The question is — and most all of us have thought of it before — Can I out-eat what I have paid for at this buffet?  or “How does an industry that encourages its customers to maximize consumption stay in business?” [1]

Well, someone has sought to quantify and answer that question!

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Fixed Price: As the fact-finding study indicates, there is a fixed price that the consumer pays. No matter how many plates of food you consume, or what choice he makes, the price is the same. That cost is figured to be an across-the-board average of approximately $20.00.

Establishment Cost: There is a marginal cost for each plate of food in regards to the buffet establishment. The operational costs, along with the preparation of the food, accounts for the majority of the costs. Approximately $11.60 goes toward labor, rent, and other (58%) and $7.40 (37%) towards food. 

Savings In Labor: Because of the buffet style of service, a buffet chef/cook can serve 200 people, compared to 25 per chef/cook on a restaurant format.

Profit:  The across-the-board  profit on that $20.00 charge is $1.00.  That means a 5% profit on sales after all other costs have been subtracted.

Customer Numbers:  On a typical Saturday, 900 people payees visit Golden Corral.

Waste Costs:  5% – 25% of the food will end up in the garbage.  Either a customer did not like what they selected, or the item was not as popular as anticipated. Some foods that were left over on the buffet can be repurposed (i.e. vegetables into the next day’s soup) to lessen waste.

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Article Quotes: Link To PDF of the article

For a small fee, you’re granted unencumbered access to a wonderland of gluttony. It is a place where saucy meatballs and egg rolls share the same plate without prejudice, where a tub of chocolate pudding finds a home on the salad bar, where variety and quantity reign supreme. . . .

“The buffet is a celebration of excess,” says Chef Matthew Britt, an assistant professor at the Johnson & Wales College of Culinary Arts. “It exists for those who want it all.”

By nature, buffets attract the very customers they wish to avoid: Big eaters with insatiable appetites. Buffets seek to “fill the customer’s belly as cheaply and as quickly as possible.”

• • • They put the cheap, filling stuff at the front of the buffet line: (Study: 75% of buffet customers select whatever food is in the first tray — and 66% of all the food they consume comes from the first 3 trays.)
    • They use smaller plates. (Study: Smaller plate sizes reduce the amount of food consumed.)
    • They use larger than average serving spoons for things like potatoes, and smaller than average tongs for meats.
    • They frequently refill water and use extra-large glasses.

“Most people don’t go in and beat the buffet,” says Britt. “They eat an appropriate amount, or even less than they should, averaging out the outliers.”

Of the 300 diners that might come through on a given day, this hypothetical buffet would see . . .

 255 average eaters ($225 profit),
60 undereaters ($222), and
15 gluttons (-$127.50).

That works out to $320, or right around that $1 profit per customer average.

“Most people don’t go in and beat the buffet,” says Britt. “They eat an appropriate amount, or even less than they should, averaging out the outliers.”

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Key Thoughts:

• temptation
• gluttony
• profit / loss
• the devil
• wiles of the buffet
• strategy
• variety & quantity reign
• attraction
• excess
• for those who want it all
• cheap & quick
• wasted
• repurposed
• beating the system
• outliers
• first three trays (options)

There are at least three different ways to use “illustrations.”  Of the three, the second way grabs a phrase and highlights it . . . . .

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Sermonic Example #1:

{After relating the various facts and details which you have selected from the example-article-story — not having related this information yet] . . . . .

Now listen to what Chef Matthew Britt, who is the assistant professor at the Johnson & Wales College of Culinary Arts. says . . . .

“The buffet is a celebration of excess. It exists for those who want it all.”

. . . . . . . . 

Sermonic Example #2:

{After relating the various facts and details which you have selected from the example-article-story — not having related this information yet] . . . . .

“The article goes on to reveal the four most common ways that the establishment seeks to maximize its profits and limit what you eat and choose.  Next time you go to a buffet, you may want to look for these.

• They put the cheap, filling stuff at the front of the buffet line: (Study: 75% of buffet customers select whatever food is in the first tray — and 66% of all the food they consume comes from the first 3 trays.)
• They use smaller plates. (Study: Smaller plate sizes reduce the amount of food consumed.)
• They use larger than average serving spoons for things like potatoes, and smaller than average tongs for meats.
• They frequently refill water and use extra-large glasses.

√  cheap and filling foods up front
√  smaller plates
√  larger spoons
√  large water glasses

That the strategy of the Satan.

Increase the filling substitutes
Limit godly food consumption
Promote larger spoonfuls of the mediocre
Filling up on the cheap

#ReadOutsideOfYourExpertise

#ReadOutsideOfTheology