Cafe Faces Rising Food Costs

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title:

  Culinary Arts

  Course Title:

  Culinary Arts 4 (Track 1)

  Course Number:

  8800540

  Career Cluster:

  Hospitality & Tourism

  CIP Number:

  0420040210

  Course Type:

  Career Preparatory

  CTE Standards or benchmarks:

  25.06 Identify elements of a successful organized food service operation in relation to time, energy, money, and space and customer service (role of management; importance of labor costs/food costs; use of computers).

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “Facing Rising Food Costs.” See CPALMS resource ID#209220.

• Career Connection

  
  

  Students will practice critical thinking skills to make sense of financial problems facing restaurants and persevere in solving them by proposing cost cutting strategies.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Identify multiple ways to reduce expenses in a café operation to remain a successful business.
  • Use academic vocabulary related to business costs to suggest changes to the café operation.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with:

  • Food cost standard for profitability should be 30% of the ‘costs of doing business.’
  • Basic understanding of business operations.
  • Group collaboration.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • What costs are involved in restaurant operations?
  • How does cost-cutting positively impact a business?
  • What possible negatives could occur from cutting costs?

• Procedure

  
  

  1. To introduce the lesson, review the academic vocabulary terms: fixed costs, flexible costs, food costs, and procurement (see Teacher Notes for sample definitions).

  2. Prompt a brainstorming activity by asking the following questions:

  • How have increased costs personally affecting them?
  • Which activities occur in a restaurant that incur a cost? What activities result in profit?
  • How might the current cost increases be affecting restaurants?

  3. Introduce the case study, “Rising Food Costs,” (See CPALMS Resource ID# 209220).

  • Allow students to read the case study, encourage highlighting and notetaking in margins. Suggest to students to highlight examples of the academic vocabulary from Step 1 while reading.
  • Suggested discussion questions:
  • • Are there costs that, when cut, will cause people not to want to be customers at the restaurant?
    • If the staff is reduced, how will that impact service?
    • How does the restaurant benefit the community?

  4. Lead a discussion with the students to categorize flexible and fixed costs for the cafe based on the case study and their prior knowledge. Pass out the attached graphic organizer.

  • In groups, have students complete the second chart (see attached graphic organizer). Students will list measures the café owners can choose to reduce expenses to deal with rising food prices. Instruct students to jot down the pros and cons of each measure.

  5. Discuss with students the impact of specific cost-cutting ideas they come up with, i.e., cutting jobs, energy-saving measures, marketing expenses, and other ideas students came up with during the brainstorming activity.

  6. To bring the lesson to a close, instruct students to complete the reflection (See attached graphic organizer handout) incorporating academic vocabulary.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Sample definitions for Step 1 concepts.
    • Fixed costs are expenses that do not change from month to month.
    • Flexible costs are costs that change from month to month and may be reduced or increased.
    • Food cost is a measure of how much it costs to produce and sell food in a restaurant.
    • Procurement is the process of purchasing goods and services from an external source.
  • Suggested resource: U.S. Small Business Administration, website: https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/manage-your-business.

• Optional

  
  

  Extension Ideas:

  • Have students role play the meeting with Maria, Francisco, and the shift supervisor, possibly Sammy.
  • Have students create a budget using real world numbers. They can conduct research or interview a local restaurant.