Most hotel F&B Managers see one consolidated P&L. The truth is each sub outlet, ADD, IRD, banquet, bar, has wildly different economics. Here is the per outlet breakdown that exposes where margin actually lives in a 90 room Indian hotel.
The four sub outlets in a typical 90 room hotel
- ADD (All Day Dining): coffee shop / multi cuisine restaurant. Dominated by buffet breakfast (mostly inclusive in room rate).
- Specialty restaurant: Indian / Asian / European focused. Higher cover ATV but lower volume.
- IRD (In Room Dining): 24 hour service. Highest ATV per cover but heavy variable cost.
- Banquet / Conferencing: episodic, weather + season + wedding driven. Highest single day revenue swing.
Per outlet revenue mix (typical 90 room business hotel)
| Outlet | Annual revenue % | ATV/cover | Food cost % | Net margin % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADD | 32% | ₹650 | 38% | 11% |
| Specialty | 18% | ₹1,250 | 31% | 19% |
| IRD | 14% | ₹980 | 36% | 8% |
| Banquet | 30% | ₹1,650 | 28% | 26% |
| Bar | 6% | ₹1,100 | 22% | 32% |
Where margin actually lives
Banquet generates 30% of revenue and almost half of all F&B contribution margin. The bar's 6% revenue share punches well above its weight. ADD's 32% revenue share contributes only 18% of margin; buffet wastage and breakfast inclusion drag it. The aggregate F&B margin (~16%) hides this dispersion.
What the F&B Manager should focus on this month
- Banquet quote discipline: every quote should be recipe costed. A 4% slip on banquet margin is a bigger absolute loss than a 10% slip in ADD.
- Bar pour cost audit: 22% food cost on bar is high; healthy is 18 to 20%. A pour audit catches over pour and theft, both common.
- ADD buffet wastage: typically 18 to 25% in Indian hotels. Move to weighing station tracking, two tier replenishment, and post 9:30am ‘running’ buffet.
- IRD menu rationalisation: top 12 dishes drive 78% of IRD revenue. Cut the bottom 30 from the room dining card; they slow the kitchen and never sell.
The per outlet view that changes decisions
When the GM and F&B Manager see ADD, specialty, IRD, banquet, and bar as separate P&Ls, conversations shift. Instead of ‘F&B margin is down 1.2 points’, the conversation becomes ‘banquet margin held but ADD dropped 3 points because the buffet wasted more during the renovation week’. The fix is targeted.
Forkcast's hotel module ships with the per outlet P&L view, banquet quote tool, and bar pour cost variance alert. Built around how Indian hotel F&B actually works, not retrofitted from a global hotel ERP.
Run break-even per outlet →