Introduction
Various restaurants have different packages in terms of food for their customers. The most obvious one is maintaining high standards of the quality of foods they produce.
Food Quality in a Restaurant
Food quality in this sense may require the presence of flavor, shine, and quality among other attributes. Due to the relative variety of food quality among consumers, different restaurant managers opt to seek the opinion of their customers about the same (Dulen, p. 1). Various researches have been done on food quality but, one solution common to all of them is that food value is determined by consumer’s perception.
The research by R&I recalls the three most salient features customers use to determine restaurants. These include hygiene, service, worth, and food quality. According to research, food quality is ranked as being the most important. This research goes further to obtain consumers’ knowledge pertaining to their opinion as to what constitutes food quality. The customers brought up attributes such as flavor and food temperature. It is also crucial to note that the most valuable aspect, which determined food quality, is whether the food was prepared according to the customers’ instructions (Dulen, p. 1).
Clients who eat at restaurants always have prospects on how the food they eat should be presented with respect to quality color and shape. Of all aspects of appearance, color is the most observed and contributes a lot in the patient’s perception of food quality. Clients always expect food to maintain stability and standardization in terms of color (Dittmer & Keefe, p. 237) If a diner ordered a drink like a mango juice a week earlier, he or she expects the same color the next time she/he orders. Clients also have a tendency to relate structure and size to food quality (Booth, p. 1).
Food texture is the following assumption that diners have after the food passes the appearance test (Textural Factors, p. 4). The food should have a familiar sensation when touched or tasted. It is advantageous to maintain a stable quality of food because clients tend to detect any modifications (Raju, p. 19) (Quality, p. 92).
Flavor and taste remain the most salient quality determinants for most foods that are ordered by dinners. All other processes that go into food preparation such as elaborate presentations, the freshness of ingredients, and other stringent procedures are less serious if the food tastes lousy. A significant number of restaurants concentrate more on improving the taste and flavor compared to any other element of in food quality. Dinners commend pleasant-tasting food while all the efforts that go into the preparation of food that doesn’t taste well go to waste (Quality, p. 92).
Clients rate food quality based on the increased experience they gain from repeated consumption of the same food.
The above illustrations assist in having proper knowledge of the constituents of food quality as well as customers’ perceptions with regards to the same. It is necessary to know how much weight food quality possesses in changing customers’ satisfaction. According to research, food quality had a negative Pearson correlation, of 0.268, with customer satisfaction (Abdullah and Rozario, p. 188).
The above correlation was achieved in an attempt to test the null hypothesis that no relationship exists between customer satisfaction and food quality. This finding contradicts other researchers such as Kim, Moreo, and Yeh (2004) which suggested a positive correlation between the two variables. This study maintains that in situations where food quality contradicts perceptions consumers satisfaction reduces. This is attributable to the negative sign determining the correlation (Abdullah and Rozario, p. 188).
It is also vital to note that, based on the same finding, in circumstances where the food quality supersedes the consumers’ expectations or perceptions the customers’ satisfaction is negatively affected (Abdullah and Rozario, p. 189). The quality of food served to the customer influences his utility on that food as well as positively alters his emotional attachments to the food. Satisfaction determines the magnitude at which the relationship between food quality and behavioral intention exists.
In as much as food quality is the key element for determining customers satisfaction, there are other factors that may make the same customers compromise their stand of food quality. According to Dittmer and Keefe (2008), these factors include money worth and services offered in the restaurants. In circumstances where the customers are undercharged, they will tend to reduce their stun focus on food quality. In this case, some quality of food may not be questioned. On the other hand, the satisfaction obtained from other attributes such as quality service would override the low quality of food in certain restaurants. In this case, customers are tempted to overlook the quality of food provided (Ellen).
Conclusion
Food quality is a notable phenomenon in the restaurant industry and for purposes of competition; restaurant owners cannot overlook it. It is also crucial to emphasize the fact that food quality partially relies upon other factors such as service and ambiance. The assertion that food quality is relative among different customers cannot also be overlooked.
Works cited
- Abdullah, Dayang, and Rozario, Francine. ‘Influence of Service and Product Quality towards Customer Satisfaction: A Case Study at the Staff Cafeteria in the Hotel Industry’ World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2009.
- Dittmer, Paul, and Keefe, Desmond. Principles of Food, Beverage, and Labor Cost Controls. Edition9. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2008. Print
- Dulen, Jacqueline. Quality Control: Restaurants and Institutions. 2012.
- Ellen, Booth. Color, Shape, and Size: Use snacks and mealtime to teach big ideas with taste and ease. 2012.
- Raju, K V.Quality Control for Processed Foods’ APO Seminar on Quality Control for Processed Food, 2005.
- “Textural Factors” Quality Factors in Food. 2005. PDF File. 2012.