The buffet, a privileged but restrictive format
Breakfast is a source of pleasure and indulgence. Guests who choose to have this meal in their hotel expect to receive a service that matches the price they pay, even though it can sometimes seem high. So it's important that your customers' expectations are met.
89 % of hotel guests prefer buffet breakfast*.
Why do you ask? Quite simply because, for your customers, a buffet is often synonymous with abundance and choice in the products on offer. On a buffet, everyone can eat what they like, in the quantities they like.
However, even if you have followed the advice given in our previous article on how to make the most of your buffetBut when it comes to hygiene and cleanliness, this type of buffet is particularly demanding. Handling by dozens of customers during service can literally turn your buffet into an anarchic battlefield. Lack of hygiene and cleanliness, as well as sloppy presentation, can quickly devalue your hotel's brand image. It's therefore essential to follow a few simple rules to ensure that your guests enjoy a spotless breakfast buffet, and that it becomes a "must" for your hotel's image. a real business challenge for your hotel.
Sanitary standards: essential to respect
It may seem obvious, but setting up a breakfast buffet requires scrupulous compliance with hygiene standards. A case of food poisoning in your establishment is unthinkable, as it would permanently damage your reputation and the image of your catering service.
Respect temperatures
Your buffet will certainly include both fresh and hot products. For your fresh products, you must respect the cold chain from delivery to serving. Cold meats, dairy products, prepared fruit and fruit juices must be placed on the counter. a cooling system between 0 and 4°C. Hot products should be stored at over 63°C. and cooked on demand or as needed.
Clean regularly
With dozens of customers passing through, you need an up-to-date cleaning schedule. You can list the equipment and procedures to be followed so that all equipment is regularly cleaned before, during and after service. A knife that falls out, for example, will be replaced immediately, and tablecloths washed and cleaned every morning.
Protect sensitive products
While plastic films are to be avoided (unsightly and ineffective), you can protect sensitive products with a sneeze guard or hermetic bells so that they are not left in the open air or exposed to the sun.
Throw away what needs to be thrown away
It is essential to destroy certain unconsumed products, such as hot or cooked products, at the end of the service. Unpackaged products should not be kept at room temperature for more than two hours. If in doubt, remove the product from the buffet.
Presenting your buffet: making life easier for your customers...
1- Rethink overall ergonomics
It is important that each product category has its own space. This will prevent your customers from mixing fresh and hot products, or getting honey on your cold cuts. Ideally, you'll have a well-defined space for hot products, fresh products and dry products or side dishes. Different dish heights can also help you present your buffet in the right way. But don't forget that if too many products are "on top of each other", your customers may have to touch the ones below to reach the ones above or higher up. Everything must be within easy reach!
2- Provide practical, differentiated utensils
Your own guests are often the first source of clutter on your breakfast buffet. A knife with the handle stuck in the butter, bread or pastry crumbs on the display table, or a spoonful of jam on the tablecloth are all things you'll find hard to avoid on your buffet.
However, it's important to think carefully about the presentation of your products, in order to minimize any disappointments. The idea is to make life easier for your customers when they serve themselves, thanks to a few simple and practical set-ups.
This may seem obvious, but customers often find themselves using the tongs provided for bacon to help themselves to the cheese... It is therefore important to make sure that you provide them with different utensils for each of your products These include spoons, ladles, tongs of various shapes and colors, knives, forks, etc. If they are used for messy products (butter, jams, spreads, etc.), remember to use knife rests or bowls so that the utensils don't end up directly on the table or loose in a jar. In any case, it's important that these utensils are replaced regularly, or cleaned during service if they become too dirty.
3- Choose between bulk and individual portions
On your buffet, you can offer your products in two different ways: in bulk or in individual portions. If the former is in line with ecological concerns, in order to reduce waste and may seem more visually appealing, the second can seduce with its practicalityThis is particularly important to prevent your customers from having to handle certain products. It's essential for you to make the right choice between these two options. Do you like the bulk concept? Offer your breads already cut up, your side dishes with adapted utensils, your cereals in airtight jars or attractive dispensers. Perhaps butter will remain a product presented in individual portions to avoid your beautiful lump ending up entirely in the garbage can, contaminated by customers as they help themselves.
... but also your staff!
Buffet hygiene is above all a matter for your wait staff! They are the first to have to be reactive to ensure that service remains perfect. Making life easier for your customers will undoubtedly make life easier for your employees. But it's also essential to think about what you can do to simplify their work.
1- Establish clear procedures and instructions
It's essential for your employees to have clear procedures and instructions concerning the hygiene and cleanliness of your buffet. Even if it seems obvious to change a spoon that's fallen on the floor, your employees can't possibly have everything in mind, especially at peak times! Let them know when it's time to put back or throw away certain products, clean up equipment, replace utensils, and so on. You can ask them to keep a cleaning schedule or a notebook with expiration dates or temperature readings. Simple tools will help them get organized.
2- Think about the elements that will make the difference
Your employees can quickly waste time cleaning up materials unsuited to the buffet format. Your labelling is certainly one of them! Laminated paper labels, for example, are a major time-waster for your staff. While it's impossible to redo a stained or illegible label at breakfast time, it's time-consuming to reproduce these plastic-coated paper labels after each end-of-service service, with only approximate results. Set up a label in plastic cards with stainless steel brackets can be a solution that makes all the difference! They are easy to clean with a simple wipe or soapy water, and some labelling solutions are specifically adapted to the food industry. Your employees no longer have to waste time re-labeling the buffet every day. Everything is ready to put back in place in just a few minutes.
Use case - Newport Marriott
The Newport Marriott is a 320-room hotel with 3 restaurants. Each restaurant serves a minimum of 10 different dishes spread over several buffets. It was therefore essential to find a solution that would meet the hotel's need to label its buffets in a simple, economical and refined way. Thanks to Edikio Guest Flex, the Newport Marriott's buffets now offer :
- Enhanced brand image - Creation of aesthetic, professional presentation labels that reflect your company's image and reinforce its visual identity.
- Maximum flexibility - total autonomy for the store, which can create its own presentation labels in just a few minutes.
- Advantages in terms of hygiene and quality - Hygienic, resistant and easy to clean, PVC card is particularly suited to food environments.
*Coach Omnium - Statistics on hotel guests