What is food and beverage
service
Food and beverage service, also known as F&B service, is the name for offering dining or drinks to
customers.
If you’re looking to work in hospitality, you might be considering a management career in F&B service, or
you might be looking at roles where you would need a thorough understanding of the F&B industry.
This can be a very rewarding field for people to work in, and there are a number of aspects to success in
food and beverage service.
In this article, we will go over what is F&B service, and what kind of roles exist in this field.
Introduction to food and
beverage service
So, what is F&B service? Food and beverage services
can be any situation within hospitality or a wider
industry where people are provided with food and
drinks.
This can include restaurants, bars, catering,
cafeterias, and food delivered to people through
room service at hotels.
Within the hospitality business, you frequently
come across bars and restaurants, though there is a
wide range of F&B businesses.
The importance of food and
beverage service in
hospitality
Food and beverage service is pivotal to the hospitality
industry in a couple of different ways.
Firstly, it provides additional services and amenities that
customers enjoy and can help enhance the guest experience.
This can help make the venue more attractive and draw in
more guests.
This is why you’ll find F&B service offerings in many
hospitality venues, from modest hotels to ultra luxury
resorts.
Secondly, food and beverage services are a major revenue
stream for hospitality venues.
Offering these extra services can help diversify how a venue
makes money, which can assist venues through quiet times
for other parts of their business. It can thus help increase the
overall profit of a business.
Types of food and beverage service
Some varieties of F&B service dining
include:
• Bars
• Waiter service meals
• Buffet meals
• Private dining
• Catering for events.
• Of course, there are many options and all
venues do things slightly differently, so there are
plenty more examples in addition to these.
The roles and responsibilities
in food and beverage service
Food and beverage services are varied and there are
many different roles within the field.
Food services are typically split into two sections,
called front-of-house and back-of-house.
Managers in the field might manage both halves in
smaller venues, or there might be separate
managers for each part of larger businesses.
Managers will have to handle all the other
employees under them as well as other managerial
tasks.
Front-of-house roles
Front-of-house roles refer to customer-facing tasks,
Waitstaff
In full-service restaurants, these staff
members help with taking orders,
bringing guests food and drink, and
meeting other needs guests have.
Waitstaff work as a link between
guests and the kitchen or other staff
members in full-service restaurants.
Bartenders
Bartenders prepare and serve drinks, and
often have to be flexible to meet unusual
drinks requests.
Talented cocktail mixologists can be in high
demand within the food and beverage
service industry.
Hosts
Hosts are often the first point of contact for
guests in a venue.
They are the people who will help seat
customers in restaurants, and they will often
be responsible for taking reservations and
arranging seating plans.
Private events
coordinator
For venues that offer private events such as
hosting parties or catering weddings, there
will usually be a private events coordinator
who helps organize and run these events.
Back-of-house roles for F&B services involve the preparation of food or drinks and the organization
of the business.
Back-of-house roles
Kitchen staff
THERE IS A WIDE LARGER KITCHEN MANAGER EXECUTIVE CHEF OR STATION CHEFS AND KITCHEN PORTERS DISHWASHERS.
RANGE OF KITCHEN ESTABLISHMENTS WILL HEAD CHEF UNION CHEFS
STAFF AT ANY HAVE MORE LEVELS OF
ESTABLISHMENT THAT STAFF, WHEREAS
SERVES FOOD. SMALLER VENUES WILL
USUALLY COMBINE
RESPONSIBILITIES INTO
FEWER JOB ROLES.
SOME OF THE ROLES OF
KITCHEN STAFF
INCLUDE:
Food and beverage managers are one of the highest roles in
a professional food venue.
Food and They have control over all the processes and staff under
them.
beverage Their tasks might include hiring and managing staff,
overseeing inventories, changes in direction, menu appraisal,
managers and more.
In luxury management this will also include making special
arrangements for VIP customers.
This is an aspirational role for anyone who wants to work
inside F&B services and loves leadership and guiding how the
food services of an establishment work.
The skills and
qualifications required
for food and beverage
service
If you’re looking for a hospitality
career in the food service industry,
particularly in management, there
are a lot of skills and qualifications
you can work towards that will help
you.
Some of the key skills that you will need for
management in F&B service include:
Essential Organizational skills
skills Time management
Attention to detail
Team working skills.
Desirable
qualifications
There are many paths you can take to work in the
food service industry or the industry of dining,
depending on the area you want to work in.
For example, this could include getting cooking
qualifications if you wish to work in a kitchen as a
chef.
If you’re looking for a career in the management of
a food business, you could look at hotel
management schools and professional degrees.
These will help you learn needed skills and advance
in the field, using resources such as a master’s in
luxury management for high-end restaurants and
hotels.
Food and beverage services: summary
The food and beverage industry is a fundamental part of hospitality.
Not only does the food service industry help increase offerings to customers, but it can also be a major source of income for
many hospitality venues.
This can be a very rewarding service for hotels, resorts, and other venues to offer.
If you’re looking for a career in food & beverage management, there are many ways to get into the field of food service
industry, including undergraduate and postgraduate-level studies.
You’ll also want to build on your skills such as organization, communication, time management, and more.
There are many roles you can take on in different food & beverage facilities and many different kinds of businesses you can
work in.
A degree at Glion can help you prepare for success in these exciting careers.
