Food Service The Love of Many

    Food service are companies responsible for any meal prepared outside the home. This industry includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations. Foodservice distributors sell goods like small wares (kitchen utensils) and foods. Some companies manufacture products in both consumer and foodservice versions.
    A foodservice distributor is a company that provides food and non-food products to restaurants, cafeterias, industrial caterers, hospitals and nursing homes.
A food service distributor functions as an intermediary between food manufacturers and the food service operator (usually a chef, food service director, food and beverage manager, and independent food preparation businesses operator owners.) Food service distributors procure pallets and bulk inventory quantities that are broken down to case and sometimes unit quantities for the foodservice operator. Most foodservice operators purchase from a range of local, speciality, and broadline foodservice distributors on a daily or weekly basis.
Often a food manufacturer may hire a food service brokerage company to represent the manufacturer in a local market. The broker helps the food manufacturer market its products through the foodservice distribution system, which ranges from getting items stocked at the distributor to working with operators to purchase items from the distributor.

   Counter service is a form of service in restaurants, pubs, and bars where food or drinks are ordered at the counter. Counter service is sometimes also referred to as a "bar service," such as used for "juice bar" or in the case of pubs and bars where the counter is also called the bar. Counter service is compared with table service where service is provided at the table. With counter service, the customer generally pays before consuming the food or drink. Some fast food restaurants offer only counter service while table service is the common form in most restaurants.

Food service is a large industry which deals with the preparation and service of food outside the home. Catering a wedding, establishing a restaurant, and running a cafeteria are all forms of food service. Many people take advantage of the range of options provided by this industry all over the world, ranging from stopping at a franchise to pick up a burger and fries to eating a prescription diet while in the hospital.

A number of goods and services fall under the umbrella of food service, such as companies which transport food and related products like kitchen equipment, silverware, and so forth. Restauranteurs, waiters, bussers, chefs, and dietitians are some examples of people who work in the food service industry, along with people like architects who design facilities where food is made and served, company representatives who travel the road selling products related to the service and sale of food, and consultants who help people coordinate events at which food will be served.

Some people in this industry receive special training so that they can work in food service. Some colleges and trade schools offer hospitality programs which can include things like restaurant management, and people can also receive special training in issues like nutrition for hospitalized patients or children in schools. Other people start from the ground up, driving trucks for food distributors, waiting tables at restaurants, and so forth, gaining an understanding of the industry by working from within it.

Work in the food service industry can be grueling and demanding, even for managers and executives. The hours are often long and irregular, and people tend to spend a lot of time on their feet, dealing with varied and complex situations. As with other facets of the hospitality industry, people must also be highly attuned to the need for customer satisfaction, whether they are developing menus for a college dining hall or providing service at four star French restaurants.

In some regions of the world, work in in this industry is treated as demeaning or degrading. People may opt to work in food service while between jobs, or while struggling to make their way in the world. Wages are heavily based on tips from customers, and employees may have limited access to benefits and protections from the government such as minimum wage laws. In other areas, food service is an honorable profession, for everyone from waiters to the people who own famous restaurants.