The primary function of food service managers is to manage the process of serving food to a large number of people. They perform a variety of duties.
Their tasks include:
- planning menus
- maintaining safety standards and ensuring excellent hygiene
- managing personnel (recruiting, training and supervising)
- liaising with the management of the specific organization for which they work
- planning floor plans and layout of the food services section
- liaising with the dietician, for example, in hospitals
Food service managers also motivate large teams of workers to work quickly and efficiently to produce food that is tasty, attractively served and prepared according to high standards of hygiene. Duties of food service managers depend on the sector of the industry in which they are employed, including:
- Hospitals: modification of menus to suit certain diets
- Schools: canteens may require recipes to be standardized
- Restaurants: menu planning, changing and analyzing
Responsibilities include setting up supplier relationships and ordering and storing food. Financial control and administration are important in this line of work e.g. financial control of the food products and the wages of the kitchen staff.
Another important aspect of the job is the food service manager's ability to deal with people effectively e.g. handling staff problems and dealing with dissatisfied customers.
Satisfying Aspects
- providing balanced, healthy meals
- working relatively regular hours
- testing new food products
Demanding aspects
- ensuring optimum benefit from food for hospital patients or school children
- having to deal with dissatisfied customers
- at times uncooperative or unreliable staff
Requirements
A food service manager should:
- be self-disciplined;
- have initiative and leadership qualities;
- motivate and direct a team of workers;
- have good communication skills;
- be able to cope with crises effectively;
- have a well-groomed appearance (because of the regular contact with the public);
- be able to cope with the pressure at peak times;
- be able to deal effectively with rude or unhappy customers and uncooperative kitchen staff.
School Subjects
National Senior Certificate meeting degree requirements for a degree course
National Senior Certificate meeting diploma requirements for a diploma course
Each institution will have its own minimum entry requirements.
Compulsory Subjects: Mathematics
Recommended Subjects: Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Consumer Studies
Training
Degree: BSc Food Science - US, UP, UV.
Diploma: Food Technology, Hospitality Management - CUT, CPUT, TUT, DUT, VUT, UJ and most FET colleges.
Certificate: FET Colleges, such as South Cape, KZN Coastal, Boland, Northlink, Ekurhuleni West, SW Gauteng, False Bay, Flavius Mareka, Tshwane South, Cape Town
Employer
- hotels and restaurants
- canteens
- hospitals, children's homes, old age homes
- airports
- catering companies
- large canteen services, via contracts with the government or corporations in the private sector
- factories that provide frozen prepared meals to companies
- self-employment, with enough experience, initiative and capital, can start own catering business or start and manage a café or a restaurant
Contact
S A Association for Food Science & Technology
P O Box 868
Ferndale, 2160
Tel: (011) 789 1384
Fax: (011) 789 1385
E-mail: saafost@vdw.co.za
www.saafost.org.za