This document discusses different food service systems and their characteristics. It describes four systems: conventional, commissary, ready prepared, and assembly/serve. The conventional system involves preparing and serving food on-site with a short holding time. Commissary uses a central production kitchen separate from service units. Ready prepared involves cooking/chilling or cooking/freezing foods off-site for later use. Assembly/serve purchases fully prepared foods to store, assemble, heat and serve with minimal on-site preparation. Each system has advantages like reduced workload variations, lower costs, and portion control as well as disadvantages such as high equipment and storage costs, limited menu options, and insufficient portion sizes. The document compares key aspects of

2. 
Socio – economic conditions

Demographic shifts

Changing food habits and desires of people

Increasing
number
households
of
single
person

3. 
Where the food is prepared in relation to where it
is served

The time span between preparation and service

The forms of foods purchased

The methods of handling prepared foods

The amount and kind of labor and equipment
required

4. A.
Conventional
- menu items are prepared in a kitchen on
place where meals are served and are held a
short time, either hot or cold, until they are
served. It is used by small food service
operators
Advantages:
1. Quality is of primary importance.
2. Individuality of food service and better
quality standard could be achieved easily.

5. 3. Greater flexibility in making menu
changes could be employed as soon as
there is a good market buy or during off
season.
4. This system is highly economical.
Disadvantages:
1. It produces an uneven, stressful workday
because of the period demands.
2. The workloads vary according to available
ingredients making it difficult for workers
to master a recipe and achieve higher
productivity.

6. B. Comissary (Central Production Kitchen)
- is characterized by a large, central
production kitchen separate from service
units.
- is a result of technological innovations.
- employs people who are highly trained
in technological aspects of food production in
big quantities.
- is employ by airlines, chain restaurants
and large school districts.

7. C. Ready Prepared
foods are prepared in premises after which they are
chilled or frozen and stored for used at some later
time.
 is used primarily in hospitals and restaurant chains,
schools and colleges.
Two Ways of Handling Foods
 cook/chilled method – prepared foods are chilled
immediately and packed individually or in bulk which will
be portioned later. They are prepare in refrigerated
storage for a day or two until they are ready for used.
 cook/freezer method – a blast freezer or cryogenic
freezing system must be available to freeze foods
quickly to prevent food cell damage. Foods may be
individually packed or stored in bulk which require less
freezer storage space.

8. Advantages

reduces the uneven and stressful workloads that may
be found in conventional systems.

produces lower costs and requires only a few skilled
workers.

workers are able to work more efficiently and
productively.

management can also closely monitor the selection of
menus, the quantity and portion size.

menus prepared and stored for future use are more
varied and they are readily available and delivered
upon order.

9. Disadvantages



needs a large storage/freezer unit which is
space consuming and requires a high cost of
energy.
the cook/ freeze method specifically needs a
blast freezer which is expensive to purchase and
operate.
the foods require extensive modifications in the
recipe and ingredients to offset cell damage and
to ensure high quality products
 service
units need microwave/ convection ovens
for a high quality delivery.

10. D. Assembly/Serve
- food production is not done on the
premises.
- fully prepared foods are purchased,
stored, assembled, heated and served.
- is used by hospitals and health care
institutions.
Advantages
 requires only a minimal investment for
equipment and the bulk of spending is for
gas, electricity and water.
 managers can exercise absolute portion
control and few or no waiters are needed.

11. Disadvantages

offers only limited choices on desired menu
items especially those which are preferred
regionally.
 high
cost of pre-prepared foods might not be
offset by the savings that could be derived
from labor

meal proportions may not be sufficient to
provide for nutritional requirements.