How do all-you-can-eat buffets actually work

Food is something that instantly change our mood. It makes up happy and satisfied when we are sad and makes us happier when we are already okay. It is said “The more, the merrie”, but does it apply to food as well? We don’t think so! There are so may restaurants around that serve high quality and delicious food and also so many restaurants that serve buffet. Now, have you ever wondered, how do these restaurants make money in all-you-can-eat buffets, because let’s be real, they provide a variety of choices and also the quantity is unlimited, which means one can enjoy as much as one would want. Then how can they possibly make the money or how would they possibly work? Continue reading for answers.

First and foremost, they play with psychology of a person. It is common for a human to forget his/her hunger once he/she a lot of food. Its natural, its not something that someone does on purpose. Have you noticed, when there is a lot of food in front of you, you always end up feeling full looking at it? This is what restaurants do, they place so much food in front of us, that we end-up feeling stuffed just by looking at it.

Cheap ingredients for bulky quantity. There are obviously restaurants that don’t follow this and in no way are we generalising, but a lot of restaurants, buffets especially compromise in the terms of quality of the ingredients. They buy in bulk and buy it for cheaper which saves them a lot of money. If you visit any regular buffet restaurant, you might have noticed that some food is delicious, while some not so much. This is where the quality comes in the picture. They save a lot of much by buying ingredients in bulk for a much cheaper rate.

Serving food in smaller plates is again another tactic or strategy that a lot of all-you-can-eat buffets practice. A regular restaurant serves food in a regular sized plate, but when it comes to buffet, they always serve in a small plate. There is a big reason why they do that. A small plate can only hold up to a certain quantity of food. The plate gets full immediately, this gives one the illusion of eating a full plate, regardless of the size. This is again psychological but works every time. These small strategies work like a charm for the buffets and save them a lot of money.

A lot of buffets offer seasonal vegetables and fruits and include them as a part of their menu. No buffet ever has same menu throughout. There are always items that are changing and fluctuating according to the season. Is it because they want to provide the customers variety? No, it is because the price of various fruits and vegetables become cheaper during certain seasons. This helps them a lot as these items are already cheap and buying them in bulk will again save them a lot of money. If you visit a buffet next time, notice you will never get an item again. It all various according to seasons. 

These are some of the tactics that a lot of all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants practice in order for them to work. It is business at the end of the day. Every one will try and see their profit and there is nothing wrong with it unless they betray their consumers or don’t give them proper service, as the consumers are also spending their hard-earned money and deserve what they are paying for.