Career Comparison: Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager

Career Comparison: Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager- You want to work at a restaurant, but you can't decide whether it's better to pursue a career as a chef or food and beverage manager. Well both of these job profiles provide exceptional opportunities. Chefs and food and beverage managers play an integral role in the operations of a restaurant business. Generally, the three major differentiating factors for culinary artists or chefs and food and beverage service managers are the type of training, the specific college programs, and experience involved and the actual duties associated with each job. To pan out in both careers, a formal training is required. While their responsibilities vary greatly, job competition will remain tough for head chef positions or jobs at higher paying, upscale establishments. This article outlines the training, job duties and career outlook for both chef and food beverage manager so that you can differentiate which is the right career for you.

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Chef vs Food and Beverage Manager: Essential Information

In order to be a successful chef, you need to take a culinary arts program from one of the best culinary arts colleges in India. The culinary arts refer to professions that involve preparing and cooking food. Chefs are often compared with food and beverage managers in both education and career scope. Generally, the three major differentiating factors for culinary artists and restaurant managers are the specific college programs, the type of training and experience involved and the actual duties associated with each job. Culinary arts programs focus on building exceptional preparation and cooking skills, while food services programs focus on administrative tasks. A culinary arts program may contain content in nutrition and sensory evaluation, American cuisine, indian cuisine, international cuisine and meat science. Management programs, in contrast, focus on educating individuals on how to operate the restaurant from a business management perspective.

Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager: Educational Requirements

Read here-Important Chef Qualification and Skills

Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager: Required Skill set

Courses: Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager

In order to become a chef, candidates can pursue any of the following programmes:

Programmes Required to be a chef

Aspirants who wish to become a Food and Beverage (F&B) Manager can enroll for any of the below mentioned programmes:

Food & Beverage Manager- Courses

Career Comparison: Chef vs Food & Beverage Manager

Individuals with a background in the culinary arts or restaurant management have the skills necessary to succeed in several different careers. Below are two of the options, food and beverage service manager and chef, that highlight the main roles and responsibilities in each field.

Food & Beverage Manager

There are a huge number of career opportunities in the food and beverage service sector. F&B managers require extensive training in administrative responsibilities and making sure a restaurant image is desirable. Food and Beverage (F&B) Manager in a hotel is part of the management team responsible for managing restaurants, bars and banquet halls of the hotel. F&B manager handles the overall operations of F&B outlet including maximizing profits, maintaining quality standards and managing staff The image of the restaurant is somewhat tied to how well the manager who is responsible for food and beverages can make the staff, customers and food suppliers work together effectively. Managers are often also in charge of hiring and interviewing potential employees. The F&B Manager is responsible for hiring as well as training other staff members. Their work profile also involves ordering supplies and to assist/advise on budgeting, determining cost of dishes on the menu as well as producing financial reports.In larger restaurants, these administrative duties are often spread out among a management team usually composed of the executive chef and general manager.

Chef

Culinary artists, or chefs, in comparison, rarely need to perform administrative tasks in the restaurant. Culinary artists often have ranges of experience and training and may only be responsible for a certain aspect of the food preparation, such as slicing meat or stocking ingredients. It is important to note that while higher-tier chefs (such as executive chefs) may share some of the restaurant manager's responsibilities and training, the scope of this duty is commonly restrained to the kitchen. An Executive Chef oversees the complete culinary operations of the restaurant/food service establishment. They are also responsible for creating the menu as well as the theme of the establishment. On the other hand, the Sous Chef is typically the administrative assistant and works to ensure that the tasks listed by the head chef are carried out effectively. A Sous Chef may also be in-charge of hiring/firing lower chefs, along with maintaining their work schedules. Next, the Line Chefs are often given specialised duties which include baking, prepping food ingredients and the likes. They usually report to the executive chef or the sous chef.

Employment Outlook and Salary Information

According to the statistics, food service managers and chefs and head cooks can expect an increase much faster than average from 2020-2028. The pay scale offered to chefs depends on their position in the kitchen as well as the hotel/establishment at which they work. Payscale.com reveals that a Sous Chef can earn a salary ranging from Rs 2,29,000 to Rs 10,00,000 whereas the average salary of an Executive Chef is 8,27,473. On the other hand, Payscale.com shared that the average salary earned by a Food and Beverage Manager is Rs 5,71,328 per year. The salary of F&B Manager ranges from Rs 2,38,000 - Rs 18,00,000.

Some popular hotels like Marriott International and The Taj Group of Hotels offer freshers (1-4 years of experience), a salary package of around Rs 373,689 and Rs 254,500 respectively.

And while chefs can expect more growth in available positions, job competition will remain tough for Head Chef positions or jobs at higher paying, upscale establishments. While not necessary for employment, obtaining postsecondary education may benefit jobseekers who aspire to more responsibilities and higher financial compensation.

Also read - Top Hotels that offer Highest Packages to Hotel Management Graduates