Operational Support Forms Letters Stationary Talking Dictionary Vendor Directory GigaChef Consulting     Founded in 2000 by industry veterans—Lisa Brefere (Certified Executive Chef) and Brad Barnes (Certified Master Chef)—the GigaChef consulting team is comprised of talented culinary professionals with a broad range of skills and experiences. Over the past ten years, GigaChef has consistently delivered bottom-line results to their clients. GigaChef offers High valued services to increase efficiencies and reduce costs while maintaining quality. 120 months/10 years on the job Left our mark in over 35 kitchens Helped and developed 1,500+ employees Saved over $40 million to our clients' bottom line! Lisa Brefere, CEC, AAC Founder & CEO Profit & Loss Union Relations Purchasing Leadership Operations Why GigaChef Create reporting systems that include yearly budgets, pace reports, three month snapshots, monthly forecast and bi-weekly reforcasting to understand fluctuation of business trends, fixed expenses, operating cost resulting in a positive cash flow Comprehensive assessments across all aspects of your operations to expose hidden costs in your business, increase profitability and categorize operational expenses Properly define line by line cost to decipher their percentages to sales, determine accountability of their handling and necessity in your operation Downtown Embassy Suites in NYC The Problem In 1999, the food and beverage operations of the Downtown Embassy Suites was losing $3 million a year. Unsure of how bad the situation was and lacking the experience to address the complexities of large-scale food and beverage operations, the hotel’s owners knew they needed help. The Solution Over the course of a two-year engagement, GigaChef delivered value during a multi-phased project that included: Conducting an assessment of the viability of the hotel’s food and beverage operations and staff Implementing an Organizational and Reporting System that prioritized opportunities for improvement and created confidence in making difficult decisions Implementing Scheduling Templates that project labor costs before hours are clocked Introducing Job Descriptions used to hire the right people -effectively minimizing employee turnover- as well as define current staff responsibilities to reflect roles within the budget Creating a proper Profit and Loss Budget to forecast all consequences of any financial decision The Results Cost Savings - Within 2 years, the hotel saved $2.2 million; that year the hotel was sold at a substantial profit. The buyers cited the turnaround in the food program as a key motivation for the sale and retained GigaChef’s services for an additional year after the sale. Process Efficiency - The Organizational and Reporting Systems also pointed to inefficiencies in the Purchasing process that led to optimizing yield, improved product mix on the menus, and a re-examination of menu profit vs. food cost Minimizing Risk - The GigaChef team determined business viability right at the start, and immediately started trimming losses Improved Quality - The reporting systems and workflow templates put in place by GigaChef allowed the chef to focus on his core responsibilities once the team left, leaving behind the tools to stay successful. Why GigaChef Dealing with unions is notoriously difficult. GigaChef’s extensive experience working with clients in the hotel industry makes GigaChef perfectly suited to: Set-up and teach to manage a union staffed food and beverage operation Assist in hard core negotiations with your F&B union to resolve labor disputes and cost-related issues that can become detrimental to your operation Assist in training your management team in the philosophies of leadership that help build a positive environment in a labor union operation Hilton Times Square in NYC The Problem In 2001, the food and beverage operations of the Hilton Times Square was losing $4 million a year. Unsure of how bad the situation was and lacking the experience to address the complexities of large-scale food and beverage operations, the hotel’s owners knew they needed help. The Solution Over the course of a two-year engagement, GigaChef delivered value during a multi-phased project that included: Conducting an assessment of the viability of the hotel’s food and beverage operations and staff Implementing an Organizational and Reporting System that exposed unsustainable labor practices within the union Negotiating with the union from the very beginning (including the critical transition from non-union to union) to create a new class of union workers consisting of junior members who previously had been working less than 40 hours a week Filling extra member union shifts with existing employees who are eager for extra work Building our solution on the positive management style taught to those who could otherwise struggle with accomplishing day to day tasks in an adversarial environment Understanding the necessity of a fair and equitable work arrangement for everyone from the start The Results Cost Savings - Over the course of 60 months, the Hilton Times Square saved over $2 million dollars in their Food & Beverage Program; the hotel was sold at a substantial profit; the buyers cited the turnaround in the food program as a key motivation for the sale Process Efficiency - The Organizational and Reporting Systems also pointed to inefficiencies in the Purchasing process that led to optimizing yield, improved product mix on the menus, and a re-examination of menu profit vs. food cost Minimizing Risk - The GigaChef team determined business viability right at the start, and immediately started trimming losses Improved Quality - The systems put in place by GigaChef allowed the chef to focus on his core responsibilities once the team left, leaving behind the tools to stay successful. Why GigaChef Access to quality ingredients at competitive prices is critical to any food and beverage operation. GigaChef is an expert in establishing a program that works for any food and beverage operation providing financial results: Improve the quality of ingredients while controlling costs Price Bidding and Negotiation Quality and Security Control Receiving and rotation SOPs Ordering process, POs, Pricing, Ordering forms, Pars, Inventory Storage Systems Menu Matrix, Product utilization Purchasing delivery and paper trail Product Specifications, Yields and portion control Job descriptions and accountability Expert guidance for what to make & what to buy Large Catering Company in NYC The Problem In 2005 a large catering company-doing $25 million in annual sales-was trying to curb excessive employee turnover in their business. Once they reached out to GigaChef additional cost issues arose regarding their Purchasing practices. The Solution Over the course of a 15 month engagement, GigaChef delivered value during a multi-phased project that included: Conducting an assessment of the Purchasing process paying close attention to storage practices, product identification, and yield testing Implementing a GigaChef interface that identifies products with the highest yield, weeding out misleading items with low food cost that then give a low return Working with the staff to ensure food is prepared properly to guarantee high yield though the cooking process, tracing lost dollars all the way to the added cost of extra waste being added to the garbage bill Assembling and organizing right staff to follow through on all of the proposed Purchasing changes Meeting with vendors to uncover the most effective purchases The Results Cost Savings - Within 1 year the catering company saved over $22,000 on just one menu item alone-Beef Tenderloin-by switching to slightly more expensive vendor but achieving much greater portion yields. Cost Savings - By re-organizing the staff, the catering company reduced 11 weekly shifts and saved $60,000 a year plus the associated benefit costs. Minimizing Waste - By redesigning the food storage areas and the ordering process, the catering company produced 500 pounds less trash per week, leading to less over-ordering and even achieved smaller trash removal bills. Improved Quality - The yield tests put in place by GigaChef led to better cooking technique throughout the catering company by implementing proper cooking temperatures for proteins as well as properly peeled, cut, and trimmed vegetables. Why GigaChef Leadership- Gigachef builds leaders to manage your staff properly. We teach Accountability through Followship. Provide the tools your staff needs to perform their task, create proper training guidelines with precise instructions using company expectation. Instill a sense of ownership leading by example and follow up monitoring their performance. Staff Retention & Placement: GigaChef works side-by-side with company employees to create a positive environment fostering staff retention thereby dramatically reducing unwanted turnover, saving time and money while developing a more efficient operation with better customer satisfaction. Staffing Levels : GigaChef puts staffing templates to use that forecast labor costs for weeks in advance curbing unnecessary overtime pay as well as calculating estimated expenses. Large Catering Company in Westchester NY The Problem With a precipitous drop in sales due to the recession, a full-service event planning and catering company needed to focus on increasing profitability. The Solution GigaChef Culinary Solutions, a food and beverage consulting company, devised a multi-phased project that included: Assessment: GigaChef conducted a quick, two-day assessment of the company’s catering operations and commissaries. The resulting analysis identified opportunities to increase efficiencies while reducing cost. Additionally, GigaChef evaluated the company’s entire staff and identified a gap in skills that was hindering breakthrough improvements. Design: One of the findings of the assessment was that there was a lack of visibility into the total cost of menu items. GigaChef designed an organizational-wide reporting system that uncovered the hidden costs of menu items. For example, at first glance, corn on the cob appeared to be a low-cost item; however, the high labor costs required to get the item to the plate were unaffordable. With access to reliable cost information, GigaChef was able to recommend alternative menu items that ultimately cost less to get to the plate, yet still met the company’s quality standards. Implement: With a full understanding of the problems, and access to good reporting information, GigaChef was able to adjust the purchasing & cooking practices necessary to produce menu items in-house while maintaining quality and reducing costs. The Results Cost Savings - Over the past year, GigaChef saved the catering company more than $375,000. Competitive Edge - As a result of the changes implemented by GigaChef, the catering company has increased sales between 8% and 18% more than their closest competitors. Process Efficiency - The reporting systems implemented singled out hidden and costly inefficiencies in the company’s food preparation process, ultimately showing workers how to be more productive. Improved Quality - The systems put in place by GigaChef allowed the catering company to stay true to their original mission of providing traditional food prepared by the caterers by altering menu items to fit within the company’s budget. Why GigaChef Where needed we reorganize layout, workflow and production in your kitchen and storage areas to maximize productivity, develop portioning guidelines and reduce waste by analyzing menu quantities. Menu Redesign & Development: GigaChef draws from a combined 90+ years of food and beverage experience given multiple accolades to guide change on the menu Develop multiple menus across a single Food & Beverage operation to optimize purchasing power, identify & reinforce brand and while utilize existing work space Create menu items that lend themselves to efficient preparations, current food trends with classic fundamentals Past GigaChef Clients Abigail Kirsch Catering Relationships AIG, Norwalk American Culinary Federation Club Fit Crowne Plaza The Culinary Institute Of America Doubletree Embassy Suites Forest City Ratner Companies Highgate Holdings Hilton Hotels New York Hospitality Group Park Central Hotel Radisson Wyndham Hotel Please contact lisa.brefere@gigachef.com for more information.

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