How All-You-Can-Eat Buffets Make Their Money

[Music] hope you brought your appetite for this 111 ways all-you-can-eat buffets make their money hey you ever wonder how all-you-can-eat buffets could possibly make any money I mean given the name how on earth do they feed people's bottomless appetites and still come out with a profit restaurant guests can grab plate after plate or even stack everything vertically on one of an endless array of dishes and cuisines all of this for one usually low price so what's their secret to success well these sorts of buffets have some tricks up their sleeve to keep business rolling and you're about to find out exactly what they are now before we get into the behind the scenes of your favorite buffet style restaurants don't forget to subscribe to our channel where you'll find the answers to life's biggest questions be sure to ring that Bell to be notified of our daily uploads here on the bright side of life all right first things first who came up with a plan to let people grab as much food as they want well you can thank the Swedish for that the buffet was a highlight of medieval feasts but it was the Swedes who formally introduced the braathens board in the 16th century this elaborate buffet was their way of welcoming guests the original menu consisted of finger foods no not real fingers cured meats smoked fish and Robin a traditional spiced vodka ooh in the 18th century they introduced both cold and hot dishes to the table and change the name to smorgasbord which I'm sure you've heard of the smorgasbord gained global fame during the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm and the Swedes brought it to the u.s. at the 1939 World's Fair but it was herb MacDonald a show producer for the El Rancho Vegas hotel who decided to use this style as a marketing strategy to keep patrons gambling in the mid 40s he opened the buckaroo buffet a 24-hour all-you-can-eat spread for the price of $1 the endless buffets long and enduring history proves how effective and popular it is but now let's get into the details as to how the whole thing works and how they manage to turn a profit here's a list of their most effective methods counting down from number 11 a strategic layout anyone who's ever been to a buffet might have noticed this strategic layout at the start of the line the first thing you see is carb rich foods like fried rice they sometimes put veggies or salads at the beginning too the line starts with these dishes because they have the cheapest ingredients but still do the job of filling up your belly it's only further down the line when you can get meat fish or other more expensive main courses number 10 the size of the serving dishes besides the layout they also control the size of the serving dishes cheap starches and veggies are in the big heaping trays with more jumbo size serving spoons you can scoop out large quantities of rice and fill your plate up faster at the beginning of the line trays for more expensive foods on the other hand aren't that huge and full they often give you tongs to grab the pieces one at a time so that you can't simply pile it on your plate you have no choice but to limit yourself and move on because you don't want to hold up the line it's genius number nine smaller plates and utensils buffets don't limit this size control to the serving dishes they also effectively monitor the size of the plates and eating utensils they provide smaller than average dinner plates and tiny dessert bowls even the spoon and fork you're given are smaller than the normal ones it boils down to the psychology of eating based on a study conducted by researchers at the MRC LC Widdowson laboratory at the University of Oxford limiting the bite or portion size reduces overeating so it's no wonder you can't find full-size dinner plates or big soup bowls on an all-you-can-eat buffet table number eight a huge food cost margin despite all that there are still restaurant patrons who overeat they're called super diners and buffets are well aware of people who could eat three times what the average person could which brings us to the cost of food according to chef Jonas McAllister the price the restaurant pays for the food or ingredients is just thirty to thirty-five percent of the price guests pay for a meal a super diner doesn't burn a hole in the buffets budget simply because they have such a huge food cost margin number 7 computer monitored food waste so there's bound to be food waste given the fact that our eyes are often a lot bigger than our bellies so how do buffets deal with us well they use sophisticated computer software to monitor food waste this way they can track everything from the weekly waste amounts to how much is consumed daily to what dishes are most popular for the diners depending on the day of the week or the season after this rigorous data gathering they can determine what types of dishes people want and how much they're likely to consume some buffets even charge double as a form of punishment to diners who have leftovers on their plate just like mom said yeah better clean that play number six the fill the customers belly cheaply motto Psychology Today explains that every buffets mission is to fill the customers belly as cheaply and as quickly as possible how do they do it they have a flexible menu designed towards cheap dishes vegetables and meat are bought in bulk and at a cheaper price but they're still high-quality and versatile the same goes for rice and noodle based foods number five buying seasonal and regional ingredients if an ingredient for example tomatoes is in season it's a lot cheaper than usual so a buffet can buy it in bulk they also take advantage of locally sourced foods or ingredients because they tend to be cheaper what's great about that flexible menu is that they can easily change it so if an ingredient moves offseason and prices started to increase they can remove it from their lineup and exchange it with something cheaper as a bonus it also attracts more patrons when they use ads like locally sourced or seasonally fresh this marketing trick creates an illusion that diners are getting something extra special number for profitable drinks of course how can you wolf down spoonfuls of food without a beverage to wash it down and this is where buffets really rake in the cash drinks aren't included in the price of the buffet and don't fall into the same 30 percent food cost markup instead they sell it at up to a 90 percent profit margin it's their sneaky and clever way of pocketing more dough per person before you even get to the buffet line number three eliminating labor costs everyone in the food business can testify how labor costs take up a huge percentage of their profit but this isn't really a problem for all-you-can-eat joints they don't need to hire waiters to serve food because diners get their own drinks and plates this is the benefit of self-service dining fancy plating or elaborate food presentation by skilled chefs isn't necessary either the dishes are prepared and cooked in advanced in large quantities it saves labor costs and allows buffets to enjoy larger profits [Music] number two charging higher prices for higher quality for some diners a cheaper price buffet isn't always better this was proven in a study conducted by the Cornell food and brand lab at Cornell University a team of researchers studied how the price of a buffet influenced customers of the 139 participants who dined at an Italian buffet in New York one group was charged for dollars while the other had to pay eight dollars both groups ate from the same pizza buffet menu yet the ones who paid eight dollars were more satisfied than those who paid less this goes to show that higher prices often get more customers in the door and number one banning people now believe it or not diners can get banned for overeating I know it seems totally unreasonable given the whole all-you-can-eat promise in their branding but it does happen like in 2012 when an over diner by the name of Bill whist was banned from one buffet style fish fry it was piling so much on his plate that the restaurant was running out of food for other patrons the establishment says that it wasn't a one-time thing and they even called the police to settle the matter well endless buffets still run a business and they can't do that if people take advantage of the privilege given to them in other words they're saying hey this isn't all-you-can-eat joint and buddy that's all you can eat and that's basically it the science behind all-you-can-eat buffets is a play of economics marketing consumer behavior and a bit of force sure you can still eat anything you want but that doesn't necessarily mean you're getting what you pay for after all the moment you step inside the restaurant they already have full control over what you'll eat and how much you'll consume so it's up to you to decide if you're really getting such an incredible deal hey what are your thoughts on endless buffets do you still think it's worth having a meal there tell us in the comments below if you found this video I openin or helpful then give us a like and share it with your friends be sure to subscribe and all we stay on the bright side of life [Music]

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 1,522,163

Rating: 4.6747141 out of 5

Keywords: table manners, eating out, all included buffets, all you can eat buffets, food waste, Profitable drinks, size of the dishes, food-cost margin, Fill the customer’s belly

Id: Fus6O-Zz0w0

Length: 11min 5sec (665 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 04 2018