How Should We Approach a Discounted Staff Meal Policy at Our Hotel? Seeking Your Insights

Dear All,

We are considering implementing a discounted staff meal policy at our hotel. I kindly request all of you to provide me with input on the factors that need to be taken care of right from the beginning, such as assessing the needs of employees, their preferences for vegetarian or non-vegetarian meals, etc. Any presentations or documents related to this matter would be greatly helpful to me.

Thank you,
Divya

Understanding Food Cost in Hotel Operations

Preparation of food is the core competency of any hotel. However, this is a layman's perspective. From a business standpoint, hoteliers have another competency, which is to calculate the food cost of items prepared in their kitchen. Therefore, the question arises: have you calculated the food cost of the meals served in the staff cafe? Have you spoken with the cost controller about the food cost?

Once you accurately calculate the food cost, the second logical question is what percentage of the food cost your management is ready to subsidize. The reply to your query depends on that.

Though food preparation is the hotel's core competency, certain "no-frills" hotels do not maintain a staff cafe. They simply buy food packets from outside to serve to their on-duty staff. You may consider that option as well.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar