Food & Beverage: The Aramark Era begins

[flyingguitar]

Food yes.

Cutlery, nah. Would be very unusual to keep accurate stock down to that level.

I would also argue it also would be less reliable, I have been given more cutlery than required way too often, also if someone was sharing the ice cream and asked for 2/3 spoons, it is bad stock management but not really from the staff from the management, someone should have noticed they only had x boxes of spoons left, and they should order more.

 

[Alsty]

Got to love the business logic of having to remake them for free rather than, you know, just stop making them in the first place.

 

[DistortAMG]

Telling customers they were not making ice creams, or there was a 20 minute wait, would send customers away, potentually not to purchase an ice cream elsewhere.

It is much more cost effective (for them) to guarantee the sale when they can, then re make some if they have to. As the customer is then locked into the sale, having to wait regardless.

The potential income lost by sending customers away, would far outweigh the cost of remaking the ice creams.

It is a cheeky tactic, but ive seen this happen in many places over the years. Get the money out of the customers pocket, as quickly as possible, no questions asked.

 

[rob666]

...It is much more cost effective (for them) to guarantee the sale when they can, then re make some if they have to. As the customer is then locked into the sale, having to wait regardless...

Precisely this.
I stopped eating junk fast food when it was no longer fast.
I realised this on the first use of touchscreens in Mc'D's.
Very quick to take your order and money...
Very slow to release the food you have paid for...in advance...so you have little option but to wait.
The purchasing process time for the actual punter doubled overnight.
Cost saving for the company, poorer quality service for the punter.

The old system of pay at the counter, after spotting what was waiting on the shelf, so you could be in the company of your food within a minute, is no longer an option.
If there was a queue, you could easily spot it and go elsewhere...not now...the queue to pay is short, the wait for food is much longer, and it can't be seen.

So I no longer eat "fast" takeaways from large scale providers...dead simple.

And back to spoons...

Prefer the Velvet...never lacked a spoon there.

 

[Bowser]

I realised this on the first use of touchscreens in Mc'D's.
Very quick to take your order and money...
Very slow to release the food you have paid for...in advance...so you have little option but to wait.

In fairness i believe this occurred around the same time that health and safety policies changed meaning prepared food couldn't sit on the counters behind them anymore but is made to order. So the touchscreen implementation didn't slow the process.

 

[rob666]

Even then, shelf burgers went into the trash (or gaffers face) after twenty minutes.
You only ever had to wait (occasionally) for fries.

 

[DistortAMG]

In fairness i believe this occurred around the same time that health and safety policies changed meaning prepared food couldn't sit on the counters behind them anymore but is made to order. So the touchscreen implementation didn't slow the process.

I was in a Wimpy the other week and the burger kitchen at a themepark. Both were holding food in the bins, exactly like McDonalds used to??

Edit: it is also nearly identical to how buffets up and down the country serve and hold hot food, I am curious to see what the exact wording is on the H&S update.

 

[rob666]

Apparently the h&s general guidance is two hours holding on a hot shelf...anything less is down to brand "quality guidelines".

 

[tech]

McDonalds moving to an ‘assemble to order’ system has very little to do with H&S and everything to do with a shift in consumer habits.

The app and touch screens allow and encourage customisation of every item which makes the old ‘chute’ system problematic, plus delivery orders typically have priority over walk-in orders and need to be assembled as close to collection as possible to avoid huge amounts of refunds for cold food. Increased concerns around allergies make grabbing pre-prepared food from a chute a bit more of an issue now too.

 

[DistortAMG]

McDonalds moving to an ‘assemble to order’ system has very little to do with H&S and everything to do with a shift in consumer habits.

Thanks for clarifying, because as I mentioned earlier, any H&S change like that would make little to no sense of existing, not when we have hot food kept under hot counters for even longer than the bins at fast food joints, in buffets up and down the country right now.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I was in a Wimpy the other week and the burger kitchen at a themepark. Both were holding food in the bins, exactly like McDonalds used to??

Edit: it is also nearly identical to how buffets up and down the country serve and hold hot food, I am curious to see what the exact wording is on the H&S update.

You're allowed to hot hold pre-cooked food for up to two hours, once, at 63° C. Food packaged before the consumer orders or selects it, and sold on the same premises it is packaged at, will require labelling.

McDonald's skirt both of these rules because all food is now made to order. The switch happened mostly because of increased competition (Subway was once a rather big threat), the rise of delivery services, and rising costs from wastage. Customers are much pickier now with their preferences, allergies are much more wide spread. Throw in the expanding size of their menu, which added further wastage with hold holding, made to order just started to increasingly make business sense for McDonald's

 

[Smiley]

The app and touch screens allow and encourage customisation of every item which makes the old ‘chute’ system problematic

You want it your way, you... Hold on, wrong burger chain. All to do with efficiencies, nothing more, nothing less.

Customer service and experience are key for some companies - not so much for others.

 

[DistortAMG]

Using kiosks too, increases the average customer spend, according to many studies. So it is no surprise Amarark and all the big fast food chains have moved to using them.

I know for a fact I spend more, as I get tempted by things I see, so usually end up buying more.

This combined with less staff, is a tidy increase in revenue for companies, including Amarark.

 

[BSwiss]

I know for a fact I spend more, as I get tempted by things I see, so usually end up buying more.

Additionally, the lack of personal interaction bypasses the shame of over-ordering that might be felt if you verbally asked for a large meal and extra mozzarella dippers.

 

[rob666]

Completely off topic, but I have never been shamed at the counter for my "Two Big Macs and a large fries please."