by Luis De Souza, CEO of NFS Technology Group
It’s tough in 2019, as anyone in hospitality can tell you – so it’s just as well that technology has been evolving fast to give restaurants, pubs and bars the support they need to succeed.
Smart establishments have turned to bar and restaurant management systems to slash costs and reduce waste. They also use it to grow revenue and control their stock, labour and even allergen risks effectively.
Aloha by NFS, our well-regarded restaurant POS software, is a popular choice, and we recently teamed up with Kitchen CUT – a scalable SaaS technology that delivers control over food and beverage operations.
Together, the technologies provide valuable control over areas that go all the way from cost reduction to ingredient selection and allergen warnings.
This means chefs can design menus while keeping within budget, and reveals potential allergens in ingredients, so dishes are controlled to individual ingredient level.
The live information is drawn through to each sub-recipe and dish where the ingredient is used, so allergens are completely traceable.
In addition, serving staff taking orders at tableside using dedicated handheld devices, tablets or smartphones with Aloha restaurant POS software have access to all the allergen information on Kitchen CUT’s spec sheets and menus.
They send orders direct from the Aloha handsets straight to the kitchen, for speedy delivery – and they can also take payment at tableside.
Kitchen CUT’s creator, Michelin-starred chef John Wood, says: “Technology can prove invaluable in several key areas in a bar, pub or restaurant.”
The 8 ways technology improves operations and customer experience:
- Transactions:A restaurant POS system that’s reliable allows you to ensure all transactions are recorded swiftly and accurately in an easy-to-view format.
- Stock control: Having an automated self-depleting stock and inventory management system ensures you have full transparency of stock levels at all times.
You can see at a glance if there are variances so you can take action – stock loss is all too common in some hospitality businesses.
- Ordering:By having a fully-integrated purchasing system you can save time and reduce ordering inaccuracies. Capturing every invoice and credit note electronically creates better cost control.
- Waste management: An area many businesses do not take seriously enough. Technology helps track wastage, spot trends and locate areas where changes need to be made.
Understanding why wastage is happening allows you to take control, make changes and cut waste, whether your aim is financial, ethical or both.
- Allergens:Customers want to know about allergens these days, so having an automated system that takes allergen and nutrition data directly from suppliers reduces the risk of an adverse customer reaction.
Automation is important, avoiding human error that could leave your business and customers exposed.
Using technology such as Kitchen CUT to manage allergens makes sure you comply with current legislation.
- Costing: Technology is the only way to make sure profit is being accurately controlled and maintained.
For example, you get accurately costed recipes and menus, live pricing links, alerts when menu items are not hitting targeted margins.
Product prices are set to continue rising, so full control with live costed recipes and menus is one way to help manage the impact.
- Customer satisfaction and loyalty: Competition is getting increasingly fierce in the hospitality business.
Restaurant POS technology makes your customers’ experience effortless, from online reservations and ordering to rapid delivery of their orders and easy payment methods.
This satisfying experience encourages busy and time-strapped customers to come back again. Your system’s data capture means you can design targeted email offers and promotions that will encourage this valuable behaviour.
- Reporting: Hospitality businesses are complicated and hard to track, but thankfully restaurant POS systems provide comprehensive real-time online reports that provide an end-to-end view so you can plan and make good decisions.
Chef John said: “Prices and business rates are rising and labour is scarce, so there’s no doubt hospitality businesses are up against it – but with technology like Kitchen CUT and the Aloha restaurant POS system from NFS their lives can be a lot easier.”
- See how restaurant director Andy solves three big issues with technology – watch the video.
- Find out more about Aloha – www.nfs-hospitality.com
