Report on Managing All-you-can-eat Restaurants

Executive Summary

There are many types of buffets, and all to eat is one the kind that is currently be perceived to be popularly employed in many restaurants globally. It is a meal serving system to individuals who would prefer to consume many foods and of a more comprehensive variety. However, most of the consumers tend to feel uncomfortable after overeating in restaurants that provide all to eatservices, and this gives rise specific questions such as the reason people spend a lot of money on the quantity of food more than what they usually consume which can hurt their health. Another question concerns some of the elements that lead to consumers' overeating behavior and the elements that influencing consumption of fast foods in most of the all-to-eat restaurants in Australian. Most of the existing studies on all-you-can-eat focuses on the pricing of the food, timely payment of the meal, the quality of the services provided and finally how eating habits relates to obesity. The concept of the buffet is practical when the consumer pays a fixed price and can eat anything on the menu that they wish.Individuals tend to have a variety of food to eat.

Introduction

According to Siniver et al. (2013, p. 4940), in a Sushi restaurant, the collection of meal prices is done in advance rather than a completion of the meal, which enhances overeating in most of the restaurants. Also, the payment of the buffet meals after eating reduces the consumption of Sushi by 4.5 in comparison with the amount after eating (Nahata et al.1999, p. 220).In a pizza restaurant that offers a meal discount of 50% on the meal, price contributes to the consumption of 27.9% less pizza and that peoples tastes and preference evaluation of pizza are inversely proportional to the consumption rates. As such, it essential to explore the effectiveness of the "all you can eat ' strategy, its impacts on the restaurant's operations and final the problems associated with the strategy as well as possible solutions.

Strategy of all you can eat

Just and Wansink (2011, p. 194) stated that people would intend to eat a certain quantity of food which will enable them to receive their money worthiness. As a result, the existence of an all-you-can-eat restaurant will attract customers which will increase average food spending as individuals will intend to maximize their satisfaction on the foods provided (Han & Kim 2010, p. 660). Furthermore, with the presence of unlimited buffet, most individuals will be carried by greed, and once they get satisfied, the rate of consumption will drop, and these can increase the level of spending of the restaurant.

Majority of the all you can eat restaurants put a fixed cost on the food being sold and then allow the consumers to eat as much as they want without any extra cost (Siniver et al. 2013, p. 4941). Notably, this will reduce the food cost percentage as the food average spending increases in the week. Consequently; many consumers do not face the additional charge on consumption, which implies that the restaurant will spend more on food preparations while accruing fewer returns (Just & Wansink 2011, p. 195). It is perceived that the consumer behavior has the assumptions that the willingness to consume is not affected by the cost of the food provided (Dunn et al. 2011, p. 250). Preferably, the average food spending individuals will have an impact on the level of consumption if the food cost percentages increase.

According to Clark and Goldsmith (2005, p. 270), the increased price of the food provided in an all you can eat buffet will contribute to the increase in the quantity of food an individual will eat hence reducing the food cost percentages. In all, you can eat restaurant, when the price assigned is higher; the rate of consumption will be more than when the prices are attached to a lower price (Lambrecht & Skiera 2006, p. 215). Ideally, it implies that when the prices are high, the rate of food average spending will increase while the food cost percentage decreases. The possible implication of this explanation on the results is that a number of the consumers will be motivated to receive the worthiness of their money (Thaler 2004, p. 75). Additionally, if the customers in an all you can eat restaurant benefit much from spending less in accessing food, an increment on food average will be experienced hence reducing the food cost percentages (Han & Kim 2010, p. 661). On the contrary, the eating rates of individuals will be higher when the prices are high as opposed to when they are low; the rate of food spending will increase while food costs percentage also increases (Nations Restaurant News 2001).

Essential information to be monitored

Dunn et al. (2011, p. 252) stated that the payment of a buffet at a higher cost implicates that the food is of high quality. For instance, it implies that the food cost spending for the restaurant will increase to produce quality food (Lambrecht & Skiera 2006, p. 215). Ideally, with the all you can eat, the strategy with a higher cost on its foods will lead to a more top consumer turn over with the perception that the food offered is of high quality hence increasing food cost percentages and increasing profit margins (Wansink 2004, p. 782).

Clark and Goldsmith (2005, p. 292) argued that the all you can eat strategy would enhance consumption by the price quotation in that with the existence of high prices on the food, will contribute to large customer turnout hence increasing profitability. Additionally, there is also a possibility that when the cost of food increases, the rate at which the consumers will purchase the food can even decline and as a result contributing to low food cost and low profits. According to Thaler (2004, p. 77), customers will always feel satisfied when they pay low prices for the goods provided. Notably, this will increase the average food spending while reducing the cost percentages which in hand reduces profit margins (Han & Kim 2010, p. 663). Thus, when consumers get motivated to purchase, their consumptions can also increase in the all you can eat restaurants increasing the average spending while reducing the food cost percentages.

Peregrin (2001, p. 620) implied that with the employment of the all, you could eat strategy, the sizable quantity of wasted food can be experienced with a majority of the customers, and this can be experienced both when the prices are low or high. Nonetheless, these variations can be controlled when controlling the social and the demographic dynamics. It will decline the food cost percentages as the much cost will be spent during the food preparation hence reducing the profits. Besides, when half prices are offered on the buffets, a few consumers will leave food on their plates as opposed to many when the price is doubled hence increasing the sales volume (Thaler 2004, p. 79). According to Han and Kim (2010, p. 665), the other positive impact of the all you can eat restaurant is the effective management of waste. Most restaurants experience challenges during their early stages of operation, but with effective waste management, they report strong sales (Dunn et al. 2011, p. 259). Waste can be minimized through portioning of the sales (Dunn et al. 2011, p. 261). Ideally, this is where effective information will be collected weekly on the amount of waste food and then integrated into the computer system. Through this, projections can be made on the number of expected consumers and what is likely to be eaten (Siniver et al.2013, p. 4947). Consequently, this will be of importance to Francesco restaurant as it will reduce the wasted food and as a result reducing the food average expenditure. Furthermore, it implies that the business will be in a position to have low expenses on salaries and workers wages, overhead expenses such as electricity as well as rent (Lambrecht & Skiera2006, p. 220). The outcome will be a reduction in the food average spending which will contribute to high food cost percentages and hence increasing profit margins. Additionally, the value of inputs should be less than the outputs paid by the consumers as the different results to high margins in profit (Just & Wansink 2011, p. 195). The outcome of this will promote low food cost spending and increase the food cost percentages which enhances the maximization of profits. Furthermore, according to Nations Restaurant News (2001) the all you can eat buffet tends to have different variables as compared to the traditional restaurants. In essence, this is the indication that the demand for workforce in the form of waiters will significantly reduce and this saves the owner spending costs as some of the customers tend to cook their food (Erez & Gideon 2012, p, 16). Also, the cost of labor will be saved in that most of the consumers serve themselves, which reduces the general food costs and necessitating to an increment in the food cost percentages hence increasing profitability (Han & Kim2010, p. 662). With these types of restaurants, there exists the state of equilibrium between the cheap and expensive utensils (Peregrin 2001, p. 620). Typically, the buffets will have more of the affordable dishes as opposed to the expensive ones which reduce the average food spending. Low prices in the restaurants can lead to a significant turnout of consumers which will increase the sales volume and at the same time but still reducing the rates of food cost percentages. On the other hand, an increase in the prices can lead to an increases consumer turnout based on their preference growing sales volume and hence contributing to increased food cost percentages

Critical analysis

Siniver et al. (2013, p. 4950) highlighted that firstly on investigating the issues that face the restaurant; there will be the need to define the problem. For instance, one needs to know if the price of the food correlates with the number of customers. Another question that needs to answer is whether the number of consumers corresponds to the quality of food and the services provided and if the higher prices result to lower a number of the consumer (Just & Wansink 2011, p. 201).

According to Nahata et al. (1999, p. 220), some of the strategies should be implemented to improve the overall profitability of the restaurant. Firstly, there is the need to be specific on the number of consumers that are willing to eat on a given day of the week. Also, there is need to evaluate the number of other restaurants that pose competition over service provision in that prices can be higher if there is the limited contest on service provision. Secondly, the restaurant should be in a position to estimate the sum of individuals who are likely to desire for the buffets. Lastly, there is the need to establish the various elements that can have the impact on the profits. For instance, the owner might not be in a position to estimate the exact number of individuals whore likely to come to the restaurant and as to whether they will like the services provided. Hence, there is the need for practical decision making on the right price, the quality of food sold and finally how much it could cost on staff capacity building in the form of training to improve cooking methods (Dunn et al. 2011, p. 350).

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