Hotel Buffets: Are they out for the count or merely down for now?
They all predicted that the hotel buffet as we knew it will disappear, perhaps forever; but it has survived-albeit with some modifications to prevent transmission of disease.
For now, self-serving has lost its appeal and is taboo. It’s unknown when the standard buffet experience we all were accustomed to, will return. But it will, if not sooner, certainly later – when the majority of the people are immunized. Not all buffets though, will be back…some hotels will choose to go the other way by shifting to à-la-carte menus and re-living the times when diners were served and not expected to walk after every dish.
Those in favour of retaining buffets argue that there is no reason to totally dump it. Yes, the buffet of yesterday, where everybody reached in and everybody touched the same greasy tong, is not going to be seen on land or sea. But that does not mean that we will not see a buffet at all! When travelers return to hotels, they should expect to see reductions in food on the buffet - understandably so until occupancy levels rise from low to acceptable.
The modifications to the buffet of tomorrow include the move to ‘assisted-serve instead of self-serve’ (a bit like cafeteria-style dining) – where maintaining hygiene and safety will be at the forefront. A further step to improve hygiene at buffets would be to mandate sneeze guards.
Other changes in the making would include planned spacing of furniture to facilitate social distancing. All the large chain hotels speak of operational changes in the pipeline – where some would be interim ones, while others can be permanent.
This is also a good time to look at some of the harmful and extravagant mis-behaviour of diners taking platefuls of food at buffets and not eating it? Yes, there are those who believe that ‘eat-all-you-can’ begins with ‘take-all-you-can’. And why not – aren’t we paying for it? Apart from this selfish mindset, there are several other reasons too. One of the reasons is the laziness of diners which is enhanced, when the table layout places such diners far away from the buffet. These guests then take as much food as possible at ‘one-go’ rather than get up and go again.
Studies done by the Institute of Statistics and Mathematics at WU Vienna show that because more people eat at the later sitting, the buffet isn’t as fully stocked (as it is for the first sitting), therefore guests overserve themselves to ensure they get everything that the buffet has to offer, which results in a large amount of plate waste. The research also indicated that guests who arrive later waste more food than those who dine during earlier sittings. It also found that towards buffet closing time, guests often serve themselves one last time –usually an extra-large plate, to make sure they do not miss out and to extend their enjoyable meal experience, as well as get their monies worth. Key takeaway; the time diners eat has a role to play in determining the amount of food waste.
Let’s face it: Having the luxury of filling your plate at the buffet with … whatever you want, as many times as you want, has a certain type of appeal. For now though, the ‘choose and pick yourself’ experience has given way to a counter-service style approach, keeping that hope of the buffet as we knew it pre-COVID-19, to return one day!
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-hotelier
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