that regular customers are the backbone of your business. Their loyalty is more valuable than one-off negative reviews. If regulars are happy, focus on consistently satisfying them. This will not only retain their loyalty but also attract new customers through positive word of mouth.

Invite Feedback

Proactively seek customer feedback through surveys or conversations. This not only provides valuable insights but also empowers you to make informed decisions about your menu, service, and overall customer experience. Remember, feedback is a powerful tool for growth and improvement.

Address Issues Quickly

If you receive a terrible review, acknowledge it and offer to make it right. Your reaction can turn a complainer into an advocate. But don’t overly rely on reviewers’ opinions.

5 Key FAQs on Running a Food Hospitality Business

What are tips for designing an appealing restaurant menu?

Focus on 6-8 items per section. Craft signature dishes that represent your concept. Include vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options done creatively. Source inspirational recipes and refine them through extensive testing.

How can you find reliable food suppliers and manage costs?

Develop direct relationships with speciality local producers when possible. Seek quality over the lowest cost. Use food service distributors respectfully. Monitor invoices closely, buy bulk, and minimise waste through full ingredient utilisation.

What kitchen team skills are most important?

A talented chef who leads by example and staff passionate about quality food is essential. Invest heavily in training for recipe consistency. Foster teamwork and accountability through temp logs and cleanliness audits.

How should online reviews influence menu decisions?

Don’t let them overly sway you. Stay focused on delighting regulars, seek direct customer feedback, and proactively address issues. Your customers and food vision should drive the menu.

What systems help maintain quality standards long-term?

Personally inspect dishes before service. Monitor temps religiously. Establish deep cleaning routines. Empower staff to care, provide feedback, and continuously improve. Details and vigilance prevent quality from slipping.

In Closing

Your hospitality business can build an incredible and successful food reputation by selecting your concept, crafting excellent menus, sourcing top ingredients, hiring and training an A-team, and relentlessly focusing on quality. Keep these fundamentals in place while adapting to current food and customer trends. This formula results in satisfied customers, glowing reviews, and enduring success. What ingredients will you bring together to create your extraordinary food hospitality venture?