The Systems Approach

By: Sukaina Shabbir M.Sc., RD

Lecturer Nutritional Science
SPH, DUHS
Lecture 3 & 4
Sept.. 2022
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 Outline
O Advantages of foodservice system
O Challenges faced by the Industry
O Classification of Foodservice Systems
O Scope of Foodservice Systems
O Types of Foodservice Systems

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 Foodservice System
A food service system is defined as an entity
composed of several systems designed and
functioning together to accomplish specific
objectives

Simple definition- “Provision of food and

drink ready for consumption away from
home

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 Advantages
O Entire food service is “one body” and several
subsystems work together for the system to function
O Employees and management work together as a team
O Problems are easily located
O Cost control and budgeting can be facilitated
O Multiple chain-type operations is easier to plan and
evaluate
O Training programs can be developed for knowing each
members performance
O Easier to control and monitor activities within the
systems
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Challenges Faced by the Industry
The top challenges facing the industry in the
coming years are:
O The economy/recession
O Competition
O Building/maintaining sales volume
O Recruiting and retaining employees
O Labor costs

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Classification Of Foodservices
The foodservice industry is broad and encompasses
a wide range of establishments. They may be
classified into three major groups:
O Commercial (restaurants, supermarket,
convenience stores, snack bars, and other retail
food establishments)
O Noncommercial (sometimes called institutional or
on-site)-business, educational, governmental,
correctional or other organizations that operate
their own foodservice
O Military. 6
Scope of service.
O Within each of these types of foodservice
organizations a broad Scope of services is offered.
O The phase Scope of services in foodservice
operations refers to the number and types of
business units offered through individual
foodservice operations.
O For example, food and nutrition departments in
hospitals offer patient meal and nutrition services.
Both of these are typically non-revenue generating
units.
O The most common of these is the employee/visitor
cafeteria where prices may be set to generate
revenue for the entire department. 7
 Types of Foodservice Systems
The systems differ in “Where the food is prepared” in
relation to “where it is served", the “time span” between
preparation and service, the forms of foods purchased,
methods of holding prepared foods and “the amount and
kind of labor and equipment required”

It is classified into 4 types:

O Conventional
O Ready-prepared(cook/chill or cook/freeze)
O Commissary (central production kitchen)
O Assembly Service 8
 Conventional
O Menu items are prepared in the kitchen in the same
facility where the meals are served and held a short
time either hot or cold until serving time In earlier
years all preparations as well as cooking took place on
the premises, and foods were prepared from basic
ingredients.
O Kitchens included a butcher shop, a bakery, and
vegetable preparation unit
O Over the years a modified conventional system has
evolved because of labor shortages, high labor costs
and the availability of new forms of food.
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O To reduce time and labor costs foodservice managers
began to purchase some foods with “built-in” labor.
O Foods from butcher shops in which meats were cut
from prime cuts and bakeshops are gone from most
“conventional” kitchens today.
O Meats are now purchased ready to cook or portion
controlled; bread and many bakery items are purchased
from a commercial bakery or prepared from mixes; and
product is available in prewashed, pre trimmed, pre
peeled, cut, frozen, or canned forms all of which reduce
the amount of production and labor required on the
premises.
O Foods with varying degrees of processing are now used
in conventional foodservice systems. 10
O This system is most effective in situations and
locals where
 the labor supply is adequate and of low cost;
 sources of food supplies especially raw foods
are available
 when adequate space is allocated for
foodservice equipment and activities.

Usually found in restaurants:

Call order/ À la carte
Table d'hôte system

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In a health care facility, the patient service is a complex
distribution process and involves:

1. Centralized meal assembly

O Time between production, assembly and distribution is
minimal
O Trays are assembled at a central location
O Trays are distributed to patient units using carts(heated/
refrigerated)

Advantages:
O Activity takes place in one location
O Allows standardization of portion
O Uniformity in presentation
O Waste reduction
O Less time of staff 12
2. Decentralized meal assembly
O Foods are produced in one location and
transported to various locations for assembly at
sites near patients
O Equipment to maintain proper temp. is provided at
each location
O To difficult-to-hold foods, cooking equipment is
available in service units

Advantages:
O Less time needed
O Group services are easy

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Advantages of Conventional Foodservice system

O Quality control is considered

O Achievement of individuality and standard of
quality is desired
O Not dependent on availability of frozen entrées
O More adaptable to regional, ethnic and
individual preference
O Greater economic flexibility
O Less freezer storage space and distribution costs

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Disadvantages of Conventional
Foodservice system
O Conventional system produces an uneven,
stressful day
O Workloads vary depending on change of menu
O Skilled workers are supplemented by non-
skilled workers
O 2 shifts of employees are required
O Scheduling of workers are difficult

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 II. Ready – prepared food
service system

O Menu items are produced and held for service

O Packed in bulk, in individual portions or

combination containers

O Its distinct feature is the separation between time of

preparation and service

O Food is not for immediate use

O Foods are prepared on site, however place of

preparation is not place of service 16
O Adopted by in-flight caterers

O Distribution equipment needed by ready

prepared operations depends on whether foods
are in bulk quantities or individual portions
and have 3 main technologies mainly:

O Cook – chill process

O Cook – freeze process
O Sous-vide (vacuum packing)

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 (i) Cook – chill process
Acc. To Cusins.J.et.al
, “It is a catering system based on normal
preparations and cooking of food followed by
rapid chilling, storage in control of low temp.
above freezing point and subsequently
reheating before consumption

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 Cook - chill process
Chilled down for final storage (3 ̊C)(90 mins)
Can be achieved by blast chilling
–Blast chillers use conventional refrigeration
techniques (cold air circulation) cryogenic methods (use of
gases to reduce temp.)
Stored for 5 days
O When not in chilled storage, all handling is carried out in
environmental room
O For consumption, food is heated 2hrs at 70 ̊C
O 10 ̊C- critical safety limit for chilled foods
O During distribution, if temp. exceeds 5 ̊C food has to be
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consumed within half hrs.
Advantages:
O Can be applied to most food stuffs
O Can be applied to both individual meal or bulk-meal
production
O There is no apparent effect on meal palatability after 3
days although some meat dishes may deteriorate after 4-5
days

Disadvantages:
O Additional investment required to meet new standards
O Critical and narrow temp. requires high operational
standards
O Nutrient and vitamin loss occurs during chilled storage
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 (ii)Cook Freeze Method

O Specialized food production and distribution system that

allows caters to take advantage of longer life thru’ blast
freezers (-18 to -20 ̊C) and store up to 3 - 6 months
O Blast freezer or cryogenic freezers are required
for this purpose
O It follows the below steps:
 Preparation
 Freezing (blast freezer)
 Storage (deep freezer -18 ̊C)
 Transport of frozen items
 Regeneration (convection ovens) 21
Advantages:
O Minimum shelf life of 3 months
O Easily handled in frozen state without any spoilage
O Greater flexibility in use

Disadvantages:
O Not all dishes can be frozen
O Recipes may require modifications
O Low temp. storage requires greater energy use.

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 (iii) Sous – vide (vacuum
cooking)
O Most recent and innovative approach for dish
preservation
O Includes vacuum packing of foods in plastic bags that
can be raw or semi-cooked
O Chilled storage is required and shelf life is extended to
21 days hence suited to individual meals
O Requires more investment and time
O Used in restaurants and not used in large-scale

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Advantages:
O Long shelf life
O Meals are produced in advance
O Can be mixed with cold storage without risk in
contamination
O Reduce labor cost
O Texture and flavor is retained

Disadvantages:
O Extra cost required
O All portions in one batch must be identical

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Ready – prepared food
service system
Advantages:
O Reduces the “peak and valleys” of workloads
O Production labor cost is reduced
O Improved quality and quantity control
O Lack of worry about delivery
Disadvantages:
O Need for large cold storage and freezer units
O Blast chiller or blast freezer is required which is
expensive
O Control of food safety is essential
O Extensive changes in recipe is required
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 III. Commissary (Central
Production Kitchen)
O It is described as a large central production
kitchen with centralized food purchasing and
delivery of prepared foods to service units
located in separate areas for final preparation
and service

O Prepared using large sophisticated equipment's

O Airline caterers, large city schools, chain

restaurants etc
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Advantages:
O Cost of process is less
O Reduced duplication of labor
O Sophisticated equipment and expert makes work easier
O Quality can be maintained in all outlets

Disadvantages:
O Employment of a food microbiologist is required hence
costly
O Chances for theft is more
O Fluctuations of customers occur
O Food must be loaded and transported in correct temp.
for safety and quality
O High cost of purchase, maintenance and repair of
equipments. 27
 IV. Assembly/
Service
O Pre-prepared foods are purchased from food
processing industry and reconstituted in premises

O It can be frozen or boil-in-the bag type

O Used in fast-food industry usually health care
institutions, hospitals and restaurants
O In cafeteria style of serving of foods it need to be
heated before serving and is done in a service unit
using the “ready prepared operation”
O Usually single-use disposal tableware is used
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Advantages:
O Built in labor savings
O Less purchasing time
O Less pilferage
O Quick service is possible
O Equipment and space requirements are minimal
Disadvantage:
O Higher costs for these prepared food
O High cost for operating the duplicate heating
equipment
O Additional freezer space is required
O Recycling or disposal of tableware must be of
concern 29
 TYPES OF FOOD SERVICE
O Table service and counter service are the most
common forms
O A hostess/ host is responsible for seating the guests
O Principles that a waiter must know:

• Food is served onto guest plate from left

• If food is pre-plated, then service is through right
• Soups are served from right
• Ladies are always served first and rest are
served clockwise
• Fresh cutlery and crockery is served through right
• Soiled plates are cleared from right
• Never reach across a customer 30
 1. English service
O Often regarded as “host service”/ “family
style” service

O Host plays an active role

O Usually found in coffee shops, family

restaurants etc

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Process involves:
O Food is brought on platters by waiter, shown
to host for approval
O The waiter then places it on table.
O Either host portions the food and serves to
guest or portions it and allows waiter to serve
O Usually the main dish is meat
O Vegetables. and potatoes are placed in centre
for guests to help themselves while sauces are
served by waiter

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 2. French service
O Its not very common
O Usually seen at clubs and restaurants
O Involves Personalized service
O The waiter has a fancy cart for carrying foods
O The table is already made and waiter just have
to serve carefully and neatly
O Sometimes foods are cooked in front of guests
O Guest serve themselves

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3. Guéridon service
O Guéridon means “ trolley "Here food is
partially prepared from kitchen and is fully
cooked at guest’s table side

O Here cooking is done on Guéridon trolley

O The waiter should be a showman as well as a

good cook, He should carve a joint, fillet a
fish, prepare coffees

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 4. Russian Food service
O Fairly elaborate silver service much on lines
of French service with use of Guéridon trolley
O Waiter pre-portions food (whole joints,
fish)and serves onto guest plate and places the
plate in front of the guest
O Display and presentation is of concern
O It is a manner of dining that involves courses
being brought to the table sequentially. It
contrasts with"service in the French style"in
which all the food is brought out at once, in an
impressive display. 35
5. American/ pre-plated service
O It is pre-plated from kitchen itself and is
normally found in restaurants with large guest
turnover

O Portion is predetermined from kitchen

O the waiter ensures accompaniments are

already placed on table with right table cover

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 6. Silver Service
O All food is presented in silver dishes with
elaborate dressing
O Here the waiter serves the food to guests at the
table
O Food is portioned to silver platters from
kitchen and is placed at sideboards with
burners
O Service is done using a spoon and fork
O The course is done in an organized way hence
the courses follow one another at proper
intervals 37
 7. Buffet service
O Self service where food is displayed on tables
O The guest either takes his place a stack at the
end of each table or requests the waiter to
serve him
O For sit-down buffet service, tables are laid
with crockery and cutlery
O For fork buffet, seating arrangements does not
exist, guest uses fork and eats standing

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8. Cafeteria Service
O Menu is fixed and displayed on large boards
O Coupons have to be purchased in advance or
indicate their choice of selection to counter
attendant at the time of purchase
O Food is pre-plated and served along with
cutlery
O Guests take the seats provided by the
establishment
O Industrial canteens, colleges, hospitals etc
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 9. Counter service

O Developed in units where customers have

limited time for meal

O Tall stools are placed for guests to have their

meal

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 10. Room Service
O A 5 star international hotel should provide 24/
7hrs of service
O Highest level of service is considered
O 3 types of room services are as follows:
 Centralized room service
 Decentralized room service
 Mobile room service

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O Here the task of order taking plays an
important role because:
O Order is made through phone
O It improves the image of the hotel
O It increases the revenue sale of food and
beverage
O It makes the guest happy and converts him to
a repeat clientele

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 11. Grill room
service

O Here various meats are grilled in front of the

guests
O Meats are usually displayed behind a glass
partition hence guests can make their choice
of selection
O The food comes pre-plated

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 Conclusion
Conclusion Food service system hence
plays a major role in preparation, cooking,
serving etc. and is a form of exhibiting cultures

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 Reference
O Introduction to Foodservice By June Payne-
Palacio
O Foodservice Organization By Mary .B Gregore

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