An Overview of the Foodservice

Foodservice, treated as one word, refers to the art and science of planning, preparing, cooking, and serving of quality meals in quantities far greater than the usual family consumption. The goal of any foodservice institution in the Philippines or in any part of the world, for that matter, is the service of quality meals to a satisfied clintelle at a reasonable cost.

The objective may be profit or non-profit oriented. Those whose primary aim is to gain profit are the commercial restaurants, hotel dining rooms, fastfood centers, coffee shops, carinderias and other foodservice establishments. Those operating with non-profit objectives are the industrial, educational and healthcare institutions

According to the type of service offered, foodservice may be categorized into two classes: (1) with service and (2) self service by the customers themselves.

Four Basic Types of Foodservice Systems: Conventional Commissary Ready-prepared Assembly / Serve

Conventional Food is prepared and served under one roof. There is little time between food preparation and service. This system is typical in small foodservice operations such as schools, industrial canteens, and single proprietor restaurants.

Commissary It is also known as Central Production Kitchen, where there is a large central production area with centralized purchasing and delivering of foods to satellite units located in separate, remote areas for final preparation.

Ready - Prepared The system is either cook/ chill or cook/ freeze. Foods are prepared on the premises, then chilled or frozen and stored for use at a future or later time. Its distinct feature is the separation between time of preparation and service, and that the use of the food is not immediate, as opposed to the practice in the conventional system. It is also unlike the commissary, where foods are prepared on the premises.

Assembly/ Serve It has no off-premises food production. Fully-prepared foods are purchased and require only storage, final assembling, heating and serving. Often, the system uses “single use” disposable tableware, thus eliminating dishwashing unit.

Based on the descriptions of the types of foodservice system, it differ because of the time span between preparation and service; forms of food purchased; methods of holding foods; the amount and kind of labor and equipment required; and where the food is prepared in relation to where it is served.

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