Siheyuan: Starting as a Chef Apprentice

As competition in the catering market becomes increasingly fierce, food prices continue to rise, which has brought tremendous pressure on cost control for all Wang's restaurants.

At a procurement meeting with a tense atmosphere, Manager Chen, the person in charge of procurement, sat at the conference table with a difficult expression on his face, holding a thick stack of procurement reports in his hands, and reported the severe situation to Wang Jianye:
"Boss, the price of food ingredients has gone up too much recently. Look at these data. The prices of all kinds of food ingredients have increased to varying degrees, especially some commonly used meats, vegetables and condiments. Our procurement costs have increased significantly. If we purchase at the current price, our profits will be greatly affected." Manager Chen's voice revealed deep worry.

Wang Jianye sat at the head of the conference table, frowning, listening carefully to Manager Chen's report. He knew that cost control was crucial to the survival and development of the restaurant. After a moment's thought, he said firmly: "We cannot reduce the quality of ingredients simply because of price increases.

The quality of ingredients is the lifeline of our restaurant, and it is related to customer satisfaction and our reputation. We need to look for suppliers with better quality and more reasonable prices, and negotiate with existing suppliers to see if we can get some discounts. In addition, we can't just think about solutions from the procurement stage, the kitchen side must also take action. Chefs need to optimize the design of dishes, make rational use of ingredients, and reduce waste. Do you understand?"

"Understood, boss." The participants nodded in agreement.

After the meeting, the purchasing team immediately took action and rushed around to find new suppliers. Purchasing specialists Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang were responsible for contacting and negotiating with farmers in surrounding areas.

They came to a remote rural area with large tracts of farmland and orchards. Xiao Li and a farmer named Lao Wang were talking by the field.

"Old Wang, we are the purchasing staff for all Wang's restaurants. Our restaurant needs a large amount of fresh vegetables now, and the vegetables here seem to be growing well." Xiao Li said with a smile.

Lao Wang said proudly: "Of course, we grow vegetables using traditional methods and don't use too much pesticide to ensure the quality of the vegetables."

Xiao Zhang continued, "We have very high requirements for the quality of our ingredients, but the prices in the market have risen too much. We hope to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with you. Can you give us a more reasonable price?"

Lao Wang said hesitantly: "It's not easy for us to farm, and the cost is also increasing. However, if you can guarantee long-term large-scale purchases, we can consider lowering the price appropriately."

Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang looked at each other, and then Xiao Li said, "Okay, Lao Wang. Our restaurant uses a lot of materials, and we will purchase directly from you to reduce the middlemen, which can also save you some costs. We can sign a preliminary cooperation agreement first, what do you think?"

After some negotiations, they established direct cooperation with several farmers including Lao Wang and successfully reduced the purchasing costs of some vegetables.

At the same time, in the hotel's kitchen, head chef Chen Xiaoyang was organizing chefs to discuss how to optimize dish design and utilize ingredients.

"Everyone knows that the cost of food ingredients is rising, so we need to find ways to reduce waste without affecting the quality of the dishes. For example, we may have thrown away these vegetable scraps in the past, but now we have to think about whether we can make use of them." Chen Xiaoyang said to the chefs, holding up some vegetable scraps, such as broccoli stems, carrot heads and tails.

The young chef Xiao Wang said, "Master Chen, what can we do with these scraps? They seem useless."

Chen Xiaoyang smiled and said, "Xiao Wang, you don't understand this. The stems of broccoli can be sliced ​​into thin slices and made into a salad with a crispy texture. The heads and tails of carrots can be chopped and used as stuffing, which is great for making buns or dumplings. We need to use our creativity to turn these seemingly useless things into delicious dishes."

The chefs nodded and expressed their willingness to try.

In the following days, the chefs took active actions. They cleverly processed and utilized some of the food scraps that would have been discarded. For example, fish bones were boiled into delicious fish soup, which was used to make fish soup noodles or as the soup base for other dishes; chicken skin was fried into crispy chicken skin snacks, which were used as side dishes or appetizers.

One day, a customer ordered a newly launched dish called "Jade White Roll", which is made of cabbage leaves wrapped with vegetable scraps, steamed and topped with sauce. After tasting it, the customer praised it highly.

"This dish is delicious and very creative. The chef in your restaurant is really amazing. He can make ordinary ingredients so delicious." The customer said to the waiter.

The waiter smiled and replied: "Thank you for your compliment. Our restaurant has always focused on the innovation and quality of our dishes. We are also working hard to save ingredients and provide customers with better service and more affordable prices."

However, some difficulties were encountered during the negotiation process with existing suppliers.

Manager Chen, the purchasing manager, once again came to the office of Mr. Li, the meat supplier who has been cooperating with the hotel for many years.

Manager Chen said sincerely: "Boss Li, we have cooperated for so many years. You know that our restaurant has always paid great attention to the quality of ingredients and has always been your loyal customer. But now the price of ingredients has risen too much, and we are under great cost pressure. Can you give us some discounts on the price?"

Boss Li said with difficulty: "Manager Chen, I am in a dilemma too. The market situation is like this now, and our costs are also increasing. If we give you a discount, our profits will be greatly affected."

Manager Chen continued, "Boss Li, we can consider increasing the purchase volume as long as you can give us a reasonable price. We also hope to continue our long-term cooperation with you and jointly cope with this difficult period."

After many difficult negotiations, Boss Li finally agreed to lower the price to a certain extent, but the prerequisite was that all Wang's restaurants had to guarantee a certain purchase volume and timely payment.

In the process of solving the cost problem of ingredients, Wang Jianye was also busy. He personally went deep into the market to conduct research and understand the fluctuation trend of ingredient prices and market dynamics.

One day, Wang Jianye met Lao Zhang, an expert in food wholesale for many years, in the market. Wang Jianye humbly asked Lao Zhang for advice: "Brother Zhang, you have a lot of experience in this industry. How long do you think the price increase of food will last? How should our restaurant deal with it?"

Lao Zhang smiled and said, "Boss Wang, this price increase is mainly affected by some factors, such as weather and transportation costs. However, price fluctuations are the norm in the market, and your restaurant should find ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency. In addition to finding new suppliers and optimizing menu design, you can also consider some inventory management strategies to avoid waste and cost increases due to food backlogs."

Wang Jianye was deeply inspired by this. After returning to the restaurant, he immediately discussed with the management team and developed a more scientific inventory management plan. Based on previous sales data and market forecasts, the inventory level of ingredients was reasonably controlled to avoid over-purchasing and insufficient inventory.

With the gradual implementation of these measures, Wang's full range of restaurants have achieved certain results in cost control, with procurement costs reduced and food waste effectively curbed.

However, Wang Jianye understands that cost control is a long and ongoing process that requires constant attention and optimization.

Once, when Wang Jianye was inspecting the restaurant's warehouse, he found some improperly stored ingredients, which had caused some of the ingredients to spoil. He immediately called a meeting with relevant personnel.

"Look, these ingredients are wasted due to improper storage, which is our loss. While we save ingredients, we must also pay attention to their storage and preservation. Warehouse managers must strengthen their sense of responsibility and store ingredients strictly in accordance with the prescribed storage conditions to ensure the quality and safety of the ingredients." Wang Jianye said seriously.

The warehouse manager Xiao Li said guiltily: "Boss, I'm sorry, it's our negligence. We will pay attention to it next time."

In order to further enhance employees' cost awareness, Wang Jianye also carried out cost control training activities within the hotel to make every employee understand the importance of cost control and their own responsibilities in it.

At a training session, Wang Jianye said: "Everyone should know that our hotel is like a big family. Every link is related to our overall operating costs and profits. From purchasing to kitchen processing to serving customers, every step requires us to do it well, save every penny, and improve every bit of efficiency. Only in this way can we remain invincible in the fierce market competition."

Employees have expressed their willingness to actively participate in cost control. When ordering dishes, waiters will recommend dishes more reasonably to avoid customers ordering too much and causing waste; dishwashers will also pay attention to saving water and detergent.

In this process, the hotel's team cohesion has also been further enhanced. Everyone faced difficulties together and worked together to find solutions, which enabled Wang's entire hotel chain to gradually find a cost control path that suits them in the face of difficulties.

As time went by, Wang's full-line restaurants successfully coped with the cost pressure brought by rising food prices while ensuring the quality of dishes through continuous efforts and innovation. The operation of the restaurants gradually stabilized and won a better reputation among customers.

"Although we faced many difficulties during this period, we overcame many difficulties through everyone's joint efforts. We must continue to maintain this spirit, constantly improve our service and management level, and make all Wang's hotels better and better." Wang Jianye said confidently at a staff meeting.

……

In the process of solving the cost problem, Wang Jianye realized that in order to remain invincible in the fierce market competition, it is not enough to rely solely on food and service, but also necessary to strengthen the hotel's management and team building.

In order to achieve this goal, Wang Jianye decided to invite a professional management consultant to conduct a comprehensive diagnosis and training for the hotel. The management consultant was named Mr. Lin, who had rich experience and deep expertise in the catering industry.

After arriving at the hotel, Mr. Lin first conducted in-depth observation and research. He communicated with employees from various departments to understand their work processes and problems encountered at work; he also carefully studied the hotel's operating data and management system to find potential room for improvement.

After a period of investigation, Mr. Lin convened the hotel's management and some employee representatives to hold a diagnostic reporting meeting.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was serious yet full of expectation. Mr. Lin stood in front of the projector, showing his research results and analysis report.

"Through my observation and understanding over this period of time, I found that all Wang's restaurants have done well in many aspects, such as the quality and innovation of dishes, and the emphasis on customer service. However, there are still some areas that can be improved in management and team building," Mr. Lin said straight to the point.

Wang Jianye and other participants listened attentively and took notes from time to time.

Mr. Lin went on to say, “First, the employee performance appraisal system needs to be improved. The current appraisal indicators are not clear and comprehensive enough to fully reflect the work performance and contribution of employees. We should establish a more scientific and reasonable performance appraisal system that includes employee performance, work attitude, teamwork and other aspects in the appraisal scope, and directly links them with employee compensation and promotion, so as to better motivate employees’ work enthusiasm.”

A department manager asked: "How should we set these evaluation indicators? We are worried that an overly complicated evaluation system will confuse and stress our employees."

Mr. Lin smiled and replied: "We can formulate personalized assessment indicators according to the characteristics of different departments and positions. For example, for waiters, we can assess their service quality, customer satisfaction, accuracy of ordering, etc.; for chefs, we can assess the quality of dishes, innovation ability, speed of serving dishes, etc. At the same time, we must ensure that the assessment indicators are clear and operational, so that employees can clearly know their work goals and direction of efforts."

“In addition, team communication and collaboration also need to be strengthened. I found that there are some problems in information transmission and collaboration between departments, which leads to low work efficiency and some unnecessary mistakes. We need to establish a more effective communication mechanism to promote exchanges and cooperation between departments.” Mr. Lin continued.

"For example?" an employee representative asked curiously.

"We can hold cross-departmental meetings regularly to share work problems and experiences and jointly solve problems involving multiple departments. At the same time, we can use modern information technology to establish an internal communication platform to facilitate timely communication and exchange of work information between employees. In addition, we can also carry out some team building activities to enhance the tacit understanding and team cohesion among employees." Mr. Lin explained in detail. (End of this chapter)