BakeryBiz, Mar-Apr, 2021

In the first of a series of articles talking about bakery operations, H A Mishra, Chairman & MD, Foodesign Hospitality Systems, suggests cost control measures for a successful bakery

Corona is a pandemic, a curse which started to spread its evil roots in the year 2019 and now has taken over the entire world. A virus that forced everyone to lock themselves in their houses. The world which was developing at an incredible speed, suddenly came to a halt. 14 months have passed, but we can never forget those challenging times. Many people suffered from varied problems and unemployment reached its pinnacle. People lost their jobs and thus lost their major source of income which led to even bigger problems. Business owners were forced to shut down their businesses. In general, every segment of the society dealt with a major hit and it won’t be wrong to say that our hospitality industry took the maximum damage which includes businesses like:

1. Hotels
2. Restaurants & Bars
3. Cafes
4. Bakery and Cake Shops
5. Banquet Venues
6. Guest Houses
7. Lounge
8. Mall’s Food Outlets
9. Chain of Restaurants
10. Sweet Outlets
11. Independent Tea stall, Vada Pav, etc
12. And counting

All the above mentioned hospitality businesses suffered huge losses due to this pandemic. But we humans never give up when it comes to fight back to a common enemy. We stood united and came up with many solutions and alternatives to spar with this enemy called Covid- 19. We have the potential
to convert problems into possibilities. The day Covid- 19 started to spread its roots, our government acted fast and laid out guidelines. At that point of time, on a personal level we were very confused and frustrated, since we couldn’t find any medium to keep things moving at least on a small scale. Thus, technology came into force and helped people to connect with each other. Webinar is one of the component of this technological advancement which helped us through numerous ways and we got our hopes restored. Slowly and gradually, people started their ‘Takeaway’ businesses with minimum staff and thus the concept of takeaway got a boost, which worked well for many people in distress. Menu items were kept minimum but it kept the hope alive.

Just like we humans have a tendency to always come up with a solution to every problem, similarly I have devised few sets of mantras to guide the business owners to reduce costs and augment the profitability.

So, to begin with:

The first question a business owner should ask himself/herself: “Is my business prepared to lead the transfiguration towards the new normal in the workplace?” If not, then there is nothing to worry about, as I have conceived ‘MAGIC MANTRAS’ — a complete solution to the predicament.

Some of the MANDATORY MANTRAS are as follows:

Mandatory mantra for all businesses:

• Follow Social distancing rules very strictly.
• Very strictly and effectively follow the COVID- 19 pandemic guidelines and advisory given by the Government.

Mantras – for bakery, hotel & restaurant business owners:

• Make short-term plans to restart your business.
• Operators with rental premises should explore to renegotiate rentals, terms and conditions for this crisis situation. Please keep it in mind that the renegotiation will surely be a ‘Win-Win’ situation for both.
• If you are having a large place on rental, then please cut down the occupied space so that the owner can rent it to somebody else and this will bring your liabilities down to some extent.
• Avoid any further bank loan to buy or renovate your premises as this will unnecessarily increase your bank EMI and bank interest.
• Refrain from making any capital expenses like buying new machines, equipment, etc.

Mantras – FOR STAFF & GUEST HEALTH:

• First and foremost, safe hotel reopening requires confidence from staff that they will be kept safe at work.
• Personal protective gear for all employees and complimentary masks and hand sanitiser stations around the property. Opt for touch-less methods like touch-free hand sanitisers so as to encourage the physical distancing of guests and employees.
• Train your staff to handle various challenges at the workplace – for e.g., Maintaining hygiene standards, sanitation, wearing gloves and masks, etc.
• Call your team and have a word with them about current scenario. Boost their confidence viz. “WE CAN DO IT”, “WE WILL SURVIVE” which will eventually motivate them.
• Transparency is the key at the very moment, which will keep the staff confident and well-informed.
• Ask them to help you out through their contributions viz. using their multifaceted skills in operations so that your HR expenses remain under control. May be some extra hours of outputs is also appreciated.
• Co-ordinate with your Chef and F&B Manager to plan your balanced, limited or set menus to cater to all types of guests and taking care of their preferences.

Mantras – FOR EFFECTIVE BAKERY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

• Complete sanitation of your workplace is a must before you relaunch or restart your business.
• Make a purchase list of goods for food production and services.
• Ask your Chef to follow complete F&B operation systems very effectively and strictly.
• Let people related to our industry be made accountable and responsible for their departments, sections and areas.
• Manager (head of the organization and operation) should make fresh Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) while keeping in mind the Post Covid-19 condition. The same should be followed in all the concerned departments.
• The SOP should be given to all the operational sections and their heads to carry out efficient and effective operations.
• Please make sure that such SOP are written in two languages i.e., 1) English, and 2) Local language so that the staff can figure out easily what is mentioned in the same.
• Testing out all electrical and gas equipment or machieneries.
• Contact AMC representatives and get your A/Cs, geysers, etc. serviced, so that it will help you in controlling your energy and maintenance cost.
• Get your kitchen completely cleaned i.e., exhaust fans, wall machines, dust bins, dishwashing areas, preparation area, receiving area, storage area for dry and perishable goods.
• Remove and discard all outdated and expired goods from your kitchen especially perishable goods namely dairy and meat products.
• Check your Food, Beverage and general storages thoroughly and get rid of all expired products immediately.

Mantras – HOW TO DEAL WITH VENDORS AND CONTRACTORS:

• Contact your existing/old vendors to co-operate as they might be having their outstanding dues with you, so ask them for some more time for the payment of the same. But renegotiate the rates with them for the fresh purchases as the market prices are low for many materials.
• Follow proper Standard Purchase Specifications (S.P.S.) for all the items you buy which includes flour, chocolates, milk products and other ingredients.
• Follow stringent receiving process to check whether the materials being sent are as per SPS and also to ensure material received are not expired/about to expire due to non-movement of stocks at vendors.

Wholesome effective implementation of above suggestions and points will definitely help Bakery Operations to help to reduce cost and increase profitability.

The author, H. A. Mishra [PhD, FIH, HMCT], Chairman & Managing Director of Foodesign Hospitality Systems Pvt. Ltd., winner of several National and International Awards has been consulting in the Hospitality Industry for more than 5 decades. He is an IHM Mumbai pass out (1971) and a Fellow of The Institute of Hospitality, London (U.K) [FHCIMA]. Under his leadership, his organization specializes in Profit Optimisation and Cost Management of hospitality businesses and thereby doing an audit of a turnover more than 2.5 billion for some of the best and the biggest brands of India as well as abroad. He has been instrumental in setting up many leading brands hospitality operations which comprises of 5 Star Hotels, Chain of Restaurant, QSR outlets, Catering Units and many more. More than 100 units are catered by his consulting firm which encompasses all segments of F&B Operations.