Explain the different food service systems with their advantages and disadvantages.
How to lay out the answer. Follow the frame, then write it in your own words.
1 · Open in two lines. A food service system is the chain by which food is purchased, produced, held, delivered and served. The four systems differ in where and when food is made and how it is held.
2 · Conventional system. Cook on site, serve soon; fresh and flexible but uneven workload and high labour cost.
3 · Ready-prepared system with a flow chart. [Flow: cook → blast chill → chilled store → reheat → serve]
4 · Commissary system. Central kitchen supplies satellite units; bulk buying and uniform quality, but transport risk and high capital.
5 · Assembly-serve system. Ready foods assembled and heated; least labour but highest food cost and limited menu.
6 · Factors in choosing a system. Number of meals, menu, labour, space, equipment, distance and food safety.
7 · In a real kitchen. Flight kitchens, railway base kitchens and school central kitchens are commissaries; a hostel mess is conventional.
8 · Close in one line. No system is best for all; the right one fits the unit's size, menu, staff and money.
Scoring tip: Draw one comparison table of all four systems. It covers definitions, examples and merits in one place.
