The 'Coconut Duck' restaurant was originally a 40 cover Thai restaurant in Sydney, Australia. In the first few years of operation, business was doing well and the restaurant was featuring in major tourist guides and newspapers as a 'must visit' restaurant not only for the great cuisine but also for the fantastic dcor. As business picked up the restaurant owner decided to expand so when the opportunity appeared to acquire the lease for the property next door he did so and expanded the restaurant to a 120 seater. Things seemed to be going well and the owner was certain that he would get a good return on his investment.

However, the original small team could not cope with the business and the new chefs and servers did not have the rapport that a small team had. Soon the restaurant was faced with problems of stock control especially in the bar area. Stock would go amiss quite often and wastage levels both in food and beverages had hit an all-time high. Worst of all the management could not identify if the problem was at the bar or the cellars and had no idea as to how to resolve the issue. Some suspected theft whilst others felt it was merely bad management. The owner decides to hire a consultant to come up with an effective food and beverage control system that helps alleviate the problem. In his briefing to you he has suggested that money is not a problem.

a) In terms of food and beverage control, what do you think are the key issues or potential problem areas with the restaurant? (10 marks)

b) Design a food and beverage control system that ensures that the problems you identified are limited or eliminated. (15 marks)