Introduction
Outsourcing food service to Contract management involves contracting a business function previously performed internally to an organization that seeks to offer the same services, but at a cost. Food outsourcing presents advantages and disadvantages to business, but due to the rise in food outsourcing contract, businesses are slowly turning towards receiving these services, which offer less effort when it comes to managing food service for the business. These paper focuses on the advantages of contracting management to outsource food services, while also detailing on specific unique sides of food service rendering that promotes these advantages.
The basic reason why organization and business are turning to contracting out food services, is due to mismanagement of food service program in an organization, through staffing issues, and bad working order of the in-house facility that provide food in an organization. Food service operation in an organization is delicate function to handle, since cooking and preserving food in an organization is critical, as it requires qualified cook, big refrigerators for food preservation. Since poisoning of food may be high in an organization that deals with a separate function, like chemical engineering, management requires such activity of food services handed to an outsourcing organization, which solely specialize in food production, and adheres to the policy of food poisoning board.
Reduced operating costs
The need to minimize expenses in the business has encouraged business management to outsource food services, as to downsize the overall workforce in the business. This measure reduces expenses from internal running of food management, compared to outsourcing to external organization. The flexibility of food services outsourcing helps the business to make changes to the products it desires without having to change its input in the food service. Companies that try to do every task for themselves may end up incurring high costs relating to research of food products, deployment expenses, and marketing strategies. The overall benefit that results from this is the long-run reduced cost, where a business will not have to hire full-time employees in the kitchen, thus avoiding incurring insurance cost on these employees, retirement, and vacation benefit.
Freeing of work force and resources
Outsourcing food services enables an organization to re-direct the available labor and resources from operating the internal task, and concentrating these resources to focus externally toward the customers. This increases efficiency in the organization, and saves time.
Access to experts
Since most outsourcing companies are fully qualified to handle their respective services, for instance food services, hiring such companies increase the quality of service provision, where in this case, the quality of delivered food is high. Long-run term with the contract company increases trust with business management, thus continuous provision of better food services is maintained.
Improved moral and focus.
Food service outsourcing enables a business focus on the internal primary function of business, by having operational role undertaken by an external expert. Thus, in turn raises the morale of the employees and increases focus, since in this case, the work of the employees will not routine, but more meaningful. The time spent in the kitchen in any business by employees is a lot, and most of the times demoralize theses employees, as some maybe motivated by work diversification.
Reduced capital expenses
There is increased competition for capital funds, and most businesses tend to reduce the risk associated with reduced capital funds. Deciding where to invest such funds can be a challenge for management, since no secondary capital investment can be effective, without managing the primary functions. Since most of kitchen equipments are expensive to buy and maintain, a business may need to replace these equipments, but lack the capital expenses to buy them. As a result, outsourcing the food service to external organization will help any business manage its capital funds efficiently.
In conclusion, the benefits of food service outsourcing are important since they reduce the overall expense of the business, and improve the running of other functions that may have been dragged by the food service sector in the organization. Hiring a food outsourcing company increases the quality of the food service provision, and access to specialists.
