Managing Food Quality in Hotels: Integrated Quality Approaches to Food Production

Definitions of quality are many and varied but focus on three key issues: the customer, the product and/or the manufacturing process. Quality must be appropriate and consistent. Quality is one of the most often-used words in relation to food service operations. The quality of the food that a hotel delivers to its customers is a key part of its product offering. Reputations of hotels ride on consistent food quality and thus food production operations are a critical issue. At present, quality is a source of competitive advantage, but as client demands continue to increase, quality will become essential simply for surviving and succeeding in business.

Food production operations can be managed through the application of a systems approach considering the input, process, and output of food. One of the quality management systems used in food production to provide products of consistent quality is the ISO standard, but its manufacturing origins made it too complicated to be applied in service industries, such as hotel operations. This study aims to develop a workable food quality management system to achieve consistent level of food quality through food production processes within hotels using the ISO quality system as a foundation.

This research adopts a pragmatic approach as a properly-integrated strategy using a multiple case study of hotel food production operations in and around the Cardiff area. The methodology combined quantitative and qualitative methods to answer the research questions and achieve the aim and objectives. Data collection involved multiple sources of evidence, i.e. an online survey to obtain preliminary information about the hotel approached; semi-structured interviews with managers in charge of food quality in hotels; a management questionnaire; a staff attitude questionnaire with hotel food production staff; non-participant observation of food production processes within hotel food production areas.

The results indicated that there was often an over-reliance on individuals rather than systems to provide food of consistent quality in hotel food production operations. A workable system based on effective documentation is needed to ensure consistent level of food quality. Based on the findings, a quality management system based on ISO standards and appropriate for the production of food of consistent quality in hotels is developed. The thesis concludes with recommendations for hotel food production operators to be taken into account to ensure consistency of food quality