The Procedures of Planning Food Menus Between Knowledge and Actual Practice in the Egyptian Resorts

Food menu is one of the biggest influences on food service operations development of loyal guest's base and a positive return on its investment of energy, money, time, and other resources. While, the food menu should meet or exceed guests' expectations, because guest satisfaction is the overall goal of food service management, the menu should, above all else, reflect the tastes and preferences of the guests not those of the executive chef, the food and beverage director, or the general manager. Therefore, menu planning is a complex process, but it can be successful when the focus, first and foremost is on the needs and expectations of guests. This study aims to measure the awareness and knowledge of who are responsible for planning the food menus in the Egyptian resorts of the study samples regarding to the food menu procedures and the actual application of these procedures in order to reach the best recommendations and suggestions that can contribute to the improvement of working in the Egyptian resorts. In order to achieve this aim, two sources of evidence were used. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with the responsible for planning food menus in the Egyptian resorts to identify the extent of their awareness and knowledge regarding the food menu procedures that are actually applied. On the other hand, personal observation checklist was used to ensure that procedures are correctly applied. Moreover, the results also recommended that increase the awareness and skills of the responsible for planning food menus through support training programs.