F&B Consultant

F&B CONSULTANT
Café Menu, Kitchen Planning & Inventory Management
Location: Bengaluru
Engagement: Project-based Consultancy
Project: New Café — Matrix
Expected Project Duration: 6–8 weeks
About the Project
We are setting up a new café in Bengaluru with an approximate seating capacity of 70 guests.
We are looking for an experienced F&B Consultant to support us specifically in three areas:
1. Menu Planning & Engineering
2. Kitchen Planning & Equipment Specification
3. Inventory Management
The consultant will work closely with the management and interior/architectural team to ensure that the proposed menu, kitchen infrastructure and inventory system are commercially viable and operationally efficient.
1. MENU PLANNING & ENGINEERING
The consultant will be responsible for developing and structuring the café's food and beverage menu.
Responsibilities
* Understand the café concept, target audience and positioning.
* Recommend the appropriate menu structure and categories.
* Determine an optimal number of menu items/SKUs.
* Develop and/or recommend dishes across relevant categories.
* Identify signature/hero products.
* Ensure appropriate ingredient cross-utilization across dishes.
* Evaluate dishes based on:
* Food cost
* Selling price
* Gross margin
* Preparation time
* Operational complexity
* Ingredient availability
* Storage requirements
* Recommend appropriate portion sizes.
* Develop standardized recipes for finalized menu items.
* Calculate recipe-level food costs.
* Recommend selling prices based on food cost and positioning.
* Conduct menu engineering and identify items that should be retained, modified or eliminated.
Expected Deliverables
* Final proposed menu structure
* Menu item recommendations
* Standardized recipe sheets
* Recipe-level costing
* Portion specifications
* Food-cost analysis
* Recommended pricing
* Menu engineering analysis
* Ingredient cross-utilization matrix
2. KITCHEN PLANNING & EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATION
The consultant will provide the operational and F&B requirements required for designing the café kitchen.
Responsibilities
* Analyse the finalized/proposed menu and determine kitchen requirements.
* Design the recommended kitchen workflow.
* Define requirements for:
* Food preparation
* Hot kitchen
* Cold preparation
* Pizza/preparation stations
* Beverage station
* Dessert/plating
* Washing
* Dry storage
* Cold storage
* Freezer storage
* Dispatch/pass area
* Waste management
* Determine the required equipment based on the menu and expected volume.
* Recommend equipment quantity and appropriate capacity/specifications.
* Identify utility requirements including electrical, gas, water and drainage requirements where relevant.
* Recommend appropriate storage capacity.
* Review the kitchen layout prepared by the architect/interior designer and provide operational feedback.
* Identify potential workflow bottlenecks and space inefficiencies before finalization.
Expected Deliverables
* Kitchen workflow plan
* Kitchen station requirements
* Detailed equipment list
* Equipment quantity and specifications
* Equipment capacity recommendations
* Storage requirements
* Utility requirements
* Kitchen layout review/comments
* Recommended equipment placement/functional zoning
Note: The consultant will provide F&B operational and kitchen-planning inputs. Final architectural/CAD drawings will be handled by the appointed architect/interior designer.
3. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
The consultant will establish a practical inventory management framework for the café.
Responsibilities
* Develop a complete inventory classification system.
* Categorize inventory into:
* Dry goods
* Fresh produce
* Dairy
* Meat/eggs
* Frozen products
* Bakery products
* Beverages
* Packaging/consumables
* Cleaning and operational supplies
* Establish recommended:
* Par levels
* Minimum stock levels
* Maximum stock levels
* Reorder levels
* Reorder quantities
* Determine appropriate stocking frequency for major ingredient categories.
* Establish FIFO/FEFO principles.
* Create a system for tracking:
* Opening stock
* Purchases
* Consumption/usage
* Wastage
* Closing stock
* Stock variance
* Identify high-value/high-risk inventory items requiring tighter controls.
* Recommend inventory practices based on the finalized menu and expected business volume.
Expected Deliverables
* Master inventory list
* Inventory categorization system
* Par-level framework
* Minimum/maximum stock levels
* Reorder-level system
* Stock-taking format
* Wastage tracking format
* Inventory control framework
* Recommended inventory cycle/frequency

Work arrangement
No