CASE STUDY:

BACOLOD
COUNTRY
CHICKEN,
MAKATI CITY

Submitted by: Group 6

Peñalosa, Angeline
•

•
LOD
Buenviaje, Gelma Queen
•

•
COUNTRY
Hermoso, Merly
Mendoza, Judie Anne Marie
•

•
CHICKEN,
Samson, John Peter
Velasco, Ethel

MAKATI CITY

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 CASE STUDY: BACOLOD COUNTRY CHICKEN, MAKATI CITY

I. PROBLEM:

How can Bacolod, Country Chicken, Makati City branch improve their operation
management?

II. OBJECTIVES

1. To improve his/her business by understanding the relationships among customer

expectation, perceived quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

2. To increase the company’s profitability through improved form of services and

proper utilization of resources

3. To improve operational efficiency and quality.

III. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION

1. The company employees/crew are not very much qualified, and the owner

considers keeping them as a form of charity.

2. Operating hours does not match with their current market and location.

3. Bacolod Country Chicken, Makati City has a higher gross profit but lesser net profit

than the Manila branch due to high operational cost and inefficient use of

resources.

4. The proprietor envisioned the company to have an average gross income between

P30 – P40, 000.

5. Bacolod, Country Chicken are modelled like a cafeteria that entails customers to

self-serve and less customer inter-action.

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SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGHTS
• Bacolod Country Chicken is a single
proprietorship business.
• The restaurant served other food
varieties aside from their owned “chicken
inasal”.
• Management offers free meals to
the employees.
•There is a sense of treating every
employee as a family which builds trust
and creates camaraderie to the whole
team.
•The restaurant pinned its prime goal which
is customer satisfaction with the best food,
service and hospitality
WEAKNESSES
 The company doesn’t provide adequate
employee training.
• Not all the menu that was served daily
were usually ordered.
• Branches have different practices in
terms of profit sharing and responsibility to the
business
•Additional shifts or cleaners may be added
during lunch rush to maintain cleanliness of
the restaurant

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
• Opening hours • There are many establishments as
• Having a continuous serving of food competitors nearby which has the same
until dinner represents another potential food arrangement as Bacolod Country Chicken
opportunity. • Offering delivery services to • Approximately 30% loss (gross profit vs
attract more customers net loss) can be a threat if not maintained
• A more effective advertisement can or lessen
attract customers that are mingling around
the area
although there are many restaurants
nearby the management can turn this into
opportunities.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Restaurant operations are generally divided between what is commonly called front of the house and
back of the house. The front of the house includes anyone with guest contact, from the hostess to the
bus person. The general manager or restaurant manager runs the restaurant.

FRONT OF THE HOUSE

In the front of the house, restaurant operation begins with creating and maintaining what is called
curbside appeal, or keeping the restaurant looking attractive and welcoming. Ray Kroc, of
McDonald’s, once spent a couple of hours in a good suit with one of his restaurant managers
cleaning up the parking lot of one of his restaurants. Word soon got around to the other stores that
management begins in the parking lot and ends in the bathrooms. Most restaurant chains have
checklists that each manager uses. In the front of the house, the parking lot, including the flower
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gardens, needs to be maintained in good order. As guests approach the restaurant, greeters may
hold the door open and welcome them to the restaurant. At the 15th Street Fisheries Restaurant in
Ft. Lauderdale, greeters welcome the guests by assuring them that “we’re glad you’re here!”

RESTAURANT FORECASTING
Most businesses, including restaurants, operate by formulating a budget that projects sales and
costs for a year on a weekly and monthly basis. Financial viability is predicted on sales, and
sales budgets are forecasts of expected business.

Forecasting restaurant sales has two components: guest counts or covers and the average
guest check. Guest counts or covers are the number of guests patronizing the restaurant over a
given time period—a week, month, or year. To forecast the number of guests for a year, the
year is divided into twelve 28- and one 29-day accounting periods. The accounting periods then
are broken down into four 7-day weeks. Restaurant forecasting is done by taking into
consideration meal period, day of week, special holidays, and previous forecast
materializations.

Restaurant forecasting is used not only to calculate sales projections but also to predict staffing
levels and labor cost percentages. Much depends on the accuracy of forecasting. Once sales
figures are determined, all expenditures, fixed and variable, must be deducted to calculate profit
or loss.

POINT OF SALE AND SOFTWARE SYSTEMS

There are several Point of Sale Systems (POS) available for restaurants. Some are for large
restaurants and chains like franchises, while others are better suited for smaller independent
restaurants and cafés. For example, Shopkeep is a cloud-based POS system for iPads that can
tailor menus, monitor inventory, manage employees, market to guests, and analyze data,
whereas Square is good for quick-service restaurants or cafés. It can come with a square stand
that transforms an iPad into a simple cash register. NCR, a long-standing provider of POS, has
a cloud-based POS system, as do several other companies.

SERVICE

Bussers and servers may clear the entree plates. Servers introduce themselves and offer a variety of
beverages and/or specials or invite guests to select from the menu. Suggestions for steps to take in
table service include the following:
• Greet the guests.
• Introduce and suggestively sell beverages.
• Suggest appetizers.
• Take orders.
• Check to see that everything is to the guests’ liking

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Within two bites of the entrees. Servers suggestively sell desserts by describing, recommending, or
showing the desserts. Coffee and after-dinner cocktails are also offered.
• Ask if the guests would like another drink.
• Bring out dessert tray and suggest after-dinner drinks and coffee.

TYPES OF SERVICE

American service is a method in which the food is prepared and decoratively placed onto
plates in the kitchen, carried into the dining room, and served to guests. American service is
a less formal—yet professional—approach preferred by today’s restaurant guests. The
restaurants’ commitment to service is evidenced by the fact that most have increased training
for new employees. Servers are not merely order takers; they are the salespeople of the
restaurant. A server who is undereducated about the menu can seriously hurt business.
Restaurants in the United States and Canada, and in many other parts of the world, all use
American service.
Other types of service used less often in the United States include the following:

French Service: This service is used in very formal restaurants where the food is attractively
arranged on platters in the kitchen and brought to the table by servers and presented to
guests, after which the preparation of the food is completed on a gueridon table beside the
guest’s seat. A gueridon is a trolley-like table with a gas burner for tableside cooking. This is
the most impressive and expensive form of service. Due to the higher cost of training and
employing servers who can do French service, and given that sometimes the food is cold by
the time the guest gets to eat, this form of service is rarely used today except in very formal
service situations.

Russian Service: The food is cooked in the kitchen, cut, placed onto a serving dish, and
beautifully garnished. The dish is then presented to the guests and served individually by
lifting the food onto the guest’s plate with a serving spoon and fork. Russian service can be
used at a formal restaurant where the servers use white gloves. Russian and French service
share the same challenges: to get the food to the guests quickly so it is still hot, and to keep
it priced reasonably. Russian service also is used only at very formal restaurants; it also
costs much more than American service.

BACK OF THE HOUSE

The back of the house is generally run by the kitchen manager and the term refers to all the
areas with which guests do not normally come in contact. This includes purchasing, receiving,
storing/issuing, food production, stewarding, budgeting, accounting, and control.

One of the most important aspects to running a successful restaurant is having a strong back-of-
the-house operation, particularly in the kitchen. The kitchen is the backbone of every full-service
restaurant, so it must be well managed and organized. Some of the main considerations in
efficiently operating the back of the house include staffing, scheduling, training, food cost analysis

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(internal controls), production, management involvement, management follow-up, and employee
recognition.

FOOD PRODUCTION
Planning, organizing, and producing food of a consistently high quality is no easy task. The
kitchen manager, cook, or chef begins the production process by determining the expected
volume of business for the next few days. Sales during the same period in the previous year
give a good indication of the expected volume and the breakdown of the number of sales of
each menu item. As described earlier, ordering and receiving will have already been done for
the day’s production schedule.

The kitchen layout is set up according to the business projected as well as the menu design.
Most full-service restaurants have similar layouts and designs for their kitchens. The layout
consists of the receiving area, walk-ins, the freezer, dry storage, prep line, salad bar, cooking
line, expediter, dessert station, and service bar area.

STAFFING AND SCHEDULING

Practicing proper staffing is absolutely crucial for the successful running of a kitchen. It is
important to have enough employees on the schedule to enable the restaurant, as a whole, to
handle the volume on any given shift. Often it is better to overstaff the kitchen, rather than
understaff it, for two reasons. First, it is much easier to send an employee home than it is to call
someone in. Second, having extra employees on hand allows for cross-training and
development, which is becoming a widely used method.

Problems can also be eliminated if a staffing plan is created to set needed levels. These levels
should be adjusted according to sales trends on a monthly basis. Also, crucial to the smooth
running of the kitchen is having a competent staff. This means putting the best cooks in the
appropriate stations on the line, which will assist in the speed of service, the food quality, and
the quality of the operations.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Ensuring adequate training is necessary because the success of the business lies in the hands
of the trainer and the trainee. If employees are properly trained when they begin their
employment, little time and money will need to be spent on correcting errors. Thorough training
also helps in retaining employees for longer periods of time.

Training, however, does not stop after passing a test. Developing the skills of all the employees
is critical to the growth and success of the kitchen and, ultimately, the restaurant. A
development program may consist of delegating duties or projects to the staff, allowing them to
expand their horizons within the kitchen and the restaurant business. Such duties include
projections of sales, inventory, ordering, schedule writing, and training. This will help
management get feedback on the running of the kitchen and on how well the development
program works in their particular operation. Also, this allows for internal growth and promotion.
Having “trainers” and people who train the trainers is important to the restaurant’s goal of
offering exceptional quality and service.

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 PRODUCTION PROCEDURES
Production in the kitchen is key to the success of a restaurant since it relates directly to the
recipes on the menu and how much product is on hand to produce the menu. Thus, controlling
the production process is crucial. To undertake such a task, production control sheets are
created for each station, for example, broiler, sauté, fry, pantry, window, prep, dish, and
dessert. With the control sheets, levels are set up for each day according to sales.

PURCHASING
Purchasing for restaurants involves procuring the products and services that the restaurant
needs in order to serve its guests. Restaurant operators set up purchasing systems that
determine the following:
• Standards for each item (product specification)
• Systems that minimize effort and maximize control of loss from within the
restaurant (theft, pilferage, or spoilage) and losses from other sources
• The amount of each item that should be on hand (par stock and reorder point)
• Who will do the buying and keep the purchasing system in motion?
• Who will do the receiving, storage, and issuing of items?
Commercial (for-profit) restaurant and foodservice operators who are part of a chain may
have the menu items and order specifications determined at the corporate office. This saves
the unit manager from having to order individually; specialists at the corporate office not only
develop the menu but also write the specifications for the ingredients to ensure consistency.
Both chain and independent restaurants and foodservice operators use similar pre purchase
functions.
• Plan menus.
• Determine quality and quantity needed to produce menus.
• Write specifications and develop market orders for purchases.
• Determine inventory stock levels.
• Identify items to purchase by subtracting stock levels from the quantity required to
produce menus.
Professor Emeritus Stefanelli at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, suggests a formal and an
informal method of purchasing, which includes the following steps.

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 FORMAL INFORMAL

Develop purchase order Develop purchase order

Establish bid schedule Quote price

Select vendor and place
Issue invitation to bid order
Tabulate and evaluate bids
Award contract and
issue delivery order
Inspect/receive deliveries Inspect/receive deliveries
inventory stores, and inventory stores, and
record transactions in record transactions in
inventory inventory
Evaluate and follow up Evaluate and follow up
Issue food supplies for Issue food supplies for
food production and service food production and service

The formal method is generally used by chain restaurant operators and the informal one by
independent restaurant operators (see Figure 1-1)

Figure 1-1 Food Cost Control Process.

COST MANAGMENT
SCHEDULING THE RESTAURANT

Appropriate scheduling plays a key role in the success of the restaurant. For one thing,
overscheduling and under scheduling have a direct effect on the labour cost. If there are too
many employees working on a shift for the business that is done, then the labour cost will be
high. In contrast, if there are not enough employees working, then the service will suffer, and
overtime will increase the labour cost.

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 Goal Actual Variance
Food Cost 27.0 27.2 +0.2
Labour Cost 19.9 20.8 +0.9
Beverage Cost 19.0 18.2 -0.8

FOOD AND BEVERAGE COST

Managing restaurants is a complex operation. There are many variables that need to be in line
if the operation is to be successful. One way that managers keep tabs on the operation’s
performance is by checking the food, beverage, and labour costs. These costs, more than any
other, need to be carefully monitored on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. Calculating a food,
beverage, or labour cost is like taking the temperature of the operation. We can find out how
we are doing on a regular basis. The food cost percentage is calculated as the cost of food
sold divided by food sales for a specific period, such as a week, 14 days, a month, or a year to
date. The result is compared to the budgeted percentage for the period. The beverage cost
percentage is calculated in the same way as the food cost: cost of beverages sold divided by
the total beverage sales for a period. Like the food cost percentage, it is best utilized as a tool
for cost control when compared to the budgeted percentage for the same period. Any
significant variances from the budgeted amount should be investigated.

LABOR COST CONTROL

Like other service industries, labor is the highest cost in operating a restaurant. Labor costs
range from about 24 to 30 percent of total sales. One of the challenges of restaurant
operations is scheduling the right amount of staff for each shift. As the number of guests and
sales increases, more staff are needed but, when sales drop, so should the number of the
staff.

IV. ALTERNATIVE COURSE OF ACTION

1. Start Recipe Costing Cards and Simplify the Menu

In the restaurant industry, owners and operators often wing it, guessing at how much to

price their menu items. Bacolod Country Chicken serves a wide variety of meals per week

and the viands available depends on which day of the week it is scheduled to be served.

Recipe costing cards allow them to reduce the amount of food on their shelves that might

otherwise be spoiled, wasted or stolen.

Having smaller menus has many advantages. instead of having to maintain and make half

a dozen different types of viands, Bacolod Country Chicken should only offer a few

options. A simplified the inventory and prep process and don't cause any decrease in

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 sales. This is a great process to decrease complexity of operations and open the door to

customer engagement.

Advantages:

• simplifies the inventory they have to buy, maintain, and manage.

• cuts down on waste and spoilage, freeing up space in the freezer and coolers.
• reduces inventory carrying costs and the cost to maintain fresh or frozen food.
• In addition to cost savings, the manager also has more freedom to rotate the
best items, have specials and offers to stay interesting and relevant, and create
marketing opportunities.

Disadvantages:
• It will be an opportunity to other competitors nearby that are offering more
variety of menu.
• This can affect the company profit. Less customers will decrease the profit.

2. Get Listed on Food Apps as a form of Marketing Strategy

Customers always look for something new for the menu or gimmicks to a restaurant thus it

need to have something fresh that is the reason the management should have marketing

strategies to be conducted quarterly in order to have new ideas and gimmicks for the profit

making.

Several food apps have sprung up over the years due to popular demand by consumers.

No longer do consumers have to go through boring directories or surf the web for long

minutes to find a suitable place to eat. All they have to do these days is install a food app

that points them to the nearest restaurant. Take advantage of this wave of mobile

technology by partnering with food apps to make sure that your restaurant is listed.

Getting listed on these food apps ensures that you do not loose potential customers.

Advantages:
• More convenient to the customer to choose if they can easily view the menu
online.
• Can be a strategy for advertisement to attract more customers
• It will lessen the company expenses for advertisement.

Disadvantages:
• There are restaurants that uses the same marketing strategy that could
overshadow the restaurant
• Not everyone in their target market uses food apps

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3. Improving Operational Efficiency by proper employee training, adjustment of
schedules in operations, changing to a waiter type of service and adopting a POS
system that streamlines day-to-day operations.

To begin, a change in the scheduling of their opening, closing and mealtime schedules to

match the working hours of their market (workers in the private sectors). By adjusting the

schedules there will be an opportunity for increased profit during the day. And instead of

having the meals displayed at the counter, adopting a waiter type of service will improve

customer satisfaction which in turn will turn to customer loyalty and increased sales.

Moreover, a waiter type of service lessens the use of resources and keeps the food from

contamination by having the meals cooked and served only after they were ordered. By

removing the food display, they can have additional tables and seating for more

customers.

A formal training will have a training plan for restaurant staff or a system for explaining

everything in the restaurant. All of the employees will need instruction on how the

restaurant will change their operations, the restaurant menu, the ideal guest, staff

processes and assigned tasks, and how they are expected to act. Written instruction will

be useful when it comes to fulfilment of their duties. Additional staffing will also help

improve with the delegation of duties (waiting tables, sanitation, kitchen operations, etc.).

And having a quality system will enhance everyday processes such as taking orders and

sending them to the kitchen or tracking inventory and monitoring crucial business insights.

Advantages:
• This will add new skills to the employees to meet the needs of the restaurant.
• Employees will be more motivated on their work commitment.
• Improved customer relations can develop customer loyalty.
• Improves the company productivity.
• Less usage and waste of resources
• Maximized use space with having additional tables

Disadvantages:
• Increase company expenses.
• Temporary stop of operations during the change
• Staff will have to adjust to the new form of operations

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 VI. Conclusion and Recommendation

Bacolod Country Chicken offers meal services from breakfast to dinner, it is more logical to

change how they run their operations to match the location and the type of their market.

We chose to implement ACA 3 to improve the flow of their day-to-day operations.

Implementation of Plan
1 Year Change in Service Operations

Pros Cons

• Temporary stop
• Fast paced of operations
improvement during employee
training

• Satisfied and
loyal customers • Old staff may be
will encourage resistant to the
more by word of change
mouth

• Successful
• Additional
implementation
expenses for
can result to
hired staff
market expansion

• Visible gross • Minor loss of

profit by year-end income

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Timeframe: 1 year
Where: Both Food Service and Kitchen Operations because both sections are crucial for the whole
restaurant operations.

Who: The Service staff needs a to know how to properly delegate their duties for optimal customer
interaction to gain customer satisfaction. The Kitchen staff needs to know the appropriate portioning
and use of resources to minimize waste.

Objectives:
1. To improve customer relations by applying a standardized form of operations based on formal
training.
2. To minimize waste of resources by monitoring their usage with the introduction of POS system
into their operations.
3. To increase profitability by maximizing the use of space and changing the service type of the
restaurant.

Stages:

Month 1 – 2 Changing the type of service from a

“cafeteria” type of restaurant to a
“bistro/grill” type of restaurant

 Change the layout of the restaurant

by removing the food display and
replacing them with additional tables
and chairs to maximize the available
space and increase the number of
seating for customers.

 Adopt the use of a “waiter type” of

service to improve customer
satisfaction

 Change the ambiance by adding

personal touches from the owners to
exude a comfortable and homey feel.

 Use a POS System to improve the

monitoring of day-to-day operations

Month 3 – 4 Hire additional restaurant workers in

addition to increase the staffing for
equal delegation of duties;

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  By having additional workers mixed
in with the current staff both parties
can exchange ideas and knowledge
for the improvement of their service
operation.

Month 5 – 6 Implement a mandatory staff training for

all employees to improve the flow of
operations - A server training manual will
be integrated in the employee training
plan, with this in place, negative reviews
from the customers would be avoided and
the employees would be able to provide
high quality services.

 Training will start with an

orientation - Orientation helps
employees familiarize themselves
with the restaurant’s best practices,
goals, history, philosophy and the
facility

 External training – the restaurant

will hire or partner with an external
training company with the sole
purpose of training the staff.

 Training the staff how to use a

POS System

 Team building exercises - Doing

this will not only help to motivate the
employees but it will help employees
build better relationships thus
improving productivity and teamwork.

Month 6 – 7 Evaluation of the staff is a necessary

stage to gauge if they are able perform
their duties effectively and efficiently
after their training;

 The cashier must be evaluated in

terms of monitoring the flow of
income

 Service crew must be skilled in;

a. Taking customer’s order

b. handling complaints
c. keeping the dining area clean
and organized
d. customer relations

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  Always look presentable and have a
pleasant attitude to attract more
customers

 The kitchen staff must follow the

standards for sanitation and
operations

Month 7 – 12 Adjusting the opening, closing and

Meal time schedule to the possible
influx of customers;

a. Start of operations would begin at 4

am (setting up the dining area,
stacking of plates and utensils,
preparing the ingredients for the
meals, purchasing of additional
ingredients).

b. At 5 am meal preparation for the

breakfast service would begin.

c. Restaurant would open at 7 am for

the morning rush

d. Breakfast service will end and

preparation for the
lunch hour would start at 9:30 am

e. Lunch service would start at 11:30

am and will end at 1:30 pm

f. Merienda will be served from 2:30

pm to 4:00 pm

g. Preparation for dinner service at 4:30

pm

h. Dinner Service would begin at 5:30

pm closing time of 9:00 pm

i. Cleaning and other tasks starts from

9:00 pm to 11:00 pm.

Reference:
John R. Walker, The Restaurant from Concept to Operation, 5th ed. (New York: John Wiley and Sons,
2009), pp. 86–87. p. 275

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