Social networks represent one of the most important channels for communication and marketing in many industries. On social networks, catering facilities can inform potential service users about their ...services, discounts, organizing events, special offers, but they can also present their own photos, videos, virtual tours of catering facilities and thus contribute to the tangibility of catering services. The subject of this paper is the impact that the use of social networks has on the choice of catering facilities on the example of the hospitality and tourism industry of the Republic of Serbia and its importance fo r the hospitality industry. The task of this paper is to investigate the factors that determine the influence of the use of social networks on the choice of catering establishments by consumers, with the aim of determining which factors have an influence on the use of social networks and whether this affects the decision to go to a catering establishment. The results of the research show that social networks influence the consumer's perception and choice of restaurants, whereby the content shared by restaurants on social networks is important fo r forming a positive image of the restaurant. The paper offers important insights for restaurateurs and restaurant managers on how to effectively use social media in their marketing strategies and improve service quality in restaurants.
Purpose
In China food waste during the catering service process namely the back end of the entire food supply chain has neither received sufficient attention nor been evaluated precisely even though ...it has been the cause of food security concerns. In response considering the complex tacit knowledge embedded at the front end of the Chinese catering supply chain this article aimed at addressing relevant issues from the viewpoint of tacit knowledge.
Design/Methodology/Approach
This article is conceptual in nature. From the perspective of knowledge management (KM), we used a deductive method to explore intricate tacit knowledge embedded at the front end of the catering supply chain in China.
Findings
The key challenges in preventing food waste in the Chinese catering supply chains are: (1) a variety of knowledge icebergs in Chinese catering culture, (2) the complex tacit dimension of knowledge in Chinese cookery, and (3) difficulties in bringing standardization to the Chinese catering business. The three KM-based step-by-step solutions are: (1) standardizing the essential cookery techniques of Chinese cuisine, (2) encouraging catering enterprises to create online knowledge-sharing platforms to reduce food waste for all stakeholders, and (3) using big data to build a nationwide KM system.
Practical Implications
Our research indicates that the of a comprehensive KM system specific to the Chinese catering supply chain is crucial for standardizing the essential cookery techniques of Chinese cuisine and analyzing big data, which could help improve Chinese catering processes and gastronomic habits in reality, so as to more effectively prevent food waste.
Originality/Value
Our research contributes to the literature by connecting the reduction of food waste issues with the KM perspective. A key to more efficiently reducing food waste in China lies in the lack of a deeper, more systematic understanding of the tacit dimension of knowledge in Chinese cookery and impressive dietary culture, namely the front end of the catering supply chain.
Despite its enormous size and economic value, there is currently scant information on environmental impacts from the catering sector. At the same time, the awareness of and preferences for ...environmentally sustainable food preparation and consumption are growing. In general, two catering approaches are practised: cook–serve and deferred. In the former, food is cooked and immediately served to consumers while the latter allows for the food to be prepared at times and places completely different from consumption. This study, based in Italy, focuses on environmental impacts of deferred catering with the aim of evaluating different options for food preparation and distribution, to help identify environmentally sustainable solutions. For these purposes, the case of pasta, one of the most popular foods worldwide, is considered. Two main types of deferred system (cook-warm and cook-chill) and cooking technologies (pasta cookers and range tops) used in the catering sector are evaluated. The results suggest that cooking in pasta cookers saves up to 60% of energy and 38% of water compared to range tops and therefore reduces by 34–66% the impacts associated with pasta preparation. The environmental impacts of pasta cooking could also be reduced by using gas rather than electric appliances as the impacts of the latter are higher by 13–98%. In the current study, pasta cooking is the major hotspot in both the cook-chill and cook-warm chains. Overall, the impacts from the cook-chill chain are 17–96% higher than from the cook-warm system, mainly because of the use of refrigerants and higher consumption of energy.
•Environmental impacts of pasta preparation in the catering sector evaluated.•Cooking in pasta cookers has 34–66% lower impacts than using range tops (hobs).•Using gas rather than electric appliances reduces impacts by 13–98%.•Pasta cooking is the major hotspot in both the cook-chill and cook-warm chains.•Impacts from the cook-chill chain are 17–96% higher than from the cook-warm system.
Purpose - The aim of the paper is to present how sustainability as a concept supports the use of locally-sourced food in public catering, and the issues that arise from that policy objective and ...their implications for suppliers and purchasers.Design methodology approach - First, the paper explains the characteristics of local food chains and the concept of sustainability based on a literature review. It then outlines the stages of the food procurement process in public food catering in Finland, focussing on the delivery of potatoes from a local producer to a public caterer providing school meals. The case study identifies the dimensions of sustainability.Findings - First, the criteria defining sustainability remain unclear. Second, to overcome the cost disadvantages brought about by its small-scale production and high delivery costs, locally-sourced food should add some extra value. Short food supply chains have advantages over long ones, however, they are not sustainable per se.Research limitations implications - The research is descriptive in nature and rests on action research implemented during 2004-2007. The study does not provide any quantitative analysis nor can it be statistically generalised.Practical implications - Measuring the impact of sustainability in a public tendering process remains challenging, as an unambiguous definition of sustainability criteria is lacking. Further, sustainable procurement practices would improve collaborative relationships.Originality value - This paper complements the current discussion on sustainability and local food. Provision of free school meals is now a rare phenomenon, and has recently stirred widespread interest. Finland's continuing commitment to providing free school meals thus provides a very specific context in which to study the problems of food sourcing in the public sector.
This study aims to empirically measure the distinctive characteristics of customers who did and did not order food through Online Food Delivery services (OFDs) during the COVID‐19 outbreak in India. ...Data are collected from 462 OFDs customers. Binary logistic regression is used to examine the respondents’ characteristics, such as age, patronage frequency before the lockdown, affective and instrumental beliefs, product involvement and the perceived threat, to examine the significant differences between the two categories of OFDs customers. The binary logistic regression concludes that respondents exhibiting high‐perceived threat, less product involvement, less perceived benefit on OFDs and less frequency of online food orders are less likely to order food through OFDs. This study provides specific guidelines to create crisis management strategies.
Supply chain service platforms (SCSP) are playing an increasingly crucial role in improving the competitiveness of organizations in the digital economy. Little, however, is known about the critical ...factors to the adoption of SCSP in organizations for improving their performance. Drawing upon three domain theories in technology adoption in organizations including the technology-organization-environment framework, the innovation diffusion theory, and the interorganizational relationship theory, this study proposes and validates a research model for better understanding the critical factors to the adoption of SCSP using the survey data from 228 Chinese catering organizations. The study shows that organizational resources and external pressures have a significant direct impact on SCSP adoption in organizations. It reveals that perceived platform value fully mediates the effect of external pressures and partially mediates the effect of organizational resources on SCSP adoption. Furthermore, the study finds out that there is a significant positive association between SCSP adoption and organizational performance. This study contributes to better understanding of SCSP adoption in organizations in their active pursuit of sustainable performance.
Food losses and waste are currently at the heart of academic debates, civil society initiatives, and political agendas. This paper investigates food waste in school catering services focusing on six ...schools located in the municipality of Verona (Italy). It aims to quantify food waste, as a measure of food catering inefficiency, to identify the main causes, and to suggest a set of prevention and reduction interventions. For these purposes food waste is defined as all the products discarded from the food chain while still preserving their nutritional value and complying with safety standards. The work shows a significant level of inefficiency in the school catering services, measured by the amount of food processed and still perfectly edible, but not served during the meals. On average more than 15% of the overall processed food is wasted. Among the causes identified in this study, four of them were more relevant than others because of their implications and impact on prevention: the lack of attention to dietary habits, the rigid food procurement specifications, the menu composition, and the meal presentation.
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